The analog clock looks a lot better, and the papers on the walls add a 
lot. I think the table looks fine, but it's hard to distinguish where 
the table ends and the wall starts.

There is something about the batteries that look fake, but I can't put 
it into words. wrong dimensions? too clean? I dunno...

looks great though

JRG wrote:

> I didn't have much spare time this week, so I've changed just a few things:
> the light of the bulb now should be right. I tried area_light in the photons
> block, but I lost the caustics. So I turned it off, but the caustics still
> look poor compared to the previous scenes :-( .
> Now the table looks much more dirty (even too much...) and I changed the
> wood texture of the wall (the previous one was too warm).
> Not sure if the smoke is right now...
> And I've changed the clock.
> Still to do:
> spare parts of the spider-bot.
> maybe some nut.
> some other tools (have no idea which, suggestions needed!).
> small paring-knife for the pencil.
> rubber for the pencil.
> image map for the book (this one is meant to be temporary).
> sketches made directly on the table planks by the scientist (math formulae
> et similia...).
> scientist's breakfast left in his workbench...
> Comments welcome.
> JRG.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> irtc_big.jpg
> 
> Content-Type:
> 
> image/jpeg
> Content-Encoding:
> 
> x-uuencode
> 
>

Post a reply to this message

In article <3b1d0a28@news.povray.org>, JRG says...
> I didn't have much spare time this week, so I've changed just a few things:
> the light of the bulb now should be right. I tried area_light in the photons
> block, but I lost the caustics. So I turned it off, but the caustics still
> look poor compared to the previous scenes :-( .
> Now the table looks much more dirty (even too much...) and I changed the
> wood texture of the wall (the previous one was too warm).
> Not sure if the smoke is right now...
> And I've changed the clock.
> Still to do:
> spare parts of the spider-bot.
> maybe some nut.
> some other tools (have no idea which, suggestions needed!).
> small paring-knife for the pencil.
> rubber for the pencil.
> image map for the book (this one is meant to be temporary).
> sketches made directly on the table planks by the scientist (math formulae
> et similia...).
> scientist's breakfast left in his workbench...
> Comments welcome.
> JRG.
> 
This is really getting better and much better each time! All those 
suggestions to make it more real are just sheer jealousy :))
-- 
Regards,  Sander

Post a reply to this message

JRG wrote:

> some other tools (have no idea which, suggestions needed!).

Wow.  The image looks great, but it seems like it's missing a step.  Maybe some
small tools would help.  I can't imaging putting screws into the spider's legs
with that screwdriver.  Also, as I look at my desk, things seem to overlap
quite a bit.  Maybe something as simple as the pencil on the paper or the
screwdriver on top of the wire would add some realism.  Finally, maybe a couple
of spheres at the ends of the lightbulb and a switch on the lamp would help.
Keep in mind that these are just my opinions and that your picture looks
great.  Keep up the good work.

 - Rico

Post a reply to this message

JRG wrote:
> 
> Comments welcome.

Getting along quite nice, I must say.

However, as others have pointed out, there should be a better
demarcation between the table and the wall.  The computer screen isn't
deep enough; as it is, it looks like it has roughly the same depth as
the lamp, which certainly isn't the case - even my flat LCD screen's
base is bigger than my desk lamp's base.  It is also too close to the
wall.

Things to add:
- spare parts, left-overs and other steel thingamagigs.
- post-it notes on the computer screen.
- scratches and burn marks on the table.
- a half-eaten sandwich.

IMHO, of course.

-- 
Francois Labreque | Now, at this point, I am not even going to tell you
    flabreque     | to twiddle your knob, because as we all know, you
        @         | have had plently of practice in that skill by now...
   videotron.ca   |             - StvCD7

Post a reply to this message

"Bill DeWitt" <bde### [at] cflrrcom> wrote...
>
>     Anyone who leaves a soldering iron on his wooden bench once will have
> done it more than once.

Unless he burns his house down the first time!

> He will also have left glasses of ice water on it
> before.

Now that makes more sense.  :-)

About the soldering iron, though.... it looks off-balance... it looks like
the weight of the cord would cause the back to drop and make the tip lift
off of the table.

-Nathan

Post a reply to this message

The table's not too dirty at all, but it *does* look too much like the wall.

Didn't the old smoke look more like a single strand? I think I preferred that.

Smears and fingerprints on the glass.

The batteries could use some slight reflection, maybe. So could the
lamp.. or maybe just make that a color which is almost, but not QUITE,
black. (Very few things in the real world are so black that they soak up
all the light that hits them.)

Lots and lots and LOTS of junk. Another pencil, or maybe a pen, some
more electronic test equipment, various sizes of screws, wire clippings,
crumbs. And why does this man have no coffee? More scrap paper with
numbers and things scribbled on it. And more degradation: stains on the
table, stains on the paper, dings in the metal bits, scratches and
imperfections in the table wood, teeth marks on the pencil, dust on the
monitor, etc etc...

Oh, and what on earth are you using for fill lighting? In some places it
looks like ambient or a fill light, and in others it looks like it might
be radiosity.. radiosity would be the far better choice here.

-Xplo

Post a reply to this message

> Lots and lots and LOTS of junk. Another pencil, or maybe a pen, some
> more electronic test equipment, various sizes of screws, wire clippings,
> crumbs. And why does this man have no coffee? More scrap paper with
> numbers and things scribbled on it. And more degradation: stains on the
> table, stains on the paper, dings in the metal bits, scratches and
> imperfections in the table wood, teeth marks on the pencil, dust on the
> monitor, etc etc...
>

Does megapov still not have a working implementation of Clutter()?

Post a reply to this message

i think it might look better (or more like my desk!) if you moved everything
closer - clutter rules :)

damn good tho


--
Rick

Kitty5 WebDesign - http://Kitty5.com
Hi-Impact database driven web site design & e-commerce
TEL : +44 (01625) 266358 - FAX : +44 (01625) 611913 - ICQ : 15776037
POV-Ray News & Resources - http://Povray.co.uk

PGP Public Key
http://pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x231E1CEA

Post a reply to this message

This looks a lot like someone's dimly lit basement workshop to me. That
effect could be increased by:
 replacing the workbench with a crappy and worn old folding table
 changing the wall panneling to the cheap 70's era type (that dark veneer
type stuff)
 using a much smaller, cheaper monitor that the builder may have found at a
garage sale
 a grease stained keyboard and mouse pushed out of the way
 a black and white printer for the wall diagrams
 wall diagrams on box-fed paper with unevenly torn edges
 MOUSE DROPPINGS!!
 burns on the table and drips of solder(sp?) around the working era
 a box of transistors and resistors, or maybe these items just spread over
the table
 tin snips for creating the exoskeleton of the spider
 spare tin
 junk food wrappers
 bottle of solder(sp?) cleaner
 the ultimate addition, but a lot of work, would be a dismantled electronic
device from which spare parts were taken.

Also, this very good looking picture would have more impact if some
motivation were revealed for building the spider. This could be done by
simply labeling the diagrams.

 -Shay




JRG <jrg### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message news:3b1d0a28@news.povray.org...

Post a reply to this message

Where are the "parts" from the spider proto-types?  There is nothing on the
workbench that tells me that the spider was constructed or where it came
from.  The image on the video monitor seems to imply that either design or
control is via a computer (somewhere).

I've found once you design objects, it is simple to replicate with loops and
random placement to produce absolute disarray.  This image suffers from
being TOO stiff, everything looks carefully placed, not randomly dumped on a
work surface.

If the spider is the object of construction or work, there are NO tools
suitable for working on such a delicate robotic object anywhere on the
workbench. The coil of wire looks out of place because it is neither fine
enough for the delicate engineering required in the robotic spider, nor is
there anything that would fit this bill.

Is the water there because someone is drinking it or is it part of the
"experiment"?

With such a short ethernet connection, it seems implausable that any kind of
meaningful experiment can ever occur with a robotic spider... perhaps
interjecting a scaled/recolored coil of wire like that on the bench to give
the impression of additional length on the cable would produce a nicer
effect.

There is a sterile overall tone to the picture.  This is partially due to
the isolation of all the objects from one another.  On a real workbench,
objects will overlap each other, blocking and obscuring parts of the objects
behind them.  This overlapping adds to the reality of the whole scene.  I
would take the whole scene and half the distances between the objects
bringing them all closer together.

Why not make the robotic spider about 4 times as big as he is with an open
panel showing components inside that match components on the workbench.
Turn the spider a bit towards the viewer and have his eyes "ON" implying
that there is perhaps more going on in that invention than the inventor
wanted.... perhaps the ethernet connection isn't connected anymore... the
monitor can have an error window on it imparting information about "What"
may be amiss in the lab.

Artistic merit requires that the image have a cohesiveness that binds it to
a story wether the story is told or implied by the content of the image.  We
all know that POVRAY does a fantastic job at creating reality.  However, as
real as a picture "LOOKS", it may not tell a realistic story unless there is
a synchronization and binding of the objects in the scene.

Keep up the good work!

Regards,
Robert J Becraft
aka cas### [at] aolcom


JRG <jrg### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message news:3b1d0a28@news.povray.org...
> I didn't have much spare time this week, so I've changed just a few
things:
> the light of the bulb now should be right. I tried area_light in the
photons
> block, but I lost the caustics. So I turned it off, but the caustics still
> look poor compared to the previous scenes :-( .
> Now the table looks much more dirty (even too much...) and I changed the
> wood texture of the wall (the previous one was too warm).
> Not sure if the smoke is right now...
> And I've changed the clock.
> Still to do:
> spare parts of the spider-bot.
> maybe some nut.
> some other tools (have no idea which, suggestions needed!).
> small paring-knife for the pencil.
> rubber for the pencil.
> image map for the book (this one is meant to be temporary).
> sketches made directly on the table planks by the scientist (math formulae
> et similia...).
> scientist's breakfast left in his workbench...
> Comments welcome.
> JRG.
>
>
>
>
>

Post a reply to this message