This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. I'm going to show you how to create
this cinematic, interstellar scene of a massive, frozen, ice planet in deep space.
I provided this ice surface texture that you cand download. Its link is in my video's description or
project files. This tutorial is an update of one that I did 8 years ago. The methods that I'll show
you in this one are more efficient and nuanced. Before we begin, if you haven't yet subscribed
to my channel, smash that "Subscribe" button to let you know as soon as I upload new Photoshop
tutorials. Create a new document by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + N or by going to File and New. Make it
1920 pixels by 1080 pixels with a resolution of 150 pixels per inch. The Color Mode is RGB and
8 bits per channel. If the box isn't black, click it and pick black. Then, click "Create" or press
Enter or Return. This layer will become our star field. We'll convert the black base into a Smart
Object, so we can adjust the brightness, quantity, and density of the stars at any time. To do this,
click the icon at the upper, right of the Layers panel and click "Convert to Smart Object".
Go to Filter, Noise, and "Add Noise". Make the Amount 80%, Gaussian, and Monochromatic.
Then, click OK or press Enter or Return. Go back to Filter, Blur and Gaussian Blur. Blur it 0.3
pixels. Open Levels by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + L. Make the Input black level: 200 and the Input
white level: 220, however, feel free to adjust these levels if you want. Open the ice texture I
provided. We'll convert it into a Smart Object, so we can modify it nondestructively. Go to Filter,
Distort, and Spherize. The Amount is 100%. Click OK or press Enter or Return. Repeat
the filter by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F on Windows or Cmd + Ctrl + F on a Mac.
Go to Back to Filter, Sharpen and Smart Sharpen. Make the Amount 400% and the Radius 2 pixels.
Smart Sharpen sharpens an image by creating thinner, less noticeable halos around edges
resulting in a cleaner image. Open the Elliptical Marquee Tool and go to a corner. Press and hold
the Shift key as you drag out a circular selection to the opposite corner. Pressing Shift kept the
selection as a perfect circle. Go to Select, Modify, and Contract. Contract it by 4 pixels.
Go back to Select, Modify and Feather. Feather it 2 pixels.
Click the Layer Mask icon to make a layer mask of the selection next to the planet. We'll place the
planet onto our star field by pressing "v" to open back our Move Tool and dragging it
onto the tab of the star field. Without releasing your mouse or pen, press and hold the Shift key
as you drag it down and release. Pressing Shift kept the planet centered over the star
field. Press and hold the Shift key again as you drag it down approximately this far.
Double-click an empty area of the planet's layer to open its Layer Style window. Click Outer Glow.
The Blend Mode is Screen, the Opacity is 60% and the Noise is 0. If the box isn't white,
click it and pick white. The Technique is Softer, the Spread is 0% and the Size is 35 pixels. The
Contour is Linear and the Range is 50%. Click Inner Glow. The Blend Mode is Screen, the Opacity
is 100% and the Noise is 0. The color is white, the Technique is Softer and the Source is Edge.
The Choke is 0% and the Size is 75 pixels. The Contour is Linear and the Range is 50%.
Convert it into a Smart Object. Double-click an empty area of the layer to open its Layer
Style window. Click Outer Glow and the color box. Type into the hexadecimal field: 00C0FF.
Then, click OK or press Enter or Return. The Blend Mode is Lighten,
the Opacity is 20% and the Size is 250 pixels. Open the Contour list. Click the gear icon
and click the Small or Large List. Click "Cone Inverted". The Range is 40%.
Click the Adjustment Layer icon and click "Hue/Saturation".
Check "Colorize" and for the Hue, type in 220. The Saturation is 25 and the Lightness is 0. Next,
we'll place most of our planet in shadow, but before we do, let's save some space in the
Layers panel by collapsing the effects. Make the planet layer active and make a new layer above it.
Ctrl-click or Cmd-click the planet to select its shape. Go to Select, Modify,
and Feather. Feather it 50 pixels. We'll fill the selection with black. Check your foreground
and background colors. If they aren't black and white respectively, press "D" on your keyboard
or click this icon. Since our foreground color is black, press Alt or Option + Delete. Then,
deselect it by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + D. Open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T.
At the top, make sure the chain-link icon is active. This links the Transform's width
and the height. In either one, type in 160 and press Enter or Return. Press "v" to open your
Move Tool and press and hold the Shift key as you drag the shadow down approximately this far.
Make a new layer and create a selection of the planet. Click the Layer Mask icon to make a
layer mask of the selection next to the empty layer. Whatever we place into the empty layer
will be confined to the inside of the white area of the layer mask. Make the empty layer active
and open your brush tool. Invert the colors by pressing "x" on your keyboard. Open the Brush
picker and make its size 800 pixels. Pick a soft, round brush. The Hardness is 0 % and the Opacity
and Flow are both 100%. Place your brush between the planet and the star field and click once.
Make the star field active and make a new layer above it. Open your Brush picker again
and increase the size to 1100 pixels. Place your brush at approximately the same location as before
and click once. Lastly, we'll add a dramatic lens flare. We'll create a composite snapshot
of our image, so we can position the lens flare correctly. Make the top adjustment layer active
and press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E on Windows or Cmd + Option + Shift + E on a Mac. Go to Filter,
Render, and Lens Flare. The Brightness is 75% and the Lens Type is 50-300mm Zoom.
Drag the flare in the Preview window to the top of the planet.
Now that we positioned the lens flare, press the "Delete" key to delete the composite snapshot.
Make a new layer and fill it with black.
Change its Blend Mode to Screen and repeat the last filter we used.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!