I've started in on a try at making a dust storm on Mars:
 http://members.aol.com/persistenceofv/m_ds-ehc.mpg
and it's 849KB, a 300 frame 320X240 res. @ 24 fps Mpeg.
The turbulent "dust" is media using method 2 in MegaPOV patch.  There is ground
fog used for the thickened haze nearer ground level which also grows thicker and
closer as the storm front approaches.
It's in dire need of better timing (the dust is very fast for it's size) and I
believe it only looks good right now if not scrutinized much.  The escaping
hovercraft has a dust trail which uses a clear container object of course for
it's media and the usual trouble with fog occurs, that being it no longer
remains transparent. So that's a problem to deal with.  To have it moving along
in the wind direction the cone container is just rotated some over the course of
time.
I'll be adding a height field or isosurface (more likely) so the ground isn't a
flat plane anymore too.  And with that comes possible use of trace() to keep the
hover craft from hitting the ground, I hope.
Please use your imagination, you'll need it.

Bob
--
// omniVERSE
// http://users.aol.com/inversez/

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This is very good! Just as I imagined it would be on Mars. Most of the
techniques you use I don't know, but who knows..?

--
Regards,
Sander


omniVERSE <inv### [at] aolcom> schreef in berichtnieuws
388044c5@news.povray.org...
> I've started in on a try at making a dust storm on Mars:
>  http://members.aol.com/persistenceofv/m_ds-ehc.mpg
> and it's 849KB, a 300 frame 320X240 res. @ 24 fps Mpeg.
> The turbulent "dust" is media using method 2 in MegaPOV patch.  There is
ground
> fog used for the thickened haze nearer ground level which also grows
thicker and
> closer as the storm front approaches.
> It's in dire need of better timing (the dust is very fast for it's size)
and I
> believe it only looks good right now if not scrutinized much.  The
escaping
> hovercraft has a dust trail which uses a clear container object of course
for
> it's media and the usual trouble with fog occurs, that being it no longer
> remains transparent. So that's a problem to deal with.  To have it moving
along
> in the wind direction the cone container is just rotated some over the
course of
> time.
> I'll be adding a height field or isosurface (more likely) so the ground
isn't a
> flat plane anymore too.  And with that comes possible use of trace() to
keep the
> hover craft from hitting the ground, I hope.
> Please use your imagination, you'll need it.
>
> Bob
> --
> // omniVERSE
> // http://users.aol.com/inversez/
>
>
>

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That looks good.
-- 
Phil
...coffee?...yes please! extra sugar,extra cream...Thank you.

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Thanks for taking a look at it.  I have changed the flat plane to a somewhat
flat heightfield now and added weakened wind sound (not uploaded yet), giving up
on trying a isosurface since it never looked good for this, made a nice etched
or erosion cracked surface though which might be good someplace else.
Far as "technique" goes, not much about it really.  Well I don't think of it
that way anyhow.  The dust clouds are simply a couple cylinders with pieces
differenced out with spheres and the media in them is a blend of 4 patterns
which is then rotated with the clock, as well as phased too.  And of course the
whole thing is moved nearer over the duration.  The sky is yet another media
translated and phased on its own.

Bob

"Sander" <san### [at] stolscom> wrote in message news:388048db@news.povray.org...
> This is very good! Just as I imagined it would be on Mars. Most of the
> techniques you use I don't know, but who knows..?
>
> --
> Regards,
> Sander
>
>
> omniVERSE <inv### [at] aolcom> schreef in berichtnieuws
> 388044c5@news.povray.org...
> > I've started in on a try at making a dust storm on Mars:
> >  http://members.aol.com/persistenceofv/m_ds-ehc.mpg
> > and it's 849KB, a 300 frame 320X240 res. @ 24 fps Mpeg.
> > The turbulent "dust" is media using method 2 in MegaPOV patch.  There is
> ground
> > fog used for the thickened haze nearer ground level which also grows
> thicker and
> > closer as the storm front approaches.
> > It's in dire need of better timing (the dust is very fast for it's size)
> and I
> > believe it only looks good right now if not scrutinized much.  The
> escaping
> > hovercraft has a dust trail which uses a clear container object of course
> for
> > it's media and the usual trouble with fog occurs, that being it no longer
> > remains transparent. So that's a problem to deal with.  To have it moving
> along
> > in the wind direction the cone container is just rotated some over the
> course of
> > time.
> > I'll be adding a height field or isosurface (more likely) so the ground
> isn't a
> > flat plane anymore too.  And with that comes possible use of trace() to
> keep the
> > hover craft from hitting the ground, I hope.
> > Please use your imagination, you'll need it.
> >
> > Bob
> > --
> > // omniVERSE
> > // http://users.aol.com/inversez/
> >
> >
> >
>
>

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omniVERSE wrote:
> 

This is a very impressive clip!

Viewing tip: view it full screen.
It makes the mpeg-artefacts a bit more obvious but also increases the
effect of the animation.

This is (among) the best short POV-animation(s) I have seen sofar.

> I've started in on a try at making a dust storm on Mars:
>  http://members.aol.com/persistenceofv/m_ds-ehc.mpg
> and it's 849KB, a 300 frame 320X240 res. @ 24 fps Mpeg.
> The turbulent "dust" is media using method 2 in MegaPOV patch.  There
> is ground
> fog used for the thickened haze nearer ground level which also grows
> thicker and
> closer as the storm front approaches.
> It's in dire need of better timing (the dust is very fast for it's
> size) and I
> believe it only looks good right now if not scrutinized much.  The
> escaping
> hovercraft has a dust trail which uses a clear container object of
> course for
> it's media and the usual trouble with fog occurs, that being it no
> longer
> remains transparent. So that's a problem to deal with.  To have it
> moving along
> in the wind direction the cone container is just rotated some over the
> course of
> time.

I don't really see the problems you bring up here. The hovercraft isn't
really escaping or running in front of the storm but it obviously runs
away from it diagonally, I imagine with a certain other destination.
The dust storm doesn't seem to go to fast. I have never seen one in real
life, and will probably never see one on Mars (is there such a thing?)
but I thought this looked very convincing.
That is my  reaction to the other things you mentioned here as well:
probably if you study this up close you'll see a couple of things that
may be unrealistic, but on the whole this looks more then acceptable. In
these type of scenes I think realism isn't really an issue, it's more
about effect (FX). The fact that you have the duststorm move in
diagonally, the hovercraft escaping from it also diagonally (in both
ways) gives this a disturbing dynamic feel, which is what this is about.

> I'll be adding a height field or isosurface (more likely) so the
> ground isn't a
> flat plane anymore too.  And with that comes possible use of trace()
> to keep the
> hover craft from hitting the ground, I hope.
> Please use your imagination, you'll need it.

Nope. I have a feeling that the things you want to add here may look
cool in stills but in such a short scene they might be redundant. On the
other hand: YOU are the artist so you decide :)
> 
> Bob
> --
> // omniVERSE
> // http://users.aol.com/inversez/

Remco

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Gee, thanks, except now I'm regretting not keeping the original pov script I
used to make it.  I went on to try and get a more realistic sky for Mars
(anybody's guess there) and turbulent dust without such a fast motion clear and
semi-opaque media pattern in the same file and saved over the old file.  I can
only hope it gets better and not worse then.  At least I now have a height_field
now (isosurface didn't work out) and the hovercraft dust trail isn't causing
trouble with the ground fog because the fog is no longer used.
I sure wish I had saved the previous file under another name.  I might be
getting this other one uploaded in a day or two if all goes well.

Bob

"Remco de Korte" <rem### [at] xs4allnl> wrote in message
news:388223C1.D94C73BE@xs4all.nl...
> omniVERSE wrote:
> >
>
> This is a very impressive clip!
>
> Viewing tip: view it full screen.
> It makes the mpeg-artefacts a bit more obvious but also increases the
> effect of the animation.
>
> This is (among) the best short POV-animation(s) I have seen sofar.
>
> > I've started in on a try at making a dust storm on Mars:
> >  http://members.aol.com/persistenceofv/m_ds-ehc.mpg
> > and it's 849KB, a 300 frame 320X240 res. @ 24 fps Mpeg.
> > The turbulent "dust" is media using method 2 in MegaPOV patch.  There
> > is ground
> > fog used for the thickened haze nearer ground level which also grows
> > thicker and
> > closer as the storm front approaches.
> > It's in dire need of better timing (the dust is very fast for it's
> > size) and I
> > believe it only looks good right now if not scrutinized much.  The
> > escaping
> > hovercraft has a dust trail which uses a clear container object of
> > course for
> > it's media and the usual trouble with fog occurs, that being it no
> > longer
> > remains transparent. So that's a problem to deal with.  To have it
> > moving along
> > in the wind direction the cone container is just rotated some over the
> > course of
> > time.
>
> I don't really see the problems you bring up here. The hovercraft isn't
> really escaping or running in front of the storm but it obviously runs
> away from it diagonally, I imagine with a certain other destination.
> The dust storm doesn't seem to go to fast. I have never seen one in real
> life, and will probably never see one on Mars (is there such a thing?)
> but I thought this looked very convincing.
> That is my  reaction to the other things you mentioned here as well:
> probably if you study this up close you'll see a couple of things that
> may be unrealistic, but on the whole this looks more then acceptable. In
> these type of scenes I think realism isn't really an issue, it's more
> about effect (FX). The fact that you have the duststorm move in
> diagonally, the hovercraft escaping from it also diagonally (in both
> ways) gives this a disturbing dynamic feel, which is what this is about.
>
> > I'll be adding a height field or isosurface (more likely) so the
> > ground isn't a
> > flat plane anymore too.  And with that comes possible use of trace()
> > to keep the
> > hover craft from hitting the ground, I hope.
> > Please use your imagination, you'll need it.
>
> Nope. I have a feeling that the things you want to add here may look
> cool in stills but in such a short scene they might be redundant. On the
> other hand: YOU are the artist so you decide :)
> >
> > Bob
> > --
> > // omniVERSE
> > // http://users.aol.com/inversez/
>
> Remco

Post a reply to this message

omniVERSE wrote:

> Gee, thanks, except now I'm regretting not keeping the original pov script I
> used to make it.  I went on to try and get a more realistic sky for Mars
> (anybody's guess there) and turbulent dust without such a fast motion clear and
> semi-opaque media pattern in the same file and saved over the old file.  I can
> only hope it gets better and not worse then.  At least I now have a height_field
> now (isosurface didn't work out) and the hovercraft dust trail isn't causing
> trouble with the ground fog because the fog is no longer used.
> I sure wish I had saved the previous file under another name.  I might be
> getting this other one uploaded in a day or two if all goes well.
>
> Bob

Time for my 'software engineer' to pop out.

Use source control. It's very very very good. Especially for POV-Ray stuff.

You can get CVS or RCS for free. I use RCS. It's a little more low-level, but it's
fine for a single developer. Also, if you are in Windows and check something in,
then reboot to Linux and check stuff out, RCS & CVS will handle the line-end
conversions for you.

Also, you can then see what you changed from any saved version to the other, you'll
be able to get back old versions that might be interesting, and you can backup work
more easily.

They also handle binary files, so you can keep all your source image maps, etc.
under source control also.


Plus you happen to know someone who can help you get up and running for free. (me
:-)

--
"My new computer's got the clocks, it rocks
But it was obsolete before I opened the box" - W.A.Y.

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I just happened to think... I didn't explain the story behind this.  The
"escaping" hovercraft is going the diagonal direction for a reason actually.
The home base is where it's headed and that means flirting with disaster to get
there before being overwhelmed by the dust clouds.  The robot-controlled vehicle
was a long ways off when this storm popped up almost between the two positions.
No people, so nothing to fret too much about.
I started on this in part because of a mini-movie being conceived of over at
AOL's POV-Ray Chat room and in part because I always wanted to do this
particular thing yet was never motivated to try.  Other POVers are endlessly
good to have around.
Yes, dust storms on Mars are common during seasonal changes.  There's one on
record which essentially covered the entire planet but started out as a small
stirred up area.  In fact I probably have this dust storm too small in height
believe it or not.  I went through a volcanic ash storm (guess you'd call it)
one time while motorcycling along I-5 freeway west of Mt. St. Helens in
Washington, USA one of the few times I had gone there to see the mountain.  It
was only wind-blown ash, no eruption at the time but was impressive enough
itself.  My little 100cc Yamaha motorcycle didn't last much longer after that,
lost compression from the eroded piston cylinder and rings.
I've seen video of a dust storm in Melbourne Australia, think it was, nice view
showing it roll into the city.

Bob

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At first I thought you had posted to the wrong place.
I figured out what you meant and looked around on the 'net.  Ended up at a GNU
RCS web page and bookmarked it.  If it's what I think it is might be useful
alright.  I never "program" anything, only used to do some Basic language, but
if I get what this RCS can do then it might be worthwhile to have around instead
of trying to save a current file with a new name (I have many of those and often
lose track of which is the best or latest).  Really not sure, I'm filling my PC
up so much all the time as it is the computer is slowing up on me, no harm in
checking it out though.

http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/trinkle/RCS/index.html  is the one I came across.

Thanks for that offer of help too.

Bob

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One word:

WWWAAAAAAAOOOOOOOWWWWWW !!!!!!!!!!!

Bouf.

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