Create a Starry Sky with the Arnold Skydome

In this short video tutorial (just five minutes long) we explain how to create a starry sky in Maya with just a few clicks, using the Arnold Skydome. Using an HDRI night sky texture map (Google one to get started), we can create a night sky effect with little or no effort, using the Arnold Renderer.  To see the step by step plan, follow the outline below. You can find the tutorial video at YouTube here.

Lighting a Night Sky with the Arnold Skydome at YouTube

Create a Starry Sky in Maya - Work Method

1. Create your project in Maya, and set to it
2. Google HDRI night sky, and select a starry sky. Download it, and copy it to your Source Images folder in your Maya project
3. In the dropdown menu (top left) select Rendering
4. Find the Arnold menu top right. Lights > Skydome Light
5. With the Skydome selected, go to the Attribute Editor (Ctrl+A for shortcut). Go to the aiSkyDomeLightShape1 tab
6. Then click on the Input button of the Color, and a pop up will appear. Pick File option
7. Where it says Image Name, select the folder icon, and upload your HDRI file
8. You can download many sky types from the web, so you can easily change from night to day
9. With the Skydome selected, within the attribute editor change the intensity about 3
10. Go to the Arnold menu at the top again and select Render to open the render view to test the results.

Create a Starry Sky in Maya - YouTube Video 

You can find the Arnold Skydome video at YouTube here.

Lighting at Animation Apprentice

To find more lighting and rendering resources at Animation Apprentice, follow the links below:

• Export a Render Sequence in Arnold
• Arnold Sky Shader Tutorial (Very Simple)
• Arnold Physical Sky Tutorial - Super Basic (and v quick) Lighting Setup
• Why Does Maya Batch Render Too Dark?
• Why Has Arnold Disappeared From Maya?
• Arnold Video Tutorial Playlist
• Physical Sun and Sky in Mental Ray (Maya 2016 and below)
• Free Lighting Tutorials with Pixar's Jeremy Birn (useful for theory)

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.