Hey Skip are you still chasing storms?

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Jim Charter <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote:
> my question is, does anyone here know what color these animals
> actually are?  Any shark afficionados out there?

Hi Jim !

I think your model is a Grey Nurse Shark:
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/images/nature_conservation/grey_nurse_shark.jpg
http://www.dinosoria.com/requin_taureau.htm


Rene
http://rene.bui.free.fr - online portfolio

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"Jim Charter" <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote in message 
news:42cc2595@news.povray.org...
> Cliche subject, but at some point you just gotta do sharks.
>
> Actually I was hoping to simplify things a bit as I try to develop
> skills in uv maps, lighting and texturing.
>
>
> In my posted examples, issues of modelling and some uv mapping glitches
> aside, my question is, does anyone here know what color these animals
> actually are?  Any shark afficionados out there?
>
> I was using this as a reference
> http://www.discoverydiving.com/shark_gallery.htm
> Can anyone help me analyse what I am actually seeing there in terms of
> the animal's skin color and finish?

Sharkskin has the texture of sandpaper - at least in one direction and is 
much smoother when going with the flow.

Your monochrome shark is nearest to native coloration.
However sharks in water (like all other submarine creatures) are percieved 
as a function of illumination.
The red end of the spectrum falls off dramatically with depth.
So underwater photographers often use flash illumination and filters to 
brighten things up and balance the color.
See e.g. http://www.rov.org/educational/pages/LIGHTING.html for a graph.
And there are a gazillion other issues relating to surface illumination, 
surface texture, clarity/turbidity, (blue) reflected light from sea beds 
etc.
Have fun...
DLM

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"Rene Bui" <ren### [at] freefr> wrote:
> Hi Jim !
>
> I think your model is a Grey Nurse Shark:
> http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/images/nature_conservation/grey_nurse_shark.jpg
> http://www.dinosoria.com/requin_taureau.htm
>
>
> Rene
> http://rene.bui.free.fr - online portfolio

You never know what you'll learn with POV!

The only sharks here with that distinct shape & double dorsal fin is the
sand-tiger.  After I saw the picture in your links I looked up the
gray-nurse and found its the same shark, just called different names in
different parts of the world.  Here's some photos that show the coloring
well...
http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/fish/Carcharias_taurus/more_still_images.html

It's funny, because we have nurse sharks here, but they don't look like
that, particularly the jaws and tail. Ours look like....
http://www.kidzone.ws/sharks/photos/nursepic1.htm

Well, now I'm halfway to combining two of my favorite pastimes; Pov-Ray &
diving.  Now all I have to do is figure out how to get POV running on my
Suunto dive computer...

RG

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Thanks to everyone for all the links and comments.  That model actually 
began as a sort of generic shark probably more along the lines of a 
great white, with the wide head for massive jaws and streamlined shape. 
  But it kept gravitating towards the species with the smaller head in 
proportion to the body which for me always seems more menacing.  Just 
like on those mannered late Roman statues, the exaggeratedly small head 
makes the body seem more powerful even while it would be actually the 
huge jaws of other species of shark that are more dangerous.  So now 
that with the help of you all I can actually fix on a particular species 
to model, it is time to take the mesh back to the shop for some 
significant improvements, hopefully.  Meanwhile the lighting is going to 
take a lot more understanding obviously.  The link on how to do 
underwater lighting was very informative on that.

The most current render looks like a step backwards. lol.

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Attachments:
Download 'img.00040.jpg' (46 KB)

Preview of image 'img.00040.jpg'

Looks good, my only comments would be:

1) Sharks generally have small pupils; I think you've got too much black 
in the eye here, and

2) I believe the inside of a shark's mouth is white/grey rather than pink.

Great work!

Dave.

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Dave Sproson wrote:
> Looks good, my only comments would be:
> 
> 1) Sharks generally have small pupils; I think you've got too much black 
> in the eye here, and

Yes the eye needs much more detail, right now its just a sort of button 
on the surface with four of the polys textured black.  The pupil 
probably is too big although I must say, the appearance of its relative 
bigness seems to depand alot on the texturing of it and the cornea.  I 
slight shift in reflectivity for instance and change that whole perception.

> 
> 2) I believe the inside of a shark's mouth is white/grey rather than pink.
> 

LOL, yes I had that pink texture for the inside of the mouth as a sort 
of place holder then forgot about it.  All I did was move the spot light 
just a little closer to the camera location and suddenly, the pick 
caught the light and... it's a cartoon mouth.  That "cartoonish" problem 
as been hounding this project from the start.  I think that any time the 
level of detail becomes generalized there is a tendency to see it as a 
cartoon.  That and there is the bizarre grimace of a shark's mouth 
anyway.  In one way I look forward to the problem.  The shark's maw 
hold's famous fascination and I want to examine it in more detail.  But 
modelling details on the inside area of a mesh can be exasperating too.

> Great work!
>

Thanks.  I feel that the next pass will really make or break it.

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I stripped away the eyes, gills, and teeth and sought again, basic shark 
shape. I did this test render with the same camera and lighting from my 
scene, but with the model rotated to get a profile look.  To my surprise 
I found that the shark was framed exactly.  I liked the effect so 
thought I'd share.

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Attachments:
Download 'img.00057.jpg' (29 KB)

Preview of image 'img.00057.jpg'

Jim Charter <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote:
> I stripped away the eyes, gills, and teeth and sought again, basic shark
> shape. I did this test render with the same camera and lighting from my
> scene, but with the model rotated to get a profile look.  To my surprise
> I found that the shark was framed exactly.  I liked the effect so
> thought I'd share.


perfect  ! just one thing : maybe the nose could be a little bit more
rounded. maybe..

Rene
http://rene.bui.free.fr - online portfolio

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Rene Bui wrote:
> Jim Charter <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote:
> 
>>I stripped away the eyes, gills, and teeth and sought again, basic shark
>>shape. I did this test render with the same camera and lighting from my
>>scene, but with the model rotated to get a profile look.  To my surprise
>>I found that the shark was framed exactly.  I liked the effect so
>>thought I'd share.
> 
> 
> 
> perfect  ! just one thing : maybe the nose could be a little bit more
> rounded. maybe..
> 
thanks for the support, yeah I have to analyze the nose and the whole 
head actually when I put jaws, nostrils, eyes and gills back in.

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