"Stephen" <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> schreef in bericht 
news:cbaq449ghq4ii641qhtms9qq73p5d9qjm6@4ax.com...
>
> Very, very nice Thomas. I hate it when I loose files like that :(
> -- 
>

Thank you Stephen. Yes, I thought I had learned that lesson decades ago, but 
no. I again fell into the same, obvious, trap  ;-)
Not that I complained, because I had some important changes in mind anyway, 
but it is vexing and you feel really silly.

Stephen, I *borrowed* your Bridge Builder's origins of life concept and 
extrapolated a bit further. Hope you don't mind.

Thomas

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"fls13" <fls### [at] netzeronet> schreef in bericht 
news:web.484ddc1df97e4e8989e735d0@news.povray.org...
> Fantastic
>

Thank you :-)

Thomas

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On Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:28:24 +0200, "Thomas de Groot"
<t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> wrote:

>
>"Stephen" <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> schreef in bericht 
>news:cbaq449ghq4ii641qhtms9qq73p5d9qjm6@4ax.com...
>>
>> Very, very nice Thomas. I hate it when I loose files like that :(
>> -- 
>>
>
>Thank you Stephen. Yes, I thought I had learned that lesson decades ago, but 
>no. I again fell into the same, obvious, trap  ;-)
>Not that I complained, because I had some important changes in mind anyway, 
>but it is vexing and you feel really silly.

You certainly do, as I know only too well.

>Stephen, I *borrowed* your Bridge Builder's origins of life concept and 
>extrapolated a bit further. Hope you don't mind.
>
I'm fair chuffed :)
And it's only fair as I used "Rais Abdul ibn Abdullah" in my
description for a TC-IRC. 
Shared worlds!

Less than a week till the voting starts and the entries are coming in.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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"Stephen" <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> schreef in bericht 
news:lubs44pm6mvtsiefuc2keqt0huu4r150hc@4ax.com...
>
>>Stephen, I *borrowed* your Bridge Builder's origins of life concept and
>>extrapolated a bit further. Hope you don't mind.
>>
> I'm fair chuffed :)
> And it's only fair as I used "Rais Abdul ibn Abdullah" in my
> description for a TC-IRC.
> Shared worlds!

It is an interesting notion that opens vistas of Cordwainer Smith-like sagas 
:-)

>
> Less than a week till the voting starts and the entries are coming in.

Yes. As always, there are interesting images there! I am missing Robert.... 
Robert! Where are you?!  :-)

Thomas

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On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:53:05 +0200, "Thomas de Groot"
<t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> wrote:

>
>"Stephen" <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> schreef in bericht 
>news:lubs44pm6mvtsiefuc2keqt0huu4r150hc@4ax.com...
>>
>>>Stephen, I *borrowed* your Bridge Builder's origins of life concept and
>>>extrapolated a bit further. Hope you don't mind.
>>>
>> I'm fair chuffed :)
>> And it's only fair as I used "Rais Abdul ibn Abdullah" in my
>> description for a TC-IRC.
>> Shared worlds!
>
>It is an interesting notion that opens vistas of Cordwainer Smith-like sagas 
>:-)

It does, not unlike Pov Ping Pong. I took a version of Gail's Sci-Fi
experiment and ended up with Riverworld and Lot- 271828 TC-RTC
entries. Shared worlds would do away with the competition element.

>>
>> Less than a week till the voting starts and the entries are coming in.
>
>Yes. As always, there are interesting images there! I am missing Robert.... 
>Robert! Where are you?!  :-)
>

And good ones too :-)
I'm missing Dr. John's who promised an entry. If his iso-surfaces
finished in time
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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"Thomas de Groot" <t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> wrote:
> Once in a while I finish a long-running wip scene ...

> Hope you like it.
>
> Thomas

Truly splendid! Not to be dismissive of the scene's technical merits, which are
also noteworthy, I would like to take a few moments to praise the aesthetic,
compositional and story-telling aspects of the image, which IMHO, set it apart
from and above a number of other images which are also technically impressive.

I don't know whether you've had formal education in composition or were simply
born with "the gift", but it is *SO* nice to see the potential of ray tracing
realized in images wherein the various "objects" are arranged and detailed to
set a mood and tell a story.  I would never name names or criticize an
individual image that someone has worked hard on in this manner, BUT - I've
lost track of the number of times I have had a bifurcated reaction to an image:
Technically, "Wow!" - and to everything else, "Why?" Images like this one really
help to demonstrate that POV-Ray provides a means for real creative expression,
not merely simulating various optical conditions. Bravo!

Best Regrds,
Mike C.

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"Mike the Elder" <nomail@nomail> schreef in bericht 
news:web.484febb4f97e4e85a8888d90@news.povray.org...
>
> Truly splendid! Not to be dismissive of the scene's technical merits, 
> which are
> also noteworthy, I would like to take a few moments to praise the 
> aesthetic,
> compositional and story-telling aspects of the image, which IMHO, set it 
> apart
> from and above a number of other images which are also technically 
> impressive.
>
> I don't know whether you've had formal education in composition or were 
> simply
> born with "the gift", but it is *SO* nice to see the potential of ray 
> tracing
> realized in images wherein the various "objects" are arranged and detailed 
> to
> set a mood and tell a story.  I would never name names or criticize an
> individual image that someone has worked hard on in this manner, BUT - 
> I've
> lost track of the number of times I have had a bifurcated reaction to an 
> image:
> Technically, "Wow!" - and to everything else, "Why?" Images like this one 
> really
> help to demonstrate that POV-Ray provides a means for real creative 
> expression,
> not merely simulating various optical conditions. Bravo!
>

Oh...Hum... You truly make me blush, Mike. Thank you very much indeed for 
your kind analysis.

I have no formal education in composition. There must be a bit of "gift", as 
professional artists seem to be over-represented in my family. However, I 
have learned and been taught from an early age to observe minutely the world 
and the people around me, and that, combined with a fair dosis of 
imagination, forms the solid basis on which I work. I read and scrutinize 
widely the works of artists, whatever their medium or style and try to find 
what makes those works "tick".

I must say that I am a very average drawer and a much worse painter (I have 
tried those and I have happily destroyed most of my disapointing dabblings), 
and I think I am a fairly good photographer, but I have finally found in 
POV-Ray the perfect medium for expressing almost literally the images that 
form in my mind. I consider myself more as an illustrator than as a genuine 
"conceptual" artist however, the "story" almost always taking the lead.

I am very glad you like my work and it encourages me in pursuing my quest in 
the direction I feel is right (at least for me). Like so many others who 
have stimulated me by their often outstanding work - not only technically 
but also in compositing and telling a story - I hope to contribute a little 
bit in my own way to stimulate others.

Regards,

Thomas

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> > Less than a week till the voting starts and the entries are coming in.
>
> Yes. As always, there are interesting images there! I am missing Robert....
> Robert! Where are you?!  :-)
>
> Thomas


WIP here last year. This strikes me as far superior to what I remember from back
then. The trees and the alien seem much improved. The cloth is amazing. I really

book cover (and yes, I love science fiction and have quite a collection).

I know you requested (no - demanded, LOL) a "WOW" image from me for the "Bridge
Builders" competition ... Well, I just started my (hopefully) final render for
"Bridge Builders." Conceptually this topic was really rough for me, but I
finally got the "aha!" moment and started my coding early last week. As seems
to be my norm, I'm working feverishly near the end of the competition to try
and get the scene finished before the deadline.

At first I was using isosurfaces for cliffs, but I abandoned them a few days ago
because rendering times are FAR too slow and I'm out of time (Wings3d to the
rescue!). I spent the last few days tweaking my radiosity and media settings
and doing WIP comparisons on the quality. Anyway, it will be ready for posting
in the next day or two, yay!

Good luck to all who enter,
-Rob

"There is no spoon."

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"Robert McGregor" <rob### [at] mcgregorfineartcom> schreef in bericht 
news:web.4851b7e8f97e4e8bd1b3ad10@news.povray.org...
>
> Hello Thomas, here I am! I remember seeing your original "Why don't you go 
> home"
> WIP here last year. This strikes me as far superior to what I remember 
> from back
> then. The trees and the alien seem much improved. The cloth is amazing. I 
> really
> like this, it's artistic and stylized and inspirational; it could even be 
> a real
> book cover (and yes, I love science fiction and have quite a collection).

Thank you Robert! The changes concerned indeed the trees (much higher mesh 
resolution to close the *breaks* in the branches), the alien which had to be 
modelled again, and the cloth (much higher resolution for a better fold 
render, and a more interesting image_map for the print).
I am working on a fur or hair render (particularly the old man's cape) using 
Maggot's surface macros to be found in the Object Collection. Very promising 
but not yet entirely satisfying. It could however, be a particularly 
interesting application to use in conjunction with Poser, and would solve 
(for the time being) the dynamic hair export problem to POV-Ray.

>
> I know you requested (no - demanded, LOL) a "WOW" image from me for the 
> "Bridge
> Builders" competition ... Well, I just started my (hopefully) final render 
> for
> "Bridge Builders." Conceptually this topic was really rough for me, but I
> finally got the "aha!" moment and started my coding early last week. As 
> seems
> to be my norm, I'm working feverishly near the end of the competition to 
> try
> and get the scene finished before the deadline.

Excellent! I am looking forward to it!!

>
> At first I was using isosurfaces for cliffs, but I abandoned them a few 
> days ago
> because rendering times are FAR too slow and I'm out of time (Wings3d to 
> the
> rescue!). I spent the last few days tweaking my radiosity and media 
> settings
> and doing WIP comparisons on the quality. Anyway, it will be ready for 
> posting
> in the next day or two, yay!

Yes, I know what you mean. I have met exactly the same cliff problems a 
couple of years ago, which made me a bit weary of isosurfaces used in large 
scene settings. I wonder now if Bill Pragnell's Mesh Approximator macro 
could do a good job here. Hmmm... [note to self: look into isosurface cliff 
mesh translation].

>
> Good luck to all who enter,

I second that !

>
> "There is no spoon."
<grin>

Thomas

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> Yes, I know what you mean. I have met exactly the same cliff problems a
> couple of years ago, which made me a bit weary of isosurfaces used in large
> scene settings. I wonder now if Bill Pragnell's Mesh Approximator macro
> could do a good job here. Hmmm... [note to self: look into isosurface cliff
> mesh translation].

I've been playing with the Bill's mesh relief macros for several days. It's a
brilliant piece of work. Nice job there Bill!

I know Tor Olav posted a rewrite of the old isosurface-to-mesh-approximation
macros a few months back - somehow I'd forgotten and your response jogged my
memory. Ah, I just found it here:

http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.scene-files/message/%3C47be20ab%40news.povray.org%3E/#%3C47be20ab%40news.povray.
org%3E

Oh well, too late to use it for this round, but hopefully I'll have better
success than I did with the original Loney version (not much, that is) years
ago.

Well, my bridge builders render had stablized at about 35 pixels/sec and after
15 hours I just noticed that I forgot to turn on the switch for rendering the
little boat, bah! Okay, starting it again... TGIF

-Rob

"There is no spoon."

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