There are tons of tutorials describing how to draw our Earth. But all of them are static and they only show the Earth from one side. It is more interesting to see the globe rotating. I’ve decided to fill this gap and write a tutorial devoted to the Earth’s rotation.
Tip: If you want to repeat my steps using the picture resolution that I use, make sure your computer is powerful enough to handle it. Otherwise, you can reduce all the parameters and work with smaller images. I prefer to work with larger resolution, because I want to have more freedom while editing images, and to save the resulting image at a smaller size for better quality.
The first part of the project will be done in Photoshop. Open Photoshop and create a new 600×600 px document with a transparent background. Select the Ellipse tool, set the Shape Layers in the tool’s properties and draw a circle in the center sized 500×500 px. It doesn’t matter what color you use. This will be the basis for our globe. Call this layer Back.
Now apply the following Blending Options: Inner Shadow and Gradient Overlay .
And don’t forget to set the Opacity at 40%. It should look like this:
Duplicate this layer, hide the lower layer, and for the upper layer set the parameters for Blending Options as follows:
Also set Opacity at 60%. Call this layer “Background”. You should have something like this:
Duplicate this layer once more, hide the lower layer, and for the upper layer change Blending Options in the following way:
Set Opacity at 100%, and call this layer Foreground. You will have something like this:
Now hide these circles, we’ll get back to them later. We need these three circles for showing different parts of the Earth: first for the transparent part, second for the continents, which are moving from the invisible side of the Earth, third for continents which are moving from the visible side. Now I’ll show you how it looks in reality.
Download a file containing the map of the earth’s surface from here and import it into your document. It fits the height, but it is a little wider than we need. Everything is OK, just make the canvas wider too: set the width to 2000 pixels.
For our goals we need a stretched map. Duplicate the map layer, then move it to any side by 800 px. Merge all map layers. Repeat this procedure moving layers to the opposite side. The result looks like this:
Duplicate this layer so that you get two maps. Send backward one of them until it’s place is under the Foreground layer (I’ll call this layer “Map Foreground”). Do the same for the other layer until it is situated under the Background layer (I’ll call this layer Map Background). This is how my panel with the layers looks.:
Now Ctrl+click on one of the circle layers, then select the map layer and Add Layer Mask. Repeat this procedure for the second map layer. Then unlink Layer Masks. After that select the Foreground layer and create a clipping mask. Do the same for the Background layer. You’ll get the following in the layers list:
Now make all layers visible and look at what you’ve done:
Here, we can clearly discern the contours of the continents and our home planet. However, only the front part of the globe is visible, and the back one, semi-transparent, is hidden, because it corresponds to the front part and is covered by it. The front layer continents will be moving from left to right and on the back layer, vice versa, from right to left.
Correspondently, you have to flip the map on the front layer horizontally. Also you need to shift the front or back map in such a way that Foreground map will show one part of the map and Background map – its opposite part (just move the layer with map left or right). This is how it looks after the shift:
Now we can see both front and back parts of the globe. In general, if you don’t want to use animation we can stop right here. We’ve created another static picture of the Earth.
But we’ll continue our learning process and finish our tutorial in ImageReady. Proceed to ImageReady.
Now we’ll talk about the most simple and interesting part. It is simple because we did all the preliminary work, and interesting because in only several simple steps we’ll create an animation. Press the Duplicate Current Frame button. In a new frame move the Map Foreground layer with the help of the Move tool by 800 pixels to the left, and Map Background layer by 800 pixels to the right. Then press the Tween button…. Set the following parameters:
Use the Crop tool for cropping the globe to the size you need and save it.
Now you have your own rotating Earth. Enjoy it!
Thanks, Nice tut.
It’s really nice
thanks; it’s verry nice .
Nice…. but… did you notice that the continents are in the wrong orientation in the final image?
Somebody helps me these steps please. I tried many times but I coundn’t “Now Ctrl+click on one of the circle layers, then select the map layer and Add Layer Mask. Repeat this procedure for the second map layer. Then unlink Layer Masks. After that select the Foreground layer and create a clipping mask. Do the same for the Background layer. You’ll get the following in the layers list:’
nice but i have problems on putting the downloaded form of the map on there. but its ok ill get it
I am also having the same problem as ngohieu6981. When following the steps specified it does not allow you to select the layer mask. Please help!
Thanks
This is reali kool. I never thought photoshop can do this I use to think this kinda thing can only be done in flash
Really nice tutorial !
@ngohieu6981 and @danielblackman : you can find “Add Layer Mask” at the bottom of the layers palette, the third icon from the left. Then you’ll notice that next to your thumbnail on your current layer is a new ..thumbnail and they are linked together. You’ll see something like e little chain between them. Click on the chain an there you have : you unlinked them :)
To create a Clipping Mask press Alt key and click between the map layer and the foreground/background layer. You’ll notice that your cursor will change.
OK I saved the map image but when I duplicate and line up the layers, the white background covers each layer. What am I doing wrong?
Never mind… I figured it out!!! Thanks :)
When I crop it I end up cropping part of the map, so in the animation part of the map is cut off.
Hi ,
Nice job but i cannot understand the part about second map layer once we merged the map layers ,there is only one map layer.
thanks
Flip the background map horizontally instead of the foreground map
I dont have adobe image ready but i heard animations can be done in cs3, could you update the tutorial or point me in the direction of one which can help me animate the globe with cs3 please?
I work the first time wiht fotshop. I use photshop CS4.
Do you have this discription in CS4. Than i must not try so much.
these parameter which you are using I do not find very well.
Wow nice brow…thanks…!
NIce tutorial. I don’t who still uses image ready. But there is a way to do the same motion tweening in flash.
you would distribute your photoshop layers into flash layers. Set key frames and different positions for the map layers. then add a motion tween to the key frames for the different positions , where you set your map layers on the stage
The map is backward. Also, the map doubles up on some continents as you are moving two flat layers around a spherical object so it overlaps. But still, nice tutorial!
Thank u v much for providing rotating earth tutporial.
its very nice tutorial.
so nice>I will try
so nice.
Thank you
hello, I know where the layer mask button is however it will not allow me to select it. I am using a Vector image that I have edited for my map. Thought of rasterizing map images but that does not allow me to apply a layer mask either. using CS4
it is a very good and better technicue
please there are this same tutorial but in video so that the novices we cannot follow the tutorial
it’s realy good to learn something new.
best ever seen a photoshop tutorial.
best one really…..
Very nice I still use the photo 6.0 with image ready and love it.
pls help me im having a problem with tis tutorial.As my end results is de map isnt a transparent to circle i did n i duno how..mayb can add me msn if someone know .PLS HELP AS IT URGENT~~
xenolim@hotmail.com
nice one, very nice tutorial
very nice tutorial i now have a idea how to use the animation tab in photoshop…but i think the glob u have was spherized to get that round look..maybe im wrong…
anywy im having a huge problem of getting to the globe to actuall looking like it’s spining that’s my only problem i have can anyone help me?
Nice post. I like you are page.
I live in myanmar.
I like Design…. I need cordial friendship to you. ok
Your site is interesting and helpful. i can create some animation on my own now. Kindly help me as my end result on earth rotation is not correct. It is not rotating and i’m on able to find the other part of the map both on the transparent and front layers. thanks and god bless.
Animation wont work for me. Ive tried everything
good job…
I tried your tutorial and it’s great. I seem to be stuck in the Image Ready steps. Whenever I tried moving the “Map Foreground” layer right 800 px, it affects the first frame. So when I make it into a tween as you instructed, I get 32 frames of the same image. Help please?
It’s simply super……………………………………………
So nice
thank u.
ya nice….
Hey
Good tutorial
My rating:
4.5/5
Because of:
Not well explained,Very hard to follow,not much details on colors and also moves to fast.
Exellent.. mind blowing…