On 30/10/2014 02:59, Bald Eagle wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>
>> And I have noticed that people who do what you are doing....
>
> Rough layout and then piecewise elaboration and improvement?
>

That too but I really meant exposing your early WIPs to public scrutiny 
and criticism.
One advantage, other than the practical help. Is that as we see the 
piece develop, we become involved and have a greater appreciation of it. 
Which translates into a higher score.


>> I disagree with all the comments about the "hidden" passage. I think
>> that you have got it just right. It is magical, you know. And doesn't
>> need to be realistic.
>>
>> But I think the carpet should be scaled a bit wider
>
> I have sort of wondered exactly how this was supposed to work:
>
> The whole of the centre of the floor had disappeared into the wall opposite to
> the fireplace, and the rough steps led down into a kind of passage that ran in
> the direction of the unfinished house.  "This is the entrance," said Jennings,
> "it works from a concealed button on the wall.  Electricity is used.  You see
> why the sides of the floor are left bare; the carpet has quite disappeared.
>
> Trying to translate this gadget from the book into something visual, I recall a
> quote from someone working on the movie Jacob's Ladder speaking to the author -
> "Just tell me one thing: How may carpenters do I need to build "the void"?
>
The answer is, if you believe your bible, One and his dad. ;-)
One thing I have noticed is that Povs cameras do not match the "mind's 
eye" camera. Sometimes what authors write cannot be realised in reality. 
So you can only show what you think works.



> I started out by copy-pasting his code - I think perhaps it's the scale of the
> texturing, the distance of the camera from the floor, or the smoothness of the
> floorboards that may give rise to that effect.  I've got a few things that I'm
> modifying in the floor code, so I think that will incrementally improve as I
> work through all the facets to weed out all of the glitches and artefacts, and
> polish things up.
>

I just mentioned it to add to your list. :-)

>> Anyway, great work so far. :-)
>
> Thanks very much, Stephen - a lot of the things I've played with in the past
> have been a bit simplistic, and I've often looked at the work of the Masters
> here and wondered how I would ever do anything like THAT, so it means a lot to
> hear that I'm catching on.
>

You are and at a fast pace too.

> So here I am, 1900 lines, a dozen include files, and a WIP directory with over
> 500 files and >150MB of sample images, etc....   and maybe a little carpal
> tunnel inflammation  ;)
>

The way of the world. :-)
Recently I transferred all of my PovRay and Poser files from an old 
machine to a new one. It took all night via WiFi. Now I have to do it 
again to a desktop machine.
BTW Did you know that it is possible to type with your elbows?
Another non-standard typing method I have come across is typing with 
your thumb and first two or three fingers pressed together for strength. 
I noticed this when I worked for a newspaper. The "ex-hot metal" 
compositors typed like that.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message