How do you create a 3D star-field in maya

RAJ

So I'm trying to animate a star ship flying towards a planet, but I need to create a star-field for it first, I already know how too create it with planes and paint effects, but I think i'm supposed to make it 3D, like surrounding the scene so I can move the camera around the spaceship, I've been looking through google but I thought I'd post here as well incase someone can give me a better or faster answer

Piflik

If you want it realistic, you should map a Starfield on a Sphere surrounding your scene...the scale difference between Spaceships and Starfields is sooo immense, you will never see Stars moving relatively to each other when you rotate the camera around a ship...there is abslutely no need to create a 3D Starfield, unless you move with relativistic speeds, but then you'll have to take further effects into account...the only celestial bodies you need in 3D are the System's Sun(s), the Planet and its Moon(s), maybe other Planets, but even them you wouldn't normally see...I once started to model our Sunsystem to scale, but I abandoned it, because you don't see a fucking thing

r_fletch_r

Why dont you paint the paint effects onto the inside of a sphere surrounding your scene.

kodde

I second paint effects. Works fine and quite effortless.