For this video I used JAXA/SELENE's topographic map of the Moon for VrayDisplaceMaterial which I then applied to a sphere, along with AdvancedVrayMaterial with the Moon surface map by Jens Meyer for both diffuse and specular layers. The Moon is lit with a parallel light, and animated through all it's phases.
Original 16 seconds animation (@24 fps) took about 10 hours to render so I used TwixtorPro plugin to slow it down to 3% (hence this slight unnatural movement of the shadows if you pay close attention to details).
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata) came in naturally, and suited the video perfectly, as I had expected.
*For best visual experience make sure to watch in full screen mode, 1080p! Enjoy!
