"Elijah Sarver" <spa### [at] is-speakeasybad-net> wrote in message
news:120820022149310563%spa### [at] is-speakeasybad-net...
> In article <3d52fdea@news.povray.org>, Pandora
> <pan### [at] pandora-softwarecom> wrote:
>
> >     2. I'm rubbish at math. Actually not rubbish, but I'm probably gonna
> > find coming up with suitable isosurfaces a headache, at best.
>
> I feel your pain. I spent the entire day messing around with an
> isosurface brick with vertical ridges and some noise to make it
> clay-like.
>
> I've realised a few things whilst working through things:
>
> 1) everything you know is wrong.
> 2) experimentation is as good as knowing math ;)
>
> My method is a bit sloppy, and the rendering is slow, but it's a great
> brick. I even made an unevenly-troweled wall out of them. they look so
> real.
>
> keep on plugging, don't give up ;)

If you plan on using isosurface functions, plan on combining two or more
(works like layered textures, but better).  Using the brick analogy, you
could add a brick pattern function to an agate or granite function and make
a whole wall.

Experimentation eventually works, although you might feel like a monkey
typing out Shakespeare at times.  As for myself I use parametric surface
meshes for vegetation.  It eats memory like a hog, but it works.

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