First, thanks to everyone for all the great comments.  It's been a lot
of help.  One thing I have noticed is there seems to be a variety of
monitor settings out there, big suprise.  So I have a few questions that
may shed some light on this for everyone.

Please respond to these questions, I plan to compile and publish the
results.
Can you see the rust texture in the door?  I can just detect it in the
upper right corner.
Can you see the texture in the brick mortar on the left wall? I can,
just barley
Can you see the man's left ear? I can, just barley.
Can you see the drain cover on the floor? I can't.

Now, the comments and fixes

>use area light to blur the edges of the light a bit.
>corridor light is a florescent (judging by the shape of it) and
>should give very soft shadows.
Saving this for the final render
******************
>'light inside the room while no source is visible.
>I'd use radiosity, no ambient and only the two lights we can already
see.

The image has several light sources.  Three or four in the hallway.  The
sun for the light shaft and a dim light on high on the wall behind the
camera.  The cell needs some light in it so the kidnappers can check up
on their hostage.

There seems to be a lot of radiosity usage these days. Is this because
the PC's are faster or because Mega POV does a better job?  When I tried
MP the texture on the right wall changed dramatically, so I went back to
POV 3.1.  Now that the scene is so much darker maybe I will try MP
again.  I have had no luck with radiosity.  All I get is a dark room
with a light shaft. Any suggestions for settings?
*****************
>Very nice.  I think the floor is too clean
>oh, and a puddle (sorry but its mandatory)
The floor was changed to a height field for more control.  This made it
easier to add the puddle of water.  Also a hight field of dirt was
added.
*****************
>Nice textures, but the red bricks look a little regular
>and the plaster's perhaps a bit thick.
The plaster is now thinner to the point that the bricks start to show
through in a few places and the randomness of the bricks was increased.
*****************
>I think the scene could use more contrast, so the light
>gets brighter and the room darker.
> Kill the ambient, darken it up
Done
*****************
>Why is the "upstairs room" black?  If light is coming
>from it, it should be a lot brighter.
Added a blue sky sphere
*****************
>man is, while being very realistic as model and position, quite plastic

>in textures.
Improved the skin and hair texture but didn't have much luck with the
shirt.
*****************
>The bricks in the right wall overlap in a funky way (3-4th rows from
top).
>I'd fix that.  They also seem to have their textures go from one brick
to
>another, which isn't good.  The texture is a little plastic.
I change the randomness of the texture on the individual blocks and made
the surface rougher.  Maybe I will add another texture on top.
*****************
>The rust spots on the grate are good in color, but look a little
regular.
>I'd also suggest a slope map to make more rust on the bottom of the
bars.
I haven't figured out how to use the slope map yet, so I used a gradient
texture map.
*****************
>There doesn't seem to be hinges or handle on the door.
>How does it open?
More detail will be added for those with very bright monitor settings
*****************
>Will you share the textures?? I like them very much :)
The source code will be posted at the IRTC. If you want texture info now
let me know and I will email it.
==============

More comments are welcomed and thanks again,
Bob

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Attachments:
Download 'hostage.jpg' (96 KB)

Preview of image 'hostage.jpg'

I like the water that's a nice touch. Something about the ceiling
bugs me, seems too ambient or something IMHO. Otherwise it's looking
good. Perhaps another cell across the hall. 

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

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Bob Franke wrote:
> So I have a few questions that
> may shed some light on this for everyone.

No need to invent the wheel again.

Just calibrate your monitor and/or image editor to sRGB. It's the
standard color space supported by companies like HP, Microsoft, Adobe
and Corel. http://www.srgb.com

______________________________________________________________________
Kari Kivisalo                                  http://www.kivisalo.net

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Absolutley great!

but IMO it is a little bit too grainy..

Robert

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"Bob Franke" <bob### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:

> Can you see the rust texture in the door?  I can just detect it in the
> upper right corner.

Nope.

> Can you see the texture in the brick mortar on the left wall? I can,
> just barley

Yep.

> Can you see the man's left ear? I can, just barley.

Same here.

> Can you see the drain cover on the floor? I can't.

I can see a dark spot that might be one.

-- Nikodemus

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I adjusted my monitor for the gray scale strip at url
http://www.jordahlphoto.com/calibrate.html . First I cropped the gray
scale so I could display it on a completely black screen by itself.  I had
to turn my contrast all the way up and increase the brightness a lot.  Now
my screen is so bright that it hurts my eyes.  Does everyone really set
their monitors bright enough to completely view a gray scale?

Kari Kivisalo wrote:

> Bob Franke wrote:
> > So I have a few questions that
> > may shed some light on this for everyone.
>
> No need to invent the wheel again.
>
> Just calibrate your monitor and/or image editor to sRGB. It's the
> standard color space supported by companies like HP, Microsoft, Adobe
> and Corel. http://www.srgb.com
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> Kari Kivisalo                                  http://www.kivisalo.net

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> Absolutley great!
>
> but IMO it is a little bit too grainy..

From what I've seen jpeg pretty much destroys regular graininess, turns
it into short horizontal and vertical bars.  I'd bet the original looks
better.

--
David Fontaine  <dav### [at] faricynet>  ICQ 55354965
My raytracing gallery:  http://davidf.faricy.net/

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Bob Franke wrote:
>
> my screen is so bright that it hurts my eyes.

That calibration strip is most likely for gamma 2.2 so if your monitor
has higher gamma this will set the contrast rather high.

Not using white as default background helps too. I consider this to
be a bug in an OS.

>  Does everyone really set
> their monitors bright enough to completely view a gray scale?

If you are doing any image editing/publishing this is the correct way.


______________________________________________________________________
Kari Kivisalo                                  http://www.kivisalo.net

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I reduced the "crand" and I agree with Robert.  It's to grainy.



> Absolutley great!
>
> but IMO it is a little bit too grainy..
>
> Robert

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Bob Franke wrote

>Can you see the rust texture in the door?  I can just detect it in the
>upper right corner.

Same here

>Can you see the texture in the brick mortar on the left wall? I can,
>just barley

Yeah, but like you, just barely.

>Can you see the man's left ear? I can, just barley.

Actually this stands out fairly well.


>Can you see the drain cover on the floor? I can't.

I can, but it's dark enough I wouldn't have known it was a drain if you
hadn't said so.

>
>Now, the comments and fixes

[snip]

>>I think the scene could use more contrast, so the light
>>gets brighter and the room darker.
>> Kill the ambient, darken it up
>Done

I have to disagree with this one. I could see stuff better in the other.


>>man is, while being very realistic as model and position, quite plastic
>
>>in textures.
>Improved the skin and hair texture but didn't have much luck with the
>shirt.
>*****************

And well done too! I can just make out what looks like hair on the arm.


>More comments are welcomed . . .

I still hold to my earlier suggestion for making the plaster look less
square around the holes as if the holes are merely missing puzzle pieces.

It's darker but what I can see of the floor is a vast improvement.

The lizard is a nice touch. I like.


bat### [at] cadronhsacom

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