Dotted Globe Generator
Make a dotted globe that spins: rings of dots from pole to pole, the far side showing through. At speed 1 it turns once in 12 seconds, so a clip loops cleanly.
What is a dotted globe?
A dotted globe is a sphere drawn as a grid of dots in place of a solid surface, and it's a common graphic for anything global or networked. This one is a plain sphere with no continents on it. The dots sit in rings of latitude running from pole to pole.
Each ring holds however many dots keep them evenly spaced. Rings near the poles hold only a few, and the equator holds about twice as many as there are rings. At the default 26 rings that adds up to 860 dots, and at 64 to around 5,200. You're looking at it in orthographic projection, the way a hemisphere looks from far out in space. Dots on the far side are drawn first and dimmer, so they show through the gaps.
How to make a spinning dotted globe
Rings is how many rings of dots run from pole to pole, between 6 and 64. Dot size is how big each dot is as a share of the gap between rings. Radius sizes the globe relative to the frame's height, and Tilt leans it toward you by up to 80 degrees in either direction.
Speed controls the spin, and below 0 it turns the other way. Far side sets how much of the back you can see through the front. Dots and Background are the two colors, and you can start from the Globe, Dense, Signal, Beads or Pole presets.
Settings for a hero globe, a story post and a short GIF
Hero globe for a tech or travel site: use the Signal preset (#3df2c8 dots on #06122a, Far side 0.55, Tilt 35) with Radius 0.42. The globe then fills most of the frame's height, and the dots on the far side add depth.
Story post: pick 9:16 under Settings and bring Radius down to 0.28 or lower. At the default 0.38, the globe is 76 percent of the frame's height across, which is wider than a 9:16 frame, since that's only 56 percent as wide as it is tall.
Short GIF: at Speed 2 the globe turns once every 6 seconds, so record 6 seconds. Rings 18 with Dot size 0.6 gives about 400 bigger dots, and those hold up better inside GIF's 960-pixel limit than 860 small ones do.
Does the dotted globe loop cleanly?
Yes, as long as the clip lasts a whole number of turns. Each dot's position depends only on the time, and one turn takes 12 ÷ Speed seconds: 12 at Speed 1, 6 at 2, 4 at 3. The slowest setting that finishes a turn within the 30 seconds this page records is Speed 0.4.
If a clip stops partway through a turn, it'll jump back when it repeats. Tilt, Rings and Radius have no effect on the timing.
Saving a dotted globe
Dots get dimmer toward the rim and the far side is fainter, so the globe has more shades in it than its two colors suggest. MP4 keeps every one of them, and GIF manages with Dither ticked. A still saves as PNG with crisp round dots. JPG blurs small dots into soft smudges.
If you want a field of points without the sphere, Particle Background Generator has a Stars kind that twinkles in place.