"Tim Nikias" <JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE> wrote in 
message news:4403297a@news.povray.org...
>> The water should form a spiralling whirlpool as it goes down the drain.
>
> Here's an attempt at that. Quite honestly, the refraction and viewing 
> angle
> obscure the view on the mesh so much that I don't think the extra workload
> is needed. I've written a small script to generate an array of points 
> which
> aren't spread evenly like in a heightfield, but are closer together at the
> center where the vortex is, and further apart at the edges, where there's
> less detail. I then twisted the vortex's axis a little with it being
> displaced, so the vortex doesn't go straight down, but swirl towards the
> drain.
>
> Might be that I've got to add another lightsource for highlights to show 
> the
> displacement on the vortex, but if that doesn't do much, I think I'll go
> stick with the simpler heightfield. Some of the caustics 
> (non-photon-mapped)
> are more pleasing to me visually in the old version.

Without reality-checking here it looks much like I'd expect it to. I don't 
think there's ever much visibilty for something like this. Might be larger 
than usual for the depth, if anything. Seems to me that the vortex is 
typically very thin, hardly breaking the surface, until the surface gets 
near the drain. So maybe this sink would be a little scary for people with a 
phobia about such things (sister's daughter did).  :)

Trying to remember about twisting directions... I know it is commonly 
thought that the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet have their 
own direction but it's apparently just a random thing instead. I forget. 
Something about no relation to weather that is influenced by earth rotation 
instead.

Bob H

Post a reply to this message