On Sun, 14 Oct 2001 16:27:10 -0500, "Tony[B]" <ben### [at] catholicorg>
wrote:

> I was thinking, while using it (v4.2), that it still has a ways to go before
> it's "aesthetic". Right now, it's kinda cartoony... and ugly at that. Have
> you looked a blobman face lately? Eech. Anyway, my point is that everyone
> should pitch in a bit and help make blobman better.

well..., I started some time ago at
http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.images/13602/
but I don't remember what is current state of it :-)

(sorry, I'm late, I was absent when you wrote)

ABX

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Rune wrote:

> I'm a bit confused. The discussion here is about Peter Houston's BlobMan,
> but you seem to be referring to your own blob character?

Tony asked for general advice.  At various times I've thought of releasing
the character I've had walking stairs in p.b.a..  It could be of interest or
it might not be.  In response to our other discussion I put the old stick
figure on p.b.s.-f.

I like the idea of a "single-blob" character.  It opens the door to science
fiction ideas and has a very different feel than Peter's file, which IIRC is
a CSG of multiple individual blob components, or components at extremely high
threshold.   Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just has a
different look & feel....

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"Greg M. Johnson" wrote:
> Tony asked for general advice.

No problem, I was just a bit confused because you didn't make clear what you
were talking about. Looking again I see that Tony asked you directly for
advise so I guess that's why, but I think that it's always a good idea when
replying to a specific question in a message to quote that question. Helps
avoid confusion.

> I like the idea of a "single-blob" character.  It opens
> the door to science fiction ideas and has a very different
> feel than Peter's file, which IIRC is a CSG of multiple
> individual blob components

I agree it's an interesting idea. This and much more will all be possible
with the system I'm thinking of.

May I ask how you have achieved to group together blob components that
belong together in the same body part, so they can be transformed together?
I'm thinking of simply adding the same transform to all the components that
belong together, but maybe you've discovered a more efficient method?

Rune
--
3D images and anims, include files, tutorials and more:
Rune's World:    http://rsj.mobilixnet.dk (updated June 26)
POV-Ray Users:   http://rsj.mobilixnet.dk/povrayusers/
POV-Ray Webring: http://webring.povray.co.uk

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Rune wrote:

> May I ask how you have achieved to group together blob components that
> belong together in the same body part, so they can be transformed together?

The raw code for the model I keep publishing on p.b.a. is notoriously
inefficient. It has as many as half a dozen scale, translate and rotate
statements in the code.  I have to cut & paste all these statements if say I
want to add another muscle bulge for the thigh.

Ideally a rewrite would have transform{Thigh_Transform}, etc., for every
component that is "for the thigh".  This feature exists in the stick-figure
model I posted at p.b.s.-f., but I have not yet developed a competent blob
figure for it, especially NOT in the file in that collection!  (:-P   It may
originally be your idea, but take a look at the mime13.pov file there,
especially around line 465 to the end....

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I have played with BlobMan a bit and I agree that it could do with an
overhaul (I never did quite figure out the fingers array!)

> More poses would also be nice...

I've got 1-2 additional poses on my hard-drive somewhere if you're
interested.

It would also be good to provide a larger library of costume files with
BlobMan.

Reuben
doo### [at] breathemailnet

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UGH! Don't say the f-word in connection with Blobman! I was only able to
download it to a rather slow machine (hence hand poses took forever to
render) and whatever I put in the array, it came out EXACTLY the same for
every one. I soon gave up in disgust.

--

//Mahalis
camera{location<0,0.25,-2> look_at 0.5*y} #declare T=texture{pigment{crackle
scale 0.5 rotate 90 turbulence 0.75 color_map{[0 rgb 1][0.05 rgb 1][0.1
rgb<1,0.25,1>][0.25 rgbf 1][1 rgbf 1]}} finish{ambient 1}} #declare
c=difference{torus{0.5,0.1 rotate -90*x}box{<0.7,0,0.2>,<-0.7,-0.7,-0.2>}}
merge{object{c translate<0.5,0.5,0>} object{c translate<-0.5,0.5,0>}
cylinder{<1,0.5,0>,<1,0,0>,0.1} cylinder{<-1,0.5,0>,<-1,0,0>,0.1}
cylinder{0.5*y,0,0.1} texture{T}}
--


"Reuben Pearse" <reu### [at] presence-systemscom> wrote in message
news:3bd7e4ec$1@news.povray.org...
> I have played with BlobMan a bit and I agree that it could do with an
> overhaul (I never did quite figure out the fingers array!)
>
> > More poses would also be nice...
>
> I've got 1-2 additional poses on my hard-drive somewhere if you're
> interested.
>
> It would also be good to provide a larger library of costume files with
> BlobMan.
>
> Reuben
> doo### [at] breathemailnet
>
>
>
>

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"Greg M. Johnson" <"gregj56590[:-0]"@aol.com> wrote in message
news:3BD731C7.D93D5BEA@aol.com...
> Rune wrote:
>
> > May I ask how you have achieved to group together blob components that
> > belong together in the same body part, so they can be transformed
together?
>
> The raw code for the model I keep publishing on p.b.a. is notoriously
> inefficient. It has as many as half a dozen scale, translate and rotate
> statements in the code.  I have to cut & paste all these statements if say
I
> want to add another muscle bulge for the thigh.
>
> Ideally a rewrite would have transform{Thigh_Transform}, etc., for every
> component that is "for the thigh".  This feature exists in the
stick-figure
> model I posted at p.b.s.-f., but I have not yet developed a competent blob
> figure for it, especially NOT in the file in that collection!  (:-P   It
may
> originally be your idea, but take a look at the mime13.pov file there,
> especially around line 465 to the end....

While the models themselves weren't very detailed, the raw code I used for
my entry in "Fantasy and Mystic" allowed much more complexity.  The code
would, for example, build a creature after receiving several #declares which
defined the size of various limbs, the positions for limbs (which should all
be left alone, or else they won't mesh well) and the rotations for various
body parts.  The only drawback is that each rotational vector needs to be
defined for each keyframe, which is very tedious to do by hand for an
animation.  (Although, if we're only using it for stills, it's not that
bad).

...Chambers

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Reuben Pearse wrote:
> 
> I have played with BlobMan a bit and I agree that it could do with an
> overhaul (I never did quite figure out the fingers array!)
> 
> > More poses would also be nice...
> 
> I've got 1-2 additional poses on my hard-drive somewhere if you're
> interested.
> 
> It would also be good to provide a larger library of costume files with
> BlobMan.
> 
> Reuben
> doo### [at] breathemailnet

I looked at the documentation and the costumes, but couldn't figure out
how to create any new ones.  Maybe it's just me, but it looks way too
complicated, and may be a result of the design of the "man" rather than
an overall design.



-- 
Tom A.
Bummer, huh? Sin sucks. - Fr. Joseph Horn

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Tom A. wrote in message <3BDDEBBA.AFE86A51@my-deja.com>...
>I looked at the documentation and the costumes, but couldn't figure out
>how to create any new ones.  Maybe it's just me, but it looks way too
>complicated, and may be a result of the design of the "man" rather than
>an overall design.


As someone who has just completed a costume file for a soldier for my IRTC
entry, I can assure you, it isn't as difficult as it looks.  It's even
easier if you are making the file for just BlobMan or just BlobWoman.

(Note to anyone who's interested in the .cdf: It's good enough for a figure
that isn't going to be more than about 50 pixels high, but not good enough
for general use.)

--
Mark

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