I made this as a desktop image for the computer I have beside my pool table
(for listening to mp3s while playing 8-ball).
It is really simple: 1 sphere, 1 plane, 4 boxes and 5 cylinders (used to
create the "8").
The plane has a quilted normal.
The scene is lit by the 4 boxes that have hight ambient and no diffuse, no
normal light sources.
Render time: ~ 1h 15m on a P3 500Mhz.

I'm almost happy with it but for some things:
1. The reflections in the ball. Maybe it is that there is nothing to reflect
in the upper part (except for the lights). Suggestions anybody?
2. There are some radiosity artifacts under the ball. This is my first
radiosity only scene, so I could really need some advice here.
3. There are some moire patterns near the corners (jpg compression took away
some of it). What are good aa settings for getting rid of them without the
render taking ages?

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download '8-ball-03.jpg' (47 KB)

Preview of image '8-ball-03.jpg'

RE #1.  I have rendered lots of cue balls.  Some for commercial print.  Try
giving the ball a higher ambient value & lower the amount of reflection.
The white part of the ball is reflecting way too much of the green.  It
should be much whiter.

RE #2.  Radiosity is not my fotre.  Sometimes I get good results & sometimes
I don't.

RE #3.  Would focal blur work for you?

The only other thing that 'bothers' me about your pic is the shade of green.
It's too grassy.  Look at the attached cloth swatch.  It's cooler & darker.





"Daniel Nilsson" <dan### [at] daniel-nilssoncom> wrote in message
news:3dd14fba@news.povray.org...
> I made this as a desktop image for the computer I have beside my pool
table
> (for listening to mp3s while playing 8-ball).
> It is really simple: 1 sphere, 1 plane, 4 boxes and 5 cylinders (used to
> create the "8").
> The plane has a quilted normal.
> The scene is lit by the 4 boxes that have hight ambient and no diffuse, no
> normal light sources.
> Render time: ~ 1h 15m on a P3 500Mhz.
>
> I'm almost happy with it but for some things:
> 1. The reflections in the ball. Maybe it is that there is nothing to
reflect
> in the upper part (except for the lights). Suggestions anybody?
> 2. There are some radiosity artifacts under the ball. This is my first
> radiosity only scene, so I could really need some advice here.
> 3. There are some moire patterns near the corners (jpg compression took
away
> some of it). What are good aa settings for getting rid of them without the
> render taking ages?
>
> --
> Daniel Nilsson
>
>
>

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'felt_large.jpg' (3 KB)

Preview of image 'felt_large.jpg'

"Daniel Nilsson" <dan### [at] daniel-nilssoncom> a écrit dans le message de
news: 3dd14fba@news.povray.org...
> I'm almost happy with it but for some things:
> 1. The reflections in the ball. Maybe it is that there is nothing to
reflect
> in the upper part (except for the lights). Suggestions anybody?
I'd try variable reflection 0,1

Marc

Post a reply to this message

It looks to me like the "window" is directly above the pool table.  Maybe
placing the window to the left of the ball where a window would usually be,
and oriented like it's on a wall would help.  I think it's very good
already.  The highlight just seems to big and not oriented correctly tho.

Andrew Wilcox

Post a reply to this message

"Tony Vigil" <tjv### [at] hotmailcom> schreef in bericht
news:3dd159b4$1@news.povray.org...
> RE #1.  I have rendered lots of cue balls.  Some for commercial print.  Try
> giving the ball a higher ambient value & lower the amount of reflection.
> The white part of the ball is reflecting way too much of the green.  It
> should be much whiter.
Whatever you do, DON'T use an ambient value higher than 0 for non-light-emitting
objects.  A higher diffuse value and a lower reflection value (for the white
part), and maybe some blurred reflection, would be nice though.

BTW: I really like the normal on the plane! :)

cu!
--
camera{location-z*3}#macro G(b,e)b+(e-b)*(C/50)#end#macro L(b,e,k,l)#local C=0
;#while(C<50)sphere{G(b,e),.1pigment{rgb G(k,l)}finish{ambient 1}}#local C=C+1
;#end#end L(y-x,y,x,x+y)L(y,-x-y,x+y,y)L(-x-y,-y,y,y+z)L(-y,y,y+z,x+y)L(0,x+y,
<.5,1,.5>,x)L(0,x-y,<.5,1,.5>,x)               // ZK http://www.povplace.be.tf

Post a reply to this message

Maybe a stained glass type light fixture instead of just the white lights?
How about a pool cue someplace leaning against the table that gets
reflected? other balls on the table getting relfected maybe?

Nice "8" though. I agree with someone who said the white needs to be
brighter.


Daniel Nilsson <dan### [at] daniel-nilssoncom> wrote in message
news:3dd14fba@news.povray.org...
> I made this as a desktop image for the computer I have beside my pool
table
> (for listening to mp3s while playing 8-ball).
> It is really simple: 1 sphere, 1 plane, 4 boxes and 5 cylinders (used to
> create the "8").
> The plane has a quilted normal.
> The scene is lit by the 4 boxes that have hight ambient and no diffuse, no
> normal light sources.
> Render time: ~ 1h 15m on a P3 500Mhz.
>
> I'm almost happy with it but for some things:
> 1. The reflections in the ball. Maybe it is that there is nothing to
reflect
> in the upper part (except for the lights). Suggestions anybody?
> 2. There are some radiosity artifacts under the ball. This is my first
> radiosity only scene, so I could really need some advice here.
> 3. There are some moire patterns near the corners (jpg compression took
away
> some of it). What are good aa settings for getting rid of them without the
> render taking ages?
>
> --
> Daniel Nilsson
>
>
>

Post a reply to this message

It would be cool if you had the other balls scattered around in the scene
off camera but still reflected in the 8-ball.

Corey

Post a reply to this message

Daniel Nilsson wrote:
> 
> 1. The reflections in the ball. Maybe it is that there is nothing to reflect
> in the upper part (except for the lights). Suggestions anybody?

The reflection seems WAY too strong. Try reducing it a lot.. say, to a 
fifth of it's current value (I'm guessing, so fiddle around). 
Alternately, you could try using variable reflection, which might be 
more accurate for an 8-ball; I don't have one to examine myself.

The white part needs to be brighter. I don't know if this is a 
pigmentation problem, a lighting problem, or if you've reduced the 
diffuse finish of the ball to compensate for the reflection (if so, 
recalculate a new diffuse finish to correspond to the much lower 
reflection you should be using. If not, consider doing this to get more 
realistic reflective objects; anything that reflects most of the light 
hitting it won't diffuse very much).

You might consider making the black parts just SLIGHTLY whiter than pure 
black. Very few things in the world even approach being so utterly black 
that they can't be illuminated at all, which is the effect that rgb 0 
will produce in POV-Ray.

As far as your environment.. adding more things to reflect will not only 
make your reflections more interesting, but they'll provide more 
surfaces for radiosity to interact with, which in turn will make your 
lighting more interesting. I highly recommend filling in the blanks. As 
to what to add to the scene: well, you HAVE a pool table! So stand next 
to it and look around. What else do you have?

> 2. There are some radiosity artifacts under the ball. This is my first
> radiosity only scene, so I could really need some advice here.

Increase count. There are other factors that affect the number, size, 
and general appearance of radiosity artifacts, but when it comes to just 
getting rid of them, it mainly boils down to count.

-Xplo

Post a reply to this message

Good start!

> I'm almost happy with it but for some things:
> 1. The reflections in the ball. Maybe it is that there is nothing to
reflect
> in the upper part (except for the lights). Suggestions anybody?

(If you are using 3.5) Try using fresnel type variable reflection (my
favourite!) use conserve_energy and set ior between maybe 1.2 and 1.4 (play
around til you get what you want.  As others said, don't use ambient greater
than 0 (unless you really want to of course).  Adjust the diffuse value
instead.

> 2. There are some radiosity artifacts under the ball. This is my first
> radiosity only scene, so I could really need some advice here.
> 3. There are some moire patterns near the corners (jpg compression took
away
> some of it). What are good aa settings for getting rid of them without the
> render taking ages?
Not much advice to give here that hasn't already been given.

BTW here is one of the very first images I ever made after discovering POV.
The Image has a date stamp of 12/8/1997.  Perhaps I should redo the image
sometime using the new techniques. (I don't have the source anymore though)

-tgq

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'pool3.jpg' (53 KB)

Preview of image 'pool3.jpg'

"Tony Vigil" <tjv### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message
news:3dd159b4$1@news.povray.org...
> RE #1.  I have rendered lots of cue balls.  Some for commercial print.
Try
> giving the ball a higher ambient value & lower the amount of reflection.
> The white part of the ball is reflecting way too much of the green.  It
> should be much whiter.

I will not increase the ambient (ambient > 0 is for light sources) but I
will try lower reflection. Yes, the white should be much whiter, I probably
will increase diffuse.

> RE #3.  Would focal blur work for you?

Maybe.

> The only other thing that 'bothers' me about your pic is the shade of
green.
> It's too grassy.  Look at the attached cloth swatch.  It's cooler &
darker.

Yes, it is too green, I will add some grayness to it.

Thanks for the feedback.

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

"Zeger Knaepen" <zeg### [at] studentkuleuvenacbe> wrote in message
news:3dd18fbf$1@news.povray.org...
> Whatever you do, DON'T use an ambient value higher than 0 for
non-light-emitting
> objects.  A higher diffuse value and a lower reflection value (for the
white
> part), and maybe some blurred reflection, would be nice though.

Blured reflection would be cool. How is it done?

> BTW: I really like the normal on the plane! :)

Thanks!

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

"Corey Woodworth" <sch### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message
news:3dd1b54a$1@news.povray.org...
> It would be cool if you had the other balls scattered around in the scene
> off camera but still reflected in the 8-ball.

I'll try that. Will make the reflections more interesting.

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

"Andrew Wilcox" <awi### [at] unpuzzledcom> wrote in message
news:3dd17a8e@news.povray.org...
> It looks to me like the "window" is directly above the pool table.  Maybe
> placing the window to the left of the ball where a window would usually
be,
> and oriented like it's on a wall would help.  I think it's very good
> already.  The highlight just seems to big and not oriented correctly tho.

It's no window it's flourescent lights hanging abowe the table. Maybe they
are not the right shape, I will try longer and thinner and see how that
looks.

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

"Daniel Nilsson" <dan### [at] daniel-nilssoncom> schreef in bericht
news:3dd23e18$1@news.povray.org...
> Blured reflection would be cool. How is it done?
http://www.students.tut.fi/~warp/povQandT/languageQandT.html#blurredreflection


cu!
--
camera{location-z*3}#macro G(b,e)b+(e-b)*(C/50)#end#macro L(b,e,k,l)#local C=0
;#while(C<50)sphere{G(b,e),.1pigment{rgb G(k,l)}finish{ambient 1}}#local C=C+1
;#end#end L(y-x,y,x,x+y)L(y,-x-y,x+y,y)L(-x-y,-y,y,y+z)L(-y,y,y+z,x+y)L(0,x+y,
<.5,1,.5>,x)L(0,x-y,<.5,1,.5>,x)               // ZK http://www.povplace.be.tf

Post a reply to this message

"Ross Litscher" <lit### [at] osuedu> wrote in message
news:3dd19ef3@news.povray.org...
> Maybe a stained glass type light fixture instead of just the white lights?
> How about a pool cue someplace leaning against the table that gets
> reflected? other balls on the table getting relfected maybe?

The stained glass idea is good but I don't know if I can do it.
I will add more objects around the 8-ball.

> Nice "8" though. I agree with someone who said the white needs to be
> brighter.

Thanks, the "8" is quite accuratly modeled after my real 8-ball.

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

"Marc Jacquier" <jac### [at] wanadoofr> wrote in message
news:3dd15f20$1@news.povray.org...
> I'd try variable reflection 0,1

I'll try that.

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

"Xplo Eristotle" <xpl### [at] infomagicnet> wrote in message
news:3dd1c4b5@news.povray.org...
> The reflection seems WAY too strong. Try reducing it a lot.. say, to a
> fifth of it's current value (I'm guessing, so fiddle around).
> Alternately, you could try using variable reflection, which might be
> more accurate for an 8-ball; I don't have one to examine myself.

I looked closely on my real 8-ball and I'm allmost sure the reflections are
variable.

> The white part needs to be brighter. I don't know if this is a
> pigmentation problem, a lighting problem, or if you've reduced the
> diffuse finish of the ball to compensate for the reflection (if so,
> recalculate a new diffuse finish to correspond to the much lower
> reflection you should be using. If not, consider doing this to get more
> realistic reflective objects; anything that reflects most of the light
> hitting it won't diffuse very much).

You're right. I will change both the finnish and the light: Less reflection
and more light.

> You might consider making the black parts just SLIGHTLY whiter than pure
> black. Very few things in the world even approach being so utterly black
> that they can't be illuminated at all, which is the effect that rgb 0
> will produce in POV-Ray.

It is not pure black as it is (0.1 gray), but maybe it should be a little
bit whiter still.

> As far as your environment.. adding more things to reflect will not only
> make your reflections more interesting, but they'll provide more
> surfaces for radiosity to interact with, which in turn will make your
> lighting more interesting. I highly recommend filling in the blanks. As
> to what to add to the scene: well, you HAVE a pool table! So stand next
> to it and look around. What else do you have?

Good point. I will build a simple room around the table (which is just a
infinite plane right now).

> Increase count. There are other factors that affect the number, size,
> and general appearance of radiosity artifacts, but when it comes to just
> getting rid of them, it mainly boils down to count.

What do you consider a good value for count?

Thanks for the suggestions.

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

"TinCanMan" <Tin### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message
news:3dd1c578@news.povray.org...
> Good start!

Thanks!

> (If you are using 3.5) Try using fresnel type variable reflection (my
> favourite!) use conserve_energy and set ior between maybe 1.2 and 1.4
(play
> around til you get what you want.  As others said, don't use ambient
greater
> than 0 (unless you really want to of course).  Adjust the diffuse value
> instead.

Yes, I'm using 3.5. I will try what you said.

> BTW here is one of the very first images I ever made after discovering
POV.
> The Image has a date stamp of 12/8/1997.  Perhaps I should redo the image
> sometime using the new techniques. (I don't have the source anymore
though)

Cool, seems like everyone starts with "spheres and a plane" type of images
:)

--
Daniel Nilsson

Post a reply to this message

Daniel Nilsson wrote:
> 
> What do you consider a good value for count?

Whatever does the job within your requirements for rendering speed and 
memory use is a good value. You're going to have to experiment to find 
it. Start raising it by increments and doing test renders.

-Xplo

Post a reply to this message

Hey, neat!

Andrew.

Post a reply to this message