So, here's my first spin on trying to model a sitting cat. I'm using pure
POV-Ray blob for this one, but I might go with a few macros and scripts of
my own to attach some internally generated meshes (yes, I'm that weird and
don't use an external modeller).

In case anyone's interested, I'm using blob in order to later increase the
size via the threshold, and thus create a layer in which I can place some
media-generated fur. Or, if that fails to work as I'd like it to, I'll
probably take a week off my PC and try to shoot thousands of hair strands at
the cat to give it some fur...

The cat need not be photorealistic (or I would have given up straight away)
and it won't take up that much image-space, even though it is a central
focus for the image's meaning. I just hope to get a proper cat face done.
And a nice scarf to wrap around it's neck. :-)

Comments and suggestions welcome!

Regards,
Tim

-- 
"Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

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Attachments:
Download 'cat_1.jpg' (11 KB)

Preview of image 'cat_1.jpg'

JUSTTHELOWERCASE:timISNOTnikias(at)gmx.netWARE
news:41939bed@news.povray.org 

> In case anyone's interested, I'm using blob in order to later increase
> the size via the threshold, and thus create a layer in which I can
> place some media-generated fur. Or, if that fails to work as I'd like
> it to, I'll probably take a week off my PC and try to shoot thousands
> of hair strands at the cat to give it some fur..

Imho You cold get better results using isosurface soheres + blob formula 
(described in tutorial on isosurface). But I would leave pure blob for 
preview mode.

As for fure - check out MegaPov  :)

-- 
http://www.raf256.com/3d/
Rafal Maj 'Raf256', home page - http://www.raf256.com/me/
Computer Graphics

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> Imho You cold get better results using isosurface soheres + blob formula
> (described in tutorial on isosurface). But I would leave pure blob for
> preview mode.

Could you explain why using isosurfaces with blob formula would be any
better than using the blob directly? I'm not sure I can follow what you're
actually suggesting: switching one object for another? For what reason?

> As for fure - check out MegaPov  :)

Does it have a feature to add fur? Or some special media? In any case, I
like to fiddle around using the official version. Makes it much easier to
keep track which versions and compiles to keep for older images in case
something gets changed in a later version.

-- 
"Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

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> Could you explain why using isosurfaces with blob formula would be any
> better than using the blob directly? I'm not sure I can follow what you're
> actually suggesting: switching one object for another? For what reason?


Isosurface blobs can avoid the "seam" effect between blob spheres that you
get with normal blobs.

> Does it have a feature to add fur?

Mega-POV has a "fur" feature which may be worth checking out.

 - Slime
 [ http://www.slimeland.com/ ]

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So, here's my first attempt at creating a fur texture. Fiddling with media
showed that I would need lots of tests and then still everything would be
dependant on the lighting. As I want to keep my options open and the
rendertimes low, I've resorted to using an average texture. Works rather
fast, though I intend to fiddle around some more to see if I can get some
more interesting and realistic effects, this might increase the rendering
time again... Requires at least one light-source to cause specular
highlights on the fur.

The pigment is just a test, I'm planning to use trace() and position a
colored blob onto the cat, then use the image-function, blur that and use
that as a basis. That way, I can texture the back of the cat different than
the belly, and need not worry about projections (e.g. when using gradients
to get a different color on the spine than on the rest, the color would show
up on the belly as well).

The technique used to create the fur/velvet effect is very simple, my main
idea was to create specular highlights with a positive pigment, and then
subtract some of the highlights using a negative pigment, thus creating that
fur/velvet look. I've later remembered Rune's fur and had a look at it, and
it does it pretty much the same way... Funny coincidence, as Rune and I
always tend to work on similiar include-files, though at different times.
Sometimes he's first, sometimes I am. :-)

Regards,
Tim

-- 
"Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

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Attachments:
Download 'cat_1furred.jpg' (17 KB)

Preview of image 'cat_1furred.jpg'

Really good. Looking forward to see how this one will turn out.

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fak### [at] emailaddress news:4193b5c3$1@news.povray.org

> Isosurface blobs can avoid the "seam" effect between blob spheres that
> you get with normal blobs.

You might find this usefull:

http://www-public.tu-bs.de:8080/~y0013390/pov/ic/docu02.html#EBlob



-- 
http://www.raf256.com/3d/
Rafal Maj 'Raf256', home page - http://www.raf256.com/me/
Computer Graphics

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You've got the stance right Tim, I think it works fine. Liking the
fur already...  :)

   ~Steve~

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>   You've got the stance right Tim, I think it works fine. Liking the
> fur already...  :)

Thanks, at least I know that I'm heading in the right direction!

I've got no cats around at home and neither do any of my friends, so I have
to make do with whatever reference images I can find. Now that I've got a
bunch of images of various cats, along with a few skeleton images, it's
easier for me to visualize the "structure" underneath the cat and thus,
model it to look properly. Of course, the cat cannot be animated, and if I
decide to make a standing cat, I'd have to model a new one. But, to be
honest, once you get some things figured out, it's rather easy modelling
with blobs...

As for the fur, I hope to come up with a nice texture for it. Still
searching for the proper cat. Can't have too much black (you lose some
visual depth if you show only black areas...) and neither too much white
(doesn't fit well with snow unless the snow is slightly blueish). We'll see.

Regards,
Tim

-- 
"Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

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definately looks very cat-like. i would say that the front legs are a little
bit too far out (not straight up and down enough), as though the cat were
sitting on a smooth surface and it's paws started slipping forward. But
that's just a memory i have of all the cats I know. They always looked like
they were sitting very upright.

very good. looks great.

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> definately looks very cat-like. i would say that the front legs are a
little
> bit too far out (not straight up and down enough), as though the cat were
> sitting on a smooth surface and it's paws started slipping forward. But
> that's just a memory i have of all the cats I know. They always looked
like
> they were sitting very upright.

This cat will be seen mostly in profile and thus, this slight angle works
pretty well. Also, I've used several reference pics to consider where to
place what, and it looks like this is how a cat would sit comfortably while
looking somewhere. also, a very straight cat doesn't really look that
realistic, but I'm far off from a final decision. I'll give a straighter
version a try tomorrow, but I cannot promise anything. ;-)

In the end, it depends on how it will look in the image. With CG art, 100%
realism doesn't always look 100% realistic, not to mention artistic... :-)

> very good. looks great.

Thank you!

Regards,
Tim


-- 
"Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

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Tim Nikias nous apporta ses lumieres ainsi en ce 2004-11-11 17:06... :

>>  You've got the stance right Tim, I think it works fine. Liking the
>>fur already...  :)
>>    
>>
>
>Thanks, at least I know that I'm heading in the right direction!
>
>I've got no cats around at home and neither do any of my friends, so I have
>to make do with whatever reference images I can find. Now that I've got a
>bunch of images of various cats, along with a few skeleton images, it's
>easier for me to visualize the "structure" underneath the cat and thus,
>model it to look properly. Of course, the cat cannot be animated, and if I
>decide to make a standing cat, I'd have to model a new one. But, to be
>honest, once you get some things figured out, it's rather easy modelling
>with blobs...
>
>As for the fur, I hope to come up with a nice texture for it. Still
>searching for the proper cat. Can't have too much black (you lose some
>visual depth if you show only black areas...) and neither too much white
>(doesn't fit well with snow unless the snow is slightly blueish). We'll see.
>
>Regards,
>Tim
>
>  
>
White cats are not realy white but extremely light tan. I remember very 
well my 2 white cats playing on the fresh snow, they looked almost 
yellow on all that bright white very slightly bluish snow. Under a 
cobalt blue winter sky.

Alain

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> White cats are not realy white but extremely light tan. I remember very
> well my 2 white cats playing on the fresh snow, they looked almost
> yellow on all that bright white very slightly bluish snow. Under a
> cobalt blue winter sky.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when coloring my cat. :-)

-- 
"Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

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Tim Nikias wrote:
>>  You've got the stance right Tim, I think it works fine. 

To be authentic, though, a modelled cat should be done lying down and 
sleeping. ;)

> I've got no cats around at home and neither do any of my friends, so I have
> to make do with whatever reference images I can find. 

I have a couple of really good model cats around here - they have that 
'pose' mode down pat. "Just sit here and do nothing? No problem, mister..."

I like the model. I do think that the front legs should be more 
vertical. Cats' heads sit above and slightly forward of their front legs 
when they're sitting up straight (which they rarely do anyway, so it 
really doesn't matter).

~Mike

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> I like the model. I do think that the front legs should be more
> vertical. Cats' heads sit above and slightly forward of their front legs
> when they're sitting up straight (which they rarely do anyway, so it
> really doesn't matter).

I'll see what I can do about making them more straight. I'm currently
working on the head and some facial features (very rough facial features,
mind you, after all, it's just a blob). I won't even hope to get a
photorealistic cat, but at least something which resembles it enough to be
sufficient for a CG image. :-)

Thanks for the suggestion and insight into cat-physique! :-)

Regards,
Tim

-- 
"Tim Nikias v2.0"
Homepage: <http://www.nolights.de>

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Tim Nikias wrote:
> So, here's my first spin on trying to model a sitting cat. I'm using pure
> POV-Ray blob for this one, but I might go with a few macros and scripts of
> my own to attach some internally generated meshes (yes, I'm that weird and
> don't use an external modeller).
> 
> In case anyone's interested, I'm using blob in order to later increase the
> size via the threshold, and thus create a layer in which I can place some
> media-generated fur. Or, if that fails to work as I'd like it to, I'll
> probably take a week off my PC and try to shoot thousands of hair strands at
> the cat to give it some fur...
> 
> The cat need not be photorealistic (or I would have given up straight away)
> and it won't take up that much image-space, even though it is a central
> focus for the image's meaning. I just hope to get a proper cat face done.
> And a nice scarf to wrap around it's neck. :-)
> 
> Comments and suggestions welcome!
> 
> Regards,
> Tim
> 
> 

Great modelling, but I think it misses a tail though...
My cat often covers its front legs with it when it sits in this 
position... Probably to keep them warm :-)

-- 
Vincent

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Alain wrote:

>>
> White cats are not realy white but extremely light tan. I remember very 
> well my 2 white cats playing on the fresh snow, they looked almost 
> yellow on all that bright white very slightly bluish snow. Under a 
> cobalt blue winter sky.
> 
> Alain
Sorry, have to disagree.  You had light tan cats.  When I was young we 
had several generations of white cats. We also had lots of snow. The two 
absolutely blended.

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Vincent LE CHEVALIER wrote:
> Tim Nikias wrote:
> 
>> So, here's my first spin on trying to model a sitting cat. I'm using pure
>> POV-Ray blob for this one, but I might go with a few macros and 
>> scripts of
>> my own to attach some internally generated meshes (yes, I'm that weird 
>> and
>> don't use an external modeller).
>>
>> In case anyone's interested, I'm using blob in order to later increase 
>> the
>> size via the threshold, and thus create a layer in which I can place some
>> media-generated fur. Or, if that fails to work as I'd like it to, I'll
>> probably take a week off my PC and try to shoot thousands of hair 
>> strands at
>> the cat to give it some fur...
>>
>> The cat need not be photorealistic (or I would have given up straight 
>> away)
>> and it won't take up that much image-space, even though it is a central
>> focus for the image's meaning. I just hope to get a proper cat face done.
>> And a nice scarf to wrap around it's neck. :-)
>>
>> Comments and suggestions welcome!
>>
>> Regards,
>> Tim
>>
>>
> 
> Great modelling, but I think it misses a tail though...
> My cat often covers its front legs with it when it sits in this 
> position... Probably to keep them warm :-)
> 

mine puts its front paws on top of its tail in that pose

cold floor

and when she sleeps, she sleeps and .....
and curls up into something that somehow reminds me of a mobius strip

stephen

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