David Buck <dav### [at] simberoncom> wrote:
> Bozo was indeed in DKBTrace.  In fact, it was one of the first
> procedural textures to be implemented in DKBTrace.  I wasn't, however,
> responsible for the name.  It came from a technical paper presented at
> SIGGRAPH '84 by Ken Perlin called "An Image Synthesizer".  He showed a
> torus with a bozo texture on it.

Yes, that colorful donut plausibly explains that name; going from there to the
clown is just a small step:)

> That paper served as a huge inspiration for me to create the original
> textures in DKBTrace and later POVRay.
>
> http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=325247

It seems like the paper isn't available for free (or did anyone find a free
source?); but here's a presentation slideshow on it:

http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~olano/635s07/PSE.pdf


Thanks David for shedding light on this one (and for creating the roots of
POV-Ray, by the way :))

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David Buck escreveu:
> Bozo was indeed in DKBTrace.  In fact, it was one of the first 
> procedural textures to be implemented in DKBTrace.  I wasn't, however, 
> responsible for the name.  It came from a technical paper presented at 
> SIGGRAPH '84 by Ken Perlin called "An Image Synthesizer".  He showed a 
> torus with a bozo texture on it.
> 
> That paper served as a huge inspiration for me to create the original 
> textures in DKBTrace and later POVRay.
> 
> http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=325247
> http://luthuli.cs.uiuc.edu/~daf/courses/ComputerGraphics/Week8/Shading.pdf

Those old-time researchers surely had about as much sense of humor as 
open-source developers. ;)  Today it's all enterprisey, long-named and 
no-fun in a suit...

-- 
a game sig: http://tinyurl.com/d3rxz9

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"David Buck" <dav### [at] simberoncom> schreef in bericht 
news:49efbe17$1@news.povray.org...
> It's lucky that I still monitor this group :-)
>
> Bozo was indeed in DKBTrace.  In fact, it was one of the first procedural 
> textures to be implemented in DKBTrace.  I wasn't, however, responsible 
> for the name.  It came from a technical paper presented at SIGGRAPH '84 by 
> Ken Perlin called "An Image Synthesizer".  He showed a torus with a bozo 
> texture on it.
>
> That paper served as a huge inspiration for me to create the original 
> textures in DKBTrace and later POVRay.
>
> http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=325247
> http://luthuli.cs.uiuc.edu/~daf/courses/ComputerGraphics/Week8/Shading.pdf
>

Nice, David. This little piece of info should go into some kind of 
Historical Repository for POV-Ray, under the chapter "Foundations & Sources" 
:-)

Thomas

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Thomas de Groot wrote:
> "David Buck" <dav### [at] simberoncom> schreef in bericht 
> news:49efbe17$1@news.povray.org...
>> It's lucky that I still monitor this group :-)
>>
>> Bozo was indeed in DKBTrace.  In fact, it was one of the first procedural 
>> textures to be implemented in DKBTrace.  I wasn't, however, responsible 
>> for the name.  It came from a technical paper presented at SIGGRAPH '84 by 
>> Ken Perlin called "An Image Synthesizer".  He showed a torus with a bozo 
>> texture on it.
>>
>> That paper served as a huge inspiration for me to create the original 
>> textures in DKBTrace and later POVRay.
>>
>> http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=325247
>> http://luthuli.cs.uiuc.edu/~daf/courses/ComputerGraphics/Week8/Shading.pdf
>>
> 
> Nice, David. This little piece of info should go into some kind of 
> Historical Repository for POV-Ray, under the chapter "Foundations & Sources" 
> :-)
> 
> Thomas 
> 
> 

I'm not disagreeing, but this is only one small, almost insignificant 
piece in the development of POVRay.  It would seem out of place if it 
was the only little tidbit there.

If I thought there was a market for it, I could write a book on the 
origins of DKBTrace and POVRay to cover little things like that.  For 
example,

	- the original inspiration for DKBTrace
	- using calculus for quadric surfaces
	- the pesky black speckle problem
	- the pain of CSG
	- solid textures and where they came from
	- refraction and how to get it wrong
	- calming down the waves pattern
	- layered textures
	- building the roman towers
	- early images
	- introducing spheres
	- Phong specular highlights
	- the transition from DKBTrace to POVRay
	- early work on POVRay
	- version control tools - ZIP, ZModem and 2400 baud modems
	- POVRay 1.0 at SIGGRAPH '92

Maybe I'll toss around the idea.  I already have a science fiction book 
I've submitted to a publisher.  This could be a fun book to write. 
Would there be interest in a book like this?

David Buck

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David Buck wrote:
...
> Maybe I'll toss around the idea.  I already have a science fiction book 
> I've submitted to a publisher.  This could be a fun book to write. Would 
> there be interest in a book like this?
> 
> David Buck

Absolutely!!!

      -=- Larry -=-

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Larry Hudson wrote:
> David Buck wrote:
> ...
>> Maybe I'll toss around the idea.  I already have a science fiction 
>> book I've submitted to a publisher.  This could be a fun book to 
>> write. Would there be interest in a book like this?
>>
>> David Buck
> 
> Absolutely!!!
> 
>      -=- Larry -=-

Yes, you can count on all of us 9 regulars of the pov newsgroups. ;)

I know I met povray through a book by Dan Farmer and others... :)

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nemesis wrote:
> Larry Hudson wrote:
>> David Buck wrote:
>> ...
>>> Maybe I'll toss around the idea.  I already have a science fiction 
>>> book I've submitted to a publisher.  This could be a fun book to 
>>> write. Would there be interest in a book like this?
>>>
>>> David Buck
>>
>> Absolutely!!!
>>
>>      -=- Larry -=-
> 
> Yes, you can count on all of us 9 regulars of the pov newsgroups. ;)
> 
> I know I met povray through a book by Dan Farmer and others... :)

Excellent. I think 9 should be enough to convince any publisher :-)

I'm feeling more and more that there's an interesting story to be told 
about DKBTrace/POVRay that I'm the only person in a position to tell. 
Others can talk about POVRay and what it does but I'm the only one who 
knows where the ideas came from and how it all came to be.  My wife is 
encouraging me to pursue the idea.  I think I'll do some basic research 
and see if it makes sense to propose it to a publisher.

Thanks
David Buck

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On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:06:19 -0400, David Buck <dav### [at] simberoncom> wrote:

>Excellent. I think 9 should be enough to convince any publisher :-)

As they say in the American idiom, "Go for it". 

I'll buy one if it isn't in the local library :-)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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David Buck wrote:

> I'm feeling more and more that there's an interesting story to be told 
> about DKBTrace/POVRay that I'm the only person in a position to tell. 

The story is interesting but probably not so for enough people
(although more than 9) if it stands by itself. However, it might
be the seeding point for a general POV-Ray book which appeals to
a wider audience as well. I think there is one from 1994 and that
there have been later attempts - I was surprised to find there is
a dedicated newsgroup p.d.books for this already - which went
nowhere. This might be different if the original author
is a driving force behind it.

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David Buck wrote:

> I'm feeling more and more that there's an interesting story to be told 
> about DKBTrace/POVRay that I'm the only person in a position to tell. 
> Others can talk about POVRay and what it does but I'm the only one who 
> knows where the ideas came from and how it all came to be.  M

I have always been curious about this story.

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