In this Blender tutorial for beginners, I will show you how I modelled and animated orbiting planets
I will begin by making the sun and planets
I add a UV Sphere, right-click on it and Shade Smooth
and under the Object Data Properties tab, under the Normals panel, I turn on Auto Smooth
I rename the UV Sphere in the Outliner
I duplicate the sun and rename the planet in the Outliner
In Edit Mode, I move the planet along the Y-Axis and scale it to a smaller size
By doing it this way, the origin will remain in the center which allows me to easily rotate the planet around the sun
I make two more planets and one moon for the third planet
Since I need the moon to circle around the planet, I need to change its origin point
I choose the planet and in Edit Mode, I use SHIFT S and snap the cursor to the selected
In Object Mode, I select the moon, right-click and set origin to 3d cursor
I select the moon and SHIFT-select the planet,
right-click and parent the moon to the planet –
this way, when the planet rotates around the sun, the moon will remain attached to the planet
I add an Area light over the sun and change the Shape to an Ellipse – I also change the Power and Size
I split the viewport and open the Shader Editor
I select the sun and add a new material
I add a Mix Shader and an Emission Shader
I use the Mix Shader to combine the Principled Shader and the Emission Shader
I change the Color of the Emission Shader to a deep yellow [#B78928]
I also change the Strength of the Emission Shader
I add a Noise Texture node and a Color Ramp
I connect the Color of the Noise Texture to the Factor of the Color Ramp
I connect the Color of the Color Ramp to the Factor of the Mix Shader
When I move the black color stop of the Color Ramp, the texture is visible
I can now change the Scale, Detail, and Roughness of the Noise Texture
Under the Render Properties tab, I activate Bloom and change the Intensity
I select the first planet and add a new material
I add a Wave Texture and connect it to the Base Color of the Principled Shader
I change the Texture to Rings, and I change the Distortion amount and Scale
I add a Color Ramp between the Wave Texture and the Principled Shader
I change the black color stop to a red [#9B4C49]
the white color stop to a pink, [#FF698C ]
and add a third color stop and give it a green color
I select the second planet and add a new material
I add a Magic Texture and connect it to the Base Color of the Principled Shader
I change the Depth, Scale, and Distortion
I add a Color Ramp between the Magic Texture and the Principled Shader
I change the black color stop to a purple, [#917CD0 ]
the white color stop to a tan, [#D1B092]
and add a third color stop and give it a green color [#49854D]
I select the third planet and add a new material
I add a Noise Texture and a Color Ramp
When I move the black color stop of the Color Ramp, the land is visible
I can now change the Scale, Detail, and Roughness of the Noise Texture
I change the white color stop to a green [#75FF71]
I change the black color stop to a blue [#37757A]
I select the moon and add a material
I add a Musgrave Texture and a Color Ramp
I change the black color stop to a dark gray [#363636]
and the white color stop to a light gray [#A6A6A6]
Now it is time for the animation
Under the Output Properties tab, I change the Frame Rate to 30
Under the World Properties tab, I change the Background color to pure black
SubtitleI also set up the camera
I open the Item tab of the Properties Panel
I select the first planet and set a keyframe for rotation on frame zero
(this will prevent an obvious extra key during a looping animation)
On frame 250, I change the rotation to 1440 (four rotations around the sun) and add a keyframe
I select the keyframes and open the Interpolation menu using the T-key and choose Linear
I select the second planet and set a keyframe for rotation on frame zero
On frame 250, I change the rotation to 1080 (three rotations around the sun) and add a keyframe
I select the keyframes and open the Interpolation menu using the T-key and choose Linear
I select the third planet and set a keyframe for rotation on frame zero
On frame 250, I change the rotation to 720 (two rotations around the sun) and add a keyframe
I select the keyframes and open the Interpolation menu using the T-key and choose Linear
I select the third planet’s moon and I set a keyframe for rotation on frame zero
On frame 250, I change the rotation to 2520 (seven rotations around the planet) and add a keyframe
I select the keyframes and open the Interpolation menu using the T-key and choose Linear
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