Procedural Nebula in Blender 3.0
Brent PattersonThis is a growing collection of blend files of similar configuration meant to serve as starting points to render your own procedural nebulae. Blender 3.0 - 3.6.2 Cycles now makes these type of procedural volume renders (almost) practical if you have access to a modern GPU. Here are some render time comparisons on various systems:
RTX 3090 5- 20 minutes (up to 60 minutes @4k)
(the April Nebula uses 0.2 volumes steps, so it is a significantly slower (but more detailed render) - about 30+ minutes on a RTX 3090)
RTX 3080 10 minutes
RTX 2070 Super 15 minutes
GTX 1080 27 minutes
GTX 1060 56 minutes
(some of the nebulae blends take significantly longer to render in cycles)
The Readme in the blend files details how to get started using this setup.
I develop new nebula setups frequently, and I'll update this product when I do.
Some intermediate experience with Blender shader nodes is recommended.
License: This is a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 file.
Several .blend files with a fairly simple procedural nebula setup and instructions.