| how to make a sphere look like being inside of a griddy sphere. | |
| 1. Create a new image (Ctrl+N), preferably square. If you make it rectangular, you'll come up with an ellipsoid. |
| 2. Now create a new transparent layer (Ctrl+L, then Ctrl+N), and draw or render something tileable. In my example there's a simple grid (Filters -> Render -> Pattern -> Grid). |
| 3. Grab the Rectangular Select tool (R) and select roughly the left half of the pattern. Cut the selection (Ctrl+X). |
| 4. Create another new transparent layer (Ctrl+L, then Ctrl+N). Paste what you've just cut into that layer (Ctrl+V). |
| 5. Anchor the selection (Ctrl+H). Offset (Ctrl+Shift+O) the "left" part so that the image looks just before you split it. Alternatively, drag the selection with the mouse to the desired position, and Anchor it afterwards. Make sure that the image looks just like in step 2. |
| 6. Map either of the layers to a sphere (Filters -> Map -> Map Object) with Y Rotation close to -90 or +90 [slightly different values may look more pleasing; I used -95] and X Rotation close to 0 [again, variation will often make it look better; I used +30]. You may also play with Z rotation, but you don't have to. Check "Transparent Background" in General Options before running the filter. |
| 7. Do the same thing to the other layer (Ctrl+L, highlight the layer, then Alt+F or Filters -> Repeat Last). You now have a neat sphere. And you may put things inside it! |
| 8. All that remains is to insert a layer between the two previously created. Filling it with content is up to you. I rendered a smaller sphere as an example.
As you can see there is a white halo to the grid, evidently the result of mapping. If it bothers you, start off with an image two or three times as large as desired, and scale it down (Image -> Scale Image) in step 7. Be warned that steps 6 and 7 will take a long time to complete on older machines if you do. |