It is ever the case that even the strictest occupations of logic are 
discharged with some modicum of faith and likewise the most ardent 
occupations of faith with some modicum of logic. It is therefore that no 
inarguable effect of pristine logic or faith has yet been recorded. Their 
combined effect is, however, generally accepted and well documented.

The matter in which logic and faith readily coalesce to a demonstrable 
composite effect is observable in the form and fortitude of the flame-like 
bronze construction (suien – lit. “water flame”) present near the top of the 
pagoda finial (sorin). The sorin functions as a lightning rod, and the 
“water flame” as a literal and symbolic ward against fire. Here now, the 
suien stands resolutely in the path of an approaching storm, and here yet, 
the pagoda remains, a stalwart testimonial to engineering and superstition, 
enduring a primordial offense.

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you're under 100-years-old and aren't familiar with the tc-rtc, you might 
be wondering why I'm "talking" like that. Check it out. There are currently 
16 entries, all celebrating a 19th-century textbook. I am fond of the 
writing style.

Anyone can register to comment or vote, so if you'd like to see and comment 
on what amounts to two-months-worth of quality p.b.i uploads -or- if I've 
pissed you off in p.o-t and you want to give my entry all 1s, go to the site 
and have a look around. http://www.tc-rtc.co.uk/

---------------------------------------------------------------

This is my entry. It's cropped for the tc-rtc. It's meant to be cropped. As 
a still, it's better cropped. But I'm giving you the full scrollbar-driven 
animated tour. Hand-coded on my Model(er)-M.

-Shay

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Attachments:
Download 'pagoda1.jpg' (550 KB)

Preview of image 'pagoda1.jpg'

"Shay" <non### [at] nonecom> wrote:

> This is my entry. It's cropped for the tc-rtc. It's meant to be cropped. As
> a still, it's better cropped. But I'm giving you the full scrollbar-driven
> animated tour. Hand-coded on my Model(er)-M.
>

Wow! that is a masterpiece, I now feel like I need to purchase a 6ft monitor so
I can really appreciate all the detail without the need to scroll down. Aside
from the obvious amount of time/effort that has gone into the pagoda the
atmospheric effects with the clouds/media really add to the image and are also
fantastic.

My only criticism is you should have saved it for the CSG sub-round as I don't
think anything could beat it (that is if a hand-coded mesh would be allowed in
this round?).

Great image.

Sean

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Frickin' amazing!

> The sorin functions as a lightning rod, and the “water flame” as a
> literal and symbolic ward against fire.

Although the real use may have been to provide wireless data services ;)

Post a reply to this message

"s.day" <s.d### [at] uelacuk> wrote in message 
news:web.520ac61357607c6e483bd97d0@news.povray.org...
>
> Wow! that is a masterpiece, I now feel like I need to purchase a 6ft 
> monitor so
> I can really appreciate all the detail without the need to scroll down. 
> Aside
> from the obvious amount of time/effort that has gone into the pagoda the
> atmospheric effects with the clouds/media really add to the image and are 
> also
> fantastic.

Thank you very much. Time and effort went into those too.

>
> My only criticism is you should have saved it for the CSG sub-round as I 
> don't
> think anything could beat it (that is if a hand-coded mesh would be 
> allowed in
> this round?).

I would hope not, that would allow height-fields. Isosurfaces would allow 
elaborate fractals. Bezier prisms would allow vector art. Blobs would allow 
... blobs.
At least those four should be excluded, I think.

To the best of my knowledge, as long as POV-Ray's been around, TOR is the 
only one to have posted Villarceau circles, and I was only recently the 
first to post something like the recent 'CSG Challenge' shape. I think 
there's still plenty of room to explore "normal" CSG.

 -Shay

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Am 14.08.2013 02:01, schrieb Christian Froeschlin:
> Frickin' amazing!
>
>> The sorin functions as a lightning rod, and the “water flame” as a
>> literal and symbolic ward against fire.
>
> Although the real use may have been to provide wireless data services ;)

Indeed. Given that nobody has ever found copper cables dating back to 
those days, it seems reasonable to assume that wireless transmission 
must have already been known by then.

:-)

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"Christian Froeschlin"  wrote in message news:520ac8f2@news.povray.org...

> Frickin' amazing!

Frickin' thank you!

>> The sorin functions as a lightning rod, and the “water flame” as a
>> literal and symbolic ward against fire.

> Although the real use may have been to provide wireless data services ;)

Too easy. Smart-assed remarks should be in 19th-Century schoolbook style.

-Shay

Post a reply to this message

"s.day" <s.d### [at] uelacuk> wrote:
> "Shay" <non### [at] nonecom> wrote:
>
> > This is my entry. It's cropped for the tc-rtc. It's meant to be cropped. As
> > a still, it's better cropped. But I'm giving you the full scrollbar-driven
> > animated tour. Hand-coded on my Model(er)-M.
> >
>
> Wow! that is a masterpiece, I now feel like I need to purchase a 6ft monitor so
> I can really appreciate all the detail without the need to scroll down. Aside
> from the obvious amount of time/effort that has gone into the pagoda the
> atmospheric effects with the clouds/media really add to the image and are also
> fantastic.
>
> My only criticism is you should have saved it for the CSG sub-round as I don't
> think anything could beat it (that is if a hand-coded mesh would be allowed in
> this round?).
>
> Great image.
>
> Sean

Yes, I really second Sean, this is a masterpiece. The only drewback is it's
size. For voting I like to have the whole picture at the screen to get an
overall impression. That is why I always use a resolution of 1280*720 since it
should fit into a modern monitor of 1920*1080 resolution without the need of
scrolling (it's simply 3/4 of the monitor size).

A second issue is the meeting of the topic, which you stress here very heavily.
I did the same in the past but not at this scale IMO.

Best regards,
Michael

Post a reply to this message

"Shay" <non### [at] nonecom> wrote:
> "s.day" <s.d### [at] uelacuk> wrote in message
> >
> > My only criticism is you should have saved it for the CSG sub-round as I
> > don't
> > think anything could beat it (that is if a hand-coded mesh would be
> > allowed in
> > this round?).
>
> I would hope not, that would allow height-fields. Isosurfaces would allow
> elaborate fractals. Bezier prisms would allow vector art. Blobs would allow
> ... blobs.
> At least those four should be excluded, I think.
>
> To the best of my knowledge, as long as POV-Ray's been around, TOR is the
> only one to have posted Villarceau circles, and I was only recently the
> first to post something like the recent 'CSG Challenge' shape. I think
> there's still plenty of room to explore "normal" CSG.
>
>  -Shay

Maybe 2 rounds are required, a pure CSG featuring only basic primitives (I would
like this one) and a more flexible SDL only round (no external tools). Only
problem is both of these would exclude any non POV competitors but I assume
these would run in parallel to the main competition so it should not be a huge
problem. It also may tempt some of them to try out POV.

I guess it could also have a negative impact on the number/quality of entrants
to the main competition.

Sean

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"MichaelJF" <mi-### [at] t-onlinede> wrote in message
news:web.520bdd6357607c6e15620aa60@news.povray.org...
>
> Yes, I really second Sean, this is a masterpiece.

Thank you.

> The only drewback is it's
> size. For voting I like to have the whole picture at the screen to get an
> overall impression. That is why I always use a resolution of 1280*720
> since it
> should fit into a modern monitor of 1920*1080 resolution without the need
> of
> scrolling (it's simply 3/4 of the monitor size).

Yeah, that was a tough call. This is my first entry (since the pre-round
"Before and After"). I assumed the pictures would resize automatically in a
browser. When I saw this wasn't the case, I figured people could shrink a
large render but not zoom in on a small render. Pity, really, because I'm
very happy with the framing.

>
> A second issue is the meeting of the topic, which you stress here very
> heavily.
> I did the same in the past but not at this scale IMO.

I have a post in irtc.general, "Enough Time? The Right Idea?", and another
on the tc-rtc forum where I encourage others to do the same.

When the irtc first started, the organizers probably thought to themselves,
"We've got to do something to encourage diversity. If we have a 'Golf'
round, we're going to see 30 uploads of clubs, balls, and grass. Let's give
an interpretation score so people will put some real thought into their
topics."

Didn't work. Instead of encouraging diversity, the Topic score merely
allowed those so inclined to police the irtc for non-compliance. My entry
into the "Landscape" round was criticized for inappropriate interpretation.
What won? ... you guessed it ... a landscape: grass, trees, rocks. Not only 
did a plain ol' landscape win*, IT GOT THE HIGHEST CONCEPT SCORE OF THE
ROUND!

When Steve started the tc-rtc, I suggested he go to a single-score system.
Steve chose to keep the three-score system, and, with apologies to my dear,
departed friend, THAT SUCKS. Why does it suck? Well, back when this round
was getting started, I suggested a person in this group use his Dalek model
for a radiation-themed entry; I suggested a second person enter his pigment
exploration since, at least traditionally, pigments are made from elements
of geology; and I suggested to a third turn his multi-multi-pass render
experiment into an exploration of strata. Where are these entries? Well, we
have a few days left for uploads, but I don't think we'll see them. We won't
see them because people have learned that "stressed topics" are instantly
dismissed.

I can't change how people vote--I'm certain I'll be "dinged" for
concept--but I can enter a "losing" entry anyway and at least take part.

-Shay

* It was a great entry. It deserved to win.

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On 14/08/2013 10:56 PM, Shay wrote:
> When Steve started the tc-rtc, I suggested he go to a single-score system.
> Steve chose to keep the three-score system, and, with apologies to my dear,
> departed friend, THAT SUCKS. Why does it suck?

I had a few discussions with him too, a few over pints. :-) I thought 
that a weighting system might be more fair. Possibly because I too like 
to push the boundaries and not be obvious. But he wanted to keep it as 
similar to the IRTC competitions as possible. But now that Thomas and I 
have the site developer's attention. The scoring is up for discussion.
Personally, I think that Technical is suspect too. I mean how can you 
tell and why is it important?

> Well, back when this round

[snip]

> We won't see them because people have learned that "stressed topics" are instantly
> dismissed.
>

Shame that. :-(

> I can't change how people vote--I'm certain I'll be "dinged" for
> concept--but I can enter a "losing" entry anyway and at least take part.

My thoughts on all my entries.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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