"Ryan Constantine" <rcc### [at] ucdavisedu> wrote in message
news:3A82D6C5.5905212B@ucdavis.edu...
> > I am a purist at heart and hate image_maps so I feel the site should
only
> > contain procedural textures.
> how is it that procedural textures are more 'pure' than imagemaps?
> aren't they both art?  isn't the idea to make the best image as
> possible?  why is a limited toolbox better than a full one?  do
> mechanics try to fix cars with only cresent wrenches?

  Nope, but they also can't say they rebuilt an engine if they ordered it
ready to drop in the car..

> do carpenters
> only use hammers and saws?

  Nope, but if they bought a kit that contained the entire deck precut to
length and ready to hammer, its not the same work of art it'd be if they did
it themselves.. :-)

>  even ancient woodworkers had a multitude of
> tools to choose from.  should painters only use oil paints?  should
> sculpters only use marble?  i love povray and i love procedural
> textures, but i don't appreciate 'holier than thou' attitudes about the
> way a 3d image should be made.

  Its just two different worlds.  If you compare a photographers work with
that of someone doing an oil painting, one side would say the oil painting
required a whole lot more skill.  Just depends on how you look at it.  They
both have the capacity to create very moving and awe inspiring work, but
they are different worlds.

> pov vs expensive package, procedural vs
> nonprocedural, hand scripted vs modeled; it's all a bunch of nonsense.

  And the painter would say that the photographer has it easy, and vice
versa..  :-)

> certainly, when someone makes a superior image based only on hand coded
> script and procedural textures, praise is well earned.  however, you may
> have noticed, this rarely happens.  the best images from pov have come
> from those artists like gilles tran and h.e. day who have as many tools
> as they can get their hands on and have learned when and when not to use
> them.  and what about professionals?  have they all gone to the 'dark
> side' because they use tools other than pov?  are their images worth
> less than an advanced pov image?  i don't think so.  of course, you (and
> many readers here) may disagree, but i wanted to get my opinion out
> there.

  Everyone has an opinion.  I think that the art created from any method is
well worth it, but some artists look at others differently.  One who creates
a procedural method likes his way, and another who breaks out a paint
program and creates a corresponding bump map/image map combo likes it his
way.  Both can turn out just as nicely.

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