3D Nebulae

Hello everyone.

I am doing some experimenting with recreating believable Hubble-like nebula clouds inside 3ds Max and was wondering if anyone can give rough or, preferrably, detailed guidance on how to pull it off.

I searched for months everywhere(!), looking at all available tutorials all over the net and probably best work I've found on internet regarding high quality nebula renders is in this video:



P.S. I am familiar with FumeFX and Krakatoa, but my results, although not that bad, are nowhere near renders presented in video above.

Thanks for your attention. Cheers!

Hi there, pvjeko! :waves:

I love a good nebula too although I only try them in 2d (following the techniques of Tim Barton, who I've often mentioned in other threads.)

I've never had the processing power to use those 3d particle systems but I have seen other tutorials where people project 2d textures of nebulas on to separate planes and objects to create 3d animations.This can be done in 3d programs like Blender or 3DS Max but also in software like After Effects or HitFilm.
It's not quite as versatile as the particle-based effect but it seems to be easier to do and doesn't take as much graphics processing.