>> I wish I could tinker like that. Well done.


> He builds the entire Titanic from scratch, and he wishes he "could tinker like
> that."

> Thanks!
>
> And as pointed out, your own adventures in CSG are not to be sniffed at! It's
> refreshing to see old-school POV-Ray techniques used to such detail. I only
> just caught up with your Titanic progress, sorry to hear you had a setback.
> As Thomas said, maybe you'll feel like revisiting it someday.
>
> Bill

Thanks Mr Bald and Mr Bill for the compliments.
With tinkering I basically meant to start something from scratch, like this
planetoid, which doesn't exist. For my Titanic and my Rocket I have drawings,
which I can turn into SDL. I don't have the fantasy, or imagination, to come up
with something new. (Been a software designer most of my life, which probably
explains why I prefer Povray over Blender. You can program it, typing text
files!)
Let's keep on using Povray, and keep typing.

Cheers
Ton.

Post a reply to this message

"Ton" <ton### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> Thanks Mr Bald and Mr Bill for the compliments.
> With tinkering I basically meant to start something from scratch, like this
> planetoid, which doesn't exist. For my Titanic and my Rocket I have drawings,
> which I can turn into SDL. I don't have the fantasy, or imagination, to come up
> with something new. (Been a software designer most of my life, which probably
> explains why I prefer Povray over Blender. You can program it, typing text
> files!)

I think you give yourself too little credit, and so allow yourself too few
opportunities for experimentation.
I can easily imagine you applying a shear transform to the Rocket or the whole
scene, or the camera, to give it that slanted, vertical focal-plane shutter
effect.

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?31903-Jacques-Henri-Lartigue-and-his-camera

or just give the whole ground plane a simple texture to give it that WHOOSH!
blurred effect.

https://wiredchop.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/clip_image003.jpg

You have all the tools - just start playing "what next?"
Change the textures?
Modify all the parts by translating the vertices by a noise function?
Stretch it, squish it, put it into an unfamiliar setting.
Maybe it's underwater or in space.
Maybe your water tank is clear with fish, or it's a cage full of monkeys.
Maybe it's completely redone as blobbed isosurfaces and textured to look like
Willy Wonka was about to take you on that unpredictable mushroom ride on a track
that goes to the stars...   :D


> Let's keep on using Povray, and keep typing.

Indeed.   I very much enjoy the fact that I can come here and see CSG scenes
like yours that are so solidly done as to be truly impressive in both dedication
and technical attention to detail, as well as the completely experimental and
exploratory experiments in data structures, code, and abstract images that are
just for fun.

There is still SO much that can be done, that I am learning something new almost
every day, or rediscovering something that I had forgotten.  The standard Insert
Menu alone is enough to make me say "Oh, right ... _that_ exists...." and keep
one busy tinkering.


Keep up the good work and don't doubt yourself.  :)
Maybe Bill Pragnell needs some trains and ships for his tetrahedral planetoid
;)

Post a reply to this message

Alain <kua### [at] videotronca> wrote:
> Using importance can improve your speed.

Wow, a parameter I never knew existed. Is that a new one, or an ancient one that
I've just been ignoring for a decade or more? :)

Will have a play with that at some point, cheers for the pointer.

Bill

Post a reply to this message

On 6/16/2019 4:05 AM, Ton wrote:
> (Been a software designer most of my life, which probably
> explains why I prefer Povray over Blender. You can program it, typing text
> files!)

I've been told in the past that Blender and/or Yafaray or Cycles scenes 
can be created using some kind of text interface, but I have yet to see 
an example.


Michael

Post a reply to this message

Le 19-06-16 à 17:11, Bill Pragnell a écrit :
> Alain <kua### [at] videotronca> wrote:
>> Using importance can improve your speed.
> 
> Wow, a parameter I never knew existed. Is that a new one, or an ancient one that
> I've just been ignoring for a decade or more? :)
> 
> Will have a play with that at some point, cheers for the pointer.
> 
> Bill
> 

Introduced with version 3.7

Post a reply to this message

Mike Horvath <mik### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> On 6/16/2019 4:05 AM, Ton wrote:
> > (Been a software designer most of my life, which probably
> > explains why I prefer Povray over Blender. You can program it, typing text
> > files!)
>
> I've been told in the past that Blender and/or Yafaray or Cycles scenes
> can be created using some kind of text interface, but I have yet to see
> an example.
>
>
> Michael

The input for Yafaray is a text file, but that's no SDL, humans can't create a
file like that.
Blender has a Python-interface, but I've never seen a Python-example to create a
scene, only extensions, or plugins, for Blender.

Cheers
Ton.

Post a reply to this message

On 6/21/2019 8:23 PM, Ton wrote:
> The input for Yafaray is a text file, but that's no SDL, humans can't create a
> file like that.

I was thinking more along the lines of machine conversion from an LDraw 
compatible program. But, yeah, being able to "read" and understand the 
file myself would be nice too.



> Blender has a Python-interface, but I've never seen a Python-example to create a
> scene, only extensions, or plugins, for Blender.

I must have misunderstood. Or, it is simply undocumented.


Michael

Post a reply to this message

So the previous iterations have been a little unsatisfactory; because I was
using a constant shell height, each successive step got progressively narrower,
and the buildings all got squashed together.

The image here shows two different strategies: on the left, the original with
constant step height. On the right, a revised algorithm using constant step
width. The latter of course means that each successive step now gets
progressively higher.

I think I prefer the revised look! Naturally I'll need to do something inventive
with the buildings to stop them from just looking stretched out. Some kind of
turret-based thing would be good, then I could hide the sharp ends of the apex
levels at the same time...

Fun fun fun

Bill

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'planetoid2.jpg' (205 KB)

Preview of image 'planetoid2.jpg'

"Bill Pragnell" <bil### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> Fun fun fun

now with bridges.

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'planetoid3.jpg' (106 KB)

Preview of image 'planetoid3.jpg'

On 23-6-2019 22:48, Bill Pragnell wrote:
> So the previous iterations have been a little unsatisfactory; because I was
> using a constant shell height, each successive step got progressively narrower,
> and the buildings all got squashed together.
> 
> The image here shows two different strategies: on the left, the original with
> constant step height. On the right, a revised algorithm using constant step
> width. The latter of course means that each successive step now gets
> progressively higher.
> 
> I think I prefer the revised look! Naturally I'll need to do something inventive
> with the buildings to stop them from just looking stretched out. Some kind of
> turret-based thing would be good, then I could hide the sharp ends of the apex
> levels at the same time...
> 
> Fun fun fun
> 
> Bill
> 

Both strategies have their merits imho. It much depends on what kind of 
final outlook you want. In the original case, that would be a "South 
Italian" village with the upper level houses all imbricated and holding 
to the slope as it were (you could introduce some random shifting and/or 
rotation for instance). In the second case, that would be a "Tuscan" 
fortified village, with a castle at the top. All in true Escher style of 
course :-)

-- 
Thomas

Post a reply to this message