I remember the picture from "Cosmos"... remarkable resemblance. Very good
indeed.

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I thought that only half of the library burned.  Part of it was destroyed in an
earthquake.
There would have been more scrolls than books tho.

I think it needs some sort of atmospheric media to soften the lighting and make
the textures a little less crisp.
The light may be a tad bright, too. And you might try some variable reflection
in the water (if you're not already.)

ADB

Stefan Viljoen wrote:

> Marc Jacquier wrote:
>
> > Very nice
> > But...
> > Dit they get the books safe before the fire?
>
> Nope - it burned down in total. Lots of knowledge was lost - I have heard it
> postulated that if the library had not been burned down, we would have been
> far more advanced today than we are. Apparently lots of knowledge was lost
> that had to be rediscovered many years later.
>
> > And is not Beethoven (if I don't mistake)a bit anachronistic in this
> > context? ;-)
>
> Yes :) - I did not have a fast internet connection when doing the scene in
> 2000 and grabbed the first human-like model I could lay my hands on. But I
> admit that Beethoven does not quite cut it in the Library...!
> --
> Stefan Viljoen
> Software Support Technician
> Polar Design Solutions

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Marc Jacquier wrote:

> 
> "Stefan Viljoen" <ryl### [at] intekomcoza> a �rit dans le message de news:
> 41626e06@news.povray.org...
>> Marc Jacquier wrote:
>>
>> > Very nice
>> > But...
>> > Dit they get the books safe before the fire?
>>
>> Nope - it burned down in total. Lots of knowledge was lost - I have heard
> it
>> postulated that if the library had not been burned down, we would have
> been
>> far more advanced today than we are. Apparently lots of knowledge was
>> lost that had to be rediscovered many years later.
>>
> LOL I know that but my question was "where are the books?" :)

Scrolls actually - no idea! I called it the library of Alexandria, but
granted there are no books or scrolls in sight. Conceptually, I would say
that the rendering depicts the foyer of the library, with the scrolls up
behind the Roman-looking doors depicted.

-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician
Polar Design Solutions

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Anthony D. Baye wrote:

> I thought that only half of the library burned.  Part of it was destroyed
> in an earthquake.
> There would have been more scrolls than books tho.
> 
> I think it needs some sort of atmospheric media to soften the lighting and
> make the textures a little less crisp.
> The light may be a tad bright, too. And you might try some variable
> reflection in the water (if you're not already.)

Yes it definitely can do with some improvement - but I did it when I was
still learning POV, and it is sort of an artistic foible with me that I
finish a scene and never go back to it.

Which is a bit stupid I now realise... but anyway!

-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician
Polar Design Solutions

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Roberto Amorim wrote:

> I remember the picture from "Cosmos"... remarkable resemblance. Very good
> indeed.

Thanks! Fascinating book in my opinion and very accessible as regards the
science. I think it is regretable that Carl Sagan has died - he really
could speak sciene into a language even I with my 12th grade max education
could understand.

Now I wonder where my copy is these days - probably buried under all the
trash in my bedroom... I would really like to read it again.

Hey! That's an idea. Remember the Daedelus ship, the Bussard Ramscoop and
the the Orion starship proposals Sagan made? Those would be nice rendering
projects...

-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician
Polar Design Solutions

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Darren New wrote:

> Stefan Viljoen wrote:
>> Nope - it burned down in total.
> 
> I've read that some scraps of scrolls were eventually found and saved,
> including things like the formulae for the orbits of planets, etc,
> leading to the conclusion that science was fairly well advanced. If only
> they'd discovered movable type. :-)

Hehe! Yeah, that was about 2000 years before MS-Word. Imagine what happened
when they made a "typo" (or did they call it a "carve-o" or "adze-o"?)

"Hey Christopoulous! You idiot! I told you it was gamma not theta here!"

*crash* as a tablet that took two days to carve is smashed on the floor.

:)

I am not strong on the particular history of the library, but Carl Sagan
seemed to lament it in his book at the hit science took when it was
destroyed.

-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician
Polar Design Solutions

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> Thanks! Fascinating book in my opinion and very accessible as regards the
> science. I think it is regretable that Carl Sagan has died - he really
> could speak sciene into a language even I with my 12th grade max education
> could understand.

I read most of it at the age of 13 and I could get most of the essence of
the book. He did a wonderful job.

Do you remember the TV series? It's probably the only TV show ever for which
I never missed one episode.

> Hey! That's an idea. Remember the Daedelus ship, the Bussard Ramscoop and
> the the Orion starship proposals Sagan made? Those would be nice rendering
> projects...

There are many interesting images there, many that would be worth rendering.
That's a fantastic idea. I loved those paintings portraying the possible
lifeforms in Jupiter...

http://homepage2.nifty.com/seyfert/rpg/dp9/recommended/cosmos_jovian640x480.jpg

I wonder what a 3D rendered image would look like with modern technology.
The painting is already fantastic... a very interesting project indeed.

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Roberto Amorim wrote:

> Do you remember the TV series? It's probably the only TV show ever for
> which I never missed one episode.

Too young for that - it showed here on local TV when I was about 5 or 6 I
guess? Remember old Star Trek TV series from then, but not Cosmos.
 
>> Hey! That's an idea. Remember the Daedelus ship, the Bussard Ramscoop and
>> the the Orion starship proposals Sagan made? Those would be nice
>> rendering projects...
> 
> There are many interesting images there, many that would be worth
> rendering. That's a fantastic idea. I loved those paintings portraying the
> possible lifeforms in Jupiter...

I did as well. It was incredible what Jon Lomberg (I think he painted the
one you are referring to) could do with -paint-. I wonder if he is still
active and if he traces?
 
> I wonder what a 3D rendered image would look like with modern technology.
> The painting is already fantastic... a very interesting project indeed.

I agree. I wonder if Jon Lomberg as a site - will go and google a bit.

Kind regards,
-- 
Stefan Viljoen
Software Support Technician
Polar Design Solutions

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I saw your images and that Cosmos episode came immediately to mind. 
Great job.

You only need a turtle-necked semi-hippie astronomer talking in the 
middle of the scene :)

Fernando


Stefan Viljoen wrote:
> An old rendering, made from a photo in the "Cosmos" science book by Carl
> Sagan.
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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Stefan Viljoen wrote:

> "Hey Christopoulous! You idiot! I told you it was gamma not theta here!"

I doubt whether around 140 BC *Christo*poulos would have been a common 
Greek name... and perhaps an ordinary stone cutter in Alexandria would 
rather have been Egyptian but Greek!

Just my two puls...

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