How can I wrap an image around a sphere?

Justin Kelly

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Jul 21, 2001, 2:36:38 PM7/21/01

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I am looking to tak ethis image:
http://www.solarviews.com/b/earth/earthlights.jpg (well, half of it
since you can only look at half of a sphere at one time) and make it
looke as if you were looking at earth at nigh from space.

I guess this would mean applying some kind of spherical wrap to it, to
shrink the top and bottom portions and the edges to account for the 3-d
nature of a sphere (the globe) but how could I actually do this with the
Gimp?

Thanks in advance,
-Justin Kelly

Michael Spunt

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Jul 22, 2001, 7:44:14 AM7/22/01

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Hi Justin!

> I am looking to tak ethis image:
> http://www.solarviews.com/b/earth/earthlights.jpg (well, half of it
> since you can only look at half of a sphere at one time) and make it
> looke as if you were looking at earth at nigh from space.

The tool you're looking for is "Map to Object". Right click on your image,
select "Filters"-->"Map"-->"Object Map..." and select "Map to: Sphere" from
the options.

A little hint: For a correct mapping, you'll need to use the image "as is",
ie 800x400 and later scale the result to 400x400 or whatever you need.

Hope it helps!

--

CU, Michael

--=[ t0m...@gmx.de ]=--
--=[ http://www.technoid.f2s.com ]=--

Branko Collin

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Jul 22, 2001, 10:21:15 AM7/22/01

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On Sun, 22 Jul 2001 13:44:14 +0200, "Michael Spunt" <t0m...@gmx.de>
wrote:
>Justin:

>> I am looking to tak ethis image:
>> http://www.solarviews.com/b/earth/earthlights.jpg (well, half of it
>> since you can only look at half of a sphere at one time) and make it
>> looke as if you were looking at earth at nigh from space.
>
>The tool you're looking for is "Map to Object". Right click on your image,
>select "Filters"-->"Map"-->"Object Map..." and select "Map to: Sphere" from
>the options.
>
>A little hint: For a correct mapping, you'll need to use the image "as is",
>ie 800x400 and later scale the result to 400x400 or whatever you need.

Hm, I get a picture that is cut off before the poles. I suggest adding
100 pixels or so above and below the current image.

--
branko collin
col...@xs4all.nl

Justin Kelly

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Jul 22, 2001, 7:07:35 PM7/22/01

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Michael Spunt wrote:

> Hi Justin!
>
> > I am looking to tak ethis image:
> > http://www.solarviews.com/b/earth/earthlights.jpg (well, half of it
> > since you can only look at half of a sphere at one time) and make it
> > looke as if you were looking at earth at nigh from space.
>
> The tool you're looking for is "Map to Object". Right click on your image,
> select "Filters"-->"Map"-->"Object Map..." and select "Map to: Sphere" from
> the options.
>
> A little hint: For a correct mapping, you'll need to use the image "as is",
> ie 800x400 and later scale the result to 400x400 or whatever you need.
>
> Hope it helps!

Thanks! that looks about it. I had found the script fu to animate the spinning
globe, but this one is great, it give me more power.

-justin

Justin Kelly

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Jul 22, 2001, 7:10:33 PM7/22/01

to

> Hm, I get a picture that is cut off before the poles. I suggest adding
> 100 pixels or so above and below the current image.

No, I think that is realisticanything at the pols won't show because it is
aproching a perpendicular line of sight, however you have given me a great idea
on how to add the impression of viewing the earth from above or below the axis.

-Justin Kelly