Hi everyone!
I've recently gotten into taking nice scenery/vista shots, and decided to share with everyone my method of aligning other bodies such as planets, stars and moons to get that perfect angle. Here is that guide.
First of all, find a nice planet. Maybe a nice gas giant with rings, and a very close moon. Or perhaps a ringed star with nearby binary planets. For this guide, I found a blue ringed gas giant with a moon orbiting just 1.67Ls away.
As you approach the planet you want to land on, target the body you want to line up with for the shot, whether that be a planet, star, or moon.
Continue approaching the planet you are going to be landing on. Once you get close to it, orientate your ship so that the planet you targeted is behind you. Your HUD should look like the screenshot below, with the targeted planet directly below the center of the panel.
Aim just above the planet you are landing on, and as you prepare to enter orbit, keep an eye on the targeted planet on your panel, and make adjustments so that it stays directly below the center of the panel like in the picture above, as this indicates that it's behind you. As you can see in the picture below, I went off-center a bit when adjusting for orbit. You want to bring that targeted planet back around so it's behind you again.
Once you have entered orbital cruise, continue checking to make sure the planet is still behind you, and then circle around the planet so that you are facing it. Remember to dip your nose down slightly frequently to make sure you don't go too far.
Notice how the targeted planet is now showing as being in front of me, as on the panel, the end of the line coming from the targeted planet is inside the cone radiating out from the center of the panel. At this point, you want to pitch downwards until the actual planet symbol is inside the cone at the top. Once you've done this, the targeted planet should be clearly visible. Once you can see it on the screen, continue rotating around the planet you are landing on until the bottom of the targeted planet is somewhere around the green orbital line, as shown below. It doesn't have to be exactly on the line, it's fine if it's a little more or less. It also depends on the size of the targeted planet, and the kind of shot you are going for.
Once it looks roughly like the picture above, start your descent towards the surface. Try and find a nice landing spot that you think will have a nice outlook. I decided to go for the edge of that second trench, about where the '-20' on my HUD is. Once landed, take the photo. Below is the result of mine.
I hope people find this guide useful, I enjoyed making it, and this method has worked wonders for other shots like these:
I've recently gotten into taking nice scenery/vista shots, and decided to share with everyone my method of aligning other bodies such as planets, stars and moons to get that perfect angle. Here is that guide.
First of all, find a nice planet. Maybe a nice gas giant with rings, and a very close moon. Or perhaps a ringed star with nearby binary planets. For this guide, I found a blue ringed gas giant with a moon orbiting just 1.67Ls away.
As you approach the planet you want to land on, target the body you want to line up with for the shot, whether that be a planet, star, or moon.
Continue approaching the planet you are going to be landing on. Once you get close to it, orientate your ship so that the planet you targeted is behind you. Your HUD should look like the screenshot below, with the targeted planet directly below the center of the panel.
Aim just above the planet you are landing on, and as you prepare to enter orbit, keep an eye on the targeted planet on your panel, and make adjustments so that it stays directly below the center of the panel like in the picture above, as this indicates that it's behind you. As you can see in the picture below, I went off-center a bit when adjusting for orbit. You want to bring that targeted planet back around so it's behind you again.
Once you have entered orbital cruise, continue checking to make sure the planet is still behind you, and then circle around the planet so that you are facing it. Remember to dip your nose down slightly frequently to make sure you don't go too far.
Notice how the targeted planet is now showing as being in front of me, as on the panel, the end of the line coming from the targeted planet is inside the cone radiating out from the center of the panel. At this point, you want to pitch downwards until the actual planet symbol is inside the cone at the top. Once you've done this, the targeted planet should be clearly visible. Once you can see it on the screen, continue rotating around the planet you are landing on until the bottom of the targeted planet is somewhere around the green orbital line, as shown below. It doesn't have to be exactly on the line, it's fine if it's a little more or less. It also depends on the size of the targeted planet, and the kind of shot you are going for.
Once it looks roughly like the picture above, start your descent towards the surface. Try and find a nice landing spot that you think will have a nice outlook. I decided to go for the edge of that second trench, about where the '-20' on my HUD is. Once landed, take the photo. Below is the result of mine.
I hope people find this guide useful, I enjoyed making it, and this method has worked wonders for other shots like these: