Sky Over Baikonur Backdrop with Gimp

“Often, when modelling in 3D, it’s necessary to create a
“backdrop” panoramic image. Typically this shows sky and distant
land which should appear behind the foreground action. One place
we’ll need this for the pilot to Lunatics is for the sky in
Baikonur, Kazakhstan on launch day at the beginning of the story. I
had some very particular ideas about how this should look, and I
want to create just the right look. Here’s how I constructed
it.

“Making Movies with Free Software

“This article is part of an on-going series on the challenges
I’ve faced in producing two free-licensed movies, Marya Morevna,
through the Morevna Project and Lunatics, which we are working on
as Anansi Spaceworks.

“The main thing is that I had seen a photo of a launch which had
a particularly beautiful palette of colors. I knew I wanted these
colors. However, the image is not a terrific background plate
— it’s way too narrow for a panorama and there are some
foreground objects. More importantly, though, the image is not
under a “safe” license, so I didn’t want to use it directly.
However, I did use it as a guide in choosing colors.”

Complete Story