MacReview
LunarCell
Review by Mark Starlin
Now that we are living in the “space age”, most people have seen photographs of Earth from space. These images come from satellites or various NASA missions. My favorites are the ones where Earth looms large, filling most of the frame yet still allowing you to see Earth’s curvature. While it’s not likely any of us will be taking these type of pictures in the near future, you can create similar pictures now using a new plug-in from Flaming Pear and any image editing application that accepts Photoshop plugins.
Not Just Earth
LunarCell is a planet and moon creation plug-in. It makes creating highly detailed images of planets and moons incredibly easy. You’re not limited to Earth and the Moon, or even our solar system. LunarCell’s abundant controls allow you to create just about any world you can imagine.
The first time I used LunarCell, I was stunned by how realistic the images were. I was even more surprised by how easy it was to create those images. With absolutely no artistic ability, you can now create planetary images that could easily pass for those coming directly from space. Amazing.
Creation
In the beginning... You create your planets and moons by selecting variations in several elements of a planet. The Planet controls allow you to vary several aspects of the planets physical characteristics such as planet size, land texture and complexity, and crater size and texture. The Climate controls let you control the amount of ice, desert, the sea level planet colors, and lunar climate. The Air controls let you vary the color depth, and brightness of the air. You can also adjust the color of the sunset. Clouds controls let you adjust cloud color, coverage, cloud edges, height, shadows and texture.
One of the cooler options in the Clouds control allows you to select synthetic clouds or, if you have an Internet connection, real clouds from various weather satellites. That’s right, you can download actual satellite cloud images to use for your planet. If you are using synthetic clouds you can also add storms and shearing winds.
In addition to these main controls, you can also add cities (little dots of light) to the dark sides of your planet.
The Lunar Cell interface.
Other Controls
LunarCell offers several other controls that effect your image. Controls such as the direction of light, backlighting, and Pole placement. And for experimenting, or just an easy way to get started, there is a Dice button which creates a planet using random settings. These can be a great starting point for further modification. Although they are often excellent, not needing any further adjustment. You can also make the background (space) transparent allowing you to compost the planet onto another image. You can also save settings for further use, reposition planets, and much more.
Final Thoughts
While LunarCell may not be the most “practical” plug-in available, it is certainly one of the most fun. Anyone who loves space or sci-fi will have a blast creating their own worlds. The images LunarCell creates are truly stunning and its controls make it a snap to use. What are you waiting for? Engage!
Publisher
Version
1.7
Type
Sharewrae
Price
$25 single user; $125 site license.
Requires
Photoshop plugin compatible image editing application.
Rating: 10
- Intended Function: 10
- Ease Of Use: 10
- User Interface: 10
- Documentation: 10
- Features: 10
- Value: 10
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