How to make a more realistic starfield?

[grooovylim]

had followed a tip from Scott Kelby's Down and Dirty Tricks and managed to create an instant starfield for a poster that I did for a school project. But the effect didn't really turned out well and it looked more like lice from the hair :P

Do anyone have a better alternative to creating a starfield? Thanks in advance for the help rendered:)

P.S. I've attached the image of the poster and a close up on the stars for a better check at the situation


http://web.singnet.com.sg/~chlim79/images/robotposter1.jpg


http://web.singnet.com.sg/~chlim79/images/starscloseup.jpg

[Edited on 2-1-2003 by grooovylim]

[JimmyPin]

filter>noise>add noise (on a black layer) can create a realistic effect, of course you'll have to play around w/ levels and other effects to add that realistic touch, but that's no biggy if u love to experiment. (radial blur set to zoom can make u fly through the stars!)
(if time allows i may post direct steps to star field creation)
cool image!
http://smilies.crowd9.com/contrib/edoom/spacecraft.gif

[Edited on 2-1-2003 by JimmyPin]

[JimmyPin]

image>adjustments>posterize is a good method for decreasing the number of stars renderd by adding noise (set lvl to about 2)

[grooovylim]

ok thanks jimmypin i think i;ll go try that out

[kiwicolin]

Try my tut here: http://www.planetphotoshop.com/smith1.html

[grooovylim]

hey thanks colin! I must say that was the easiest way to create a starfield ( with that fill set to dissolve function)

But what if i want a "non motion" starfield with stars of varying sizes? (i.e. without that warp space effect)

[sonicfusion]

ermm non-motion...maybe i try explain it, sorry if ya dun understand my explaination.

1) new layer
2) fill the background with black in the new layer.
3) put some noise
4) then Gaussian blur, dun too much..about 0.5 or less.
5) invert it (ctrl+I)
6) then go level (ctrl+L)
7) drag the arrow that from left to right, OK
8) then add something u want, like maybe Hue it, or add some soft brush, reduce the opacity, to make it like sparkling.

enjoy, hope it helps :)

[Elgreco]

You start with your image and add noise and then if your background is white just invert it and then Image>Adjust>Threshold..I like this because you can control the number of stars..then when your threshold window opens adjust the slider toward the black then you can just add bigger stars with the paintbrush or use the custom brush that looks like a star and you can adjust the size of it.

Pete