This is an idea I've had for quite some time, based partially on my favorite
Arthurian movie - Excalibur
I decided to finally do it after due to some interesting revelations in the
Dungeons and Dragons game that I play in.

Not overly complex - hills are height fields, the same one rotated and
scaled differently. The trees are from XFrog, the water's an isosurface and
teh arm and sword are from Poser. The focal blur could probably use more
samples, still a little grainy.

Render time: 7 hours 20 minutes (due to scattering media, isosurface and
focal blur)

Comments?

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"Gail Shaw" <initialsurname@sentech sa dot com> wrote:
> This is an idea I've had for quite some time, based partially on my favorite
> Arthurian movie - Excalibur
> I decided to finally do it after due to some interesting revelations in the
> Dungeons and Dragons game that I play in.
>
> Not overly complex - hills are height fields, the same one rotated and
> scaled differently. The trees are from XFrog, the water's an isosurface and
> teh arm and sword are from Poser. The focal blur could probably use more
> samples, still a little grainy.
>
> Render time: 7 hours 20 minutes (due to scattering media, isosurface and
> focal blur)
>
> Comments?

Nice one Gail, but where did that sky come from. It doesn’t look very
English to me. (Opps maybe I should say Welsh, Cornish or Scottish :-)
I don’t generally like focal blur but it works here. I also think a bit of
mist over the lake would be in keeping.


Stephen

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"Stephen" <mcavoys_AT_aolDOT.com> wrote in message
news:web.45ac9ef3e5478eeaf1cb1e660@news.povray.org...

>
> Nice one Gail, but where did that sky come from. It doesn't look very
> English to me.

I just did a generic sunset/sunrise type sky. Let me guess, you want more
cloud?

> (Opps maybe I should say Welsh, Cornish or Scottish :-)

Who knows.

I was tempted to put a second moon in the sky, cause the campaign world that
my group plays in has 3 moons.
I decided against it, and used an actual map of earth's moon

> I don't generally like focal blur but it works here. I also think a bit of
> mist over the lake would be in keeping.

There is already. It's not that clear, but it is there.
I'll see what I can do with the mist to make it more visible without turning
the render into a several day thing.

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"Gail Shaw" <initialsurname@sentech sa dot com> wrote:
> "Stephen" <mcavoys_AT_aolDOT.com> wrote in message
> news:web.45ac9ef3e5478eeaf1cb1e660@news.povray.org...
>
> >
> > Nice one Gail, but where did that sky come from. It doesn't look very
> > English to me.
>
> I just did a generic sunset/sunrise type sky. Let me guess, you want more
> cloud?

LOL and rain :-)
No it’s the purple/puce that does not look British. Either low sun red
fading to blue or yellow fading to blue.

> > (Opps maybe I should say Welsh, Cornish or Scottish :-)
>
> Who knows.

Indeed who knows?

> I was tempted to put a second moon in the sky, cause the campaign world that
> my group plays in has 3 moons.
> I decided against it, and used an actual map of earth's moon

Actually the sky with the purple/puce tinge would suit two moons IMO. The
scene reminds me of SF book covers from the 60’s or 70’s.

> > I don't generally like focal blur but it works here. I also think a bit of
> > mist over the lake would be in keeping.
>
> There is already. It's not that clear, but it is there.
> I'll see what I can do with the mist to make it more visible without turning
> the render into a several day thing.

I know what you mean. I left a render of the London Eye, going at work on
Friday, by Monday it was 8% complete.

Stephen

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"Stephen" <mcavoys_AT_aolDOT.com> wrote in message
news:web.45acae12e5478eeaf1cb1e660@news.povray.org...
> "Gail Shaw" <initialsurname@sentech sa dot com> wrote:
> > "Stephen" <mcavoys_AT_aolDOT.com> wrote in message
> > news:web.45ac9ef3e5478eeaf1cb1e660@news.povray.org...
> >
> > >
> > > Nice one Gail, but where did that sky come from. It doesn't look very
> > > English to me.
> >
> > I just did a generic sunset/sunrise type sky. Let me guess, you want
more
> > cloud?
>
> LOL and rain :-)
> No it's the purple/puce that does not look British. Either low sun red
> fading to blue or yellow fading to blue.

Ah, OK. I'll see what I can do.
The sky is actually made of 3 different fogs, 1 normal and 2 ground with
very high distances, to get the shading and the colour to the moon.

fog {
 rgb <0.2,0.2,0.4>
 fog_type 1
 distance 2200
}

fog {
 rgb <0.6,0.5,0.7>*0.8
 fog_type 2
 fog_offset 0
 fog_alt 400
 distance 2000
}

fog {
 rgb <1, 0.6, -0.2>*.6
 distance 200
 fog_type 2
 fog_alt 10
 fog_offset 0
}

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I like this, Gail!
Perhaps the focal blur could be a tiny bit less to give some more structure 
to the background?
Pehaps also, move the arm and sword a bit to the left. What happens now is 
that there is a perfect straight line between the left-hand guard and the 
trees limit of the first hill reflecting in the water. That gives an effect 
as if the image was cut in two vertically.

Thomas

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"Thomas de Groot" <t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> wrote in message
news:45acf4c7@news.povray.org...
> I like this, Gail!
> Perhaps the focal blur could be a tiny bit less to give some more
structure
> to the background?

I'll try that. Thing is, there isn't much structure in the background *g*

> Pehaps also, move the arm and sword a bit to the left. What happens now is
> that there is a perfect straight line between the left-hand guard and the
> trees limit of the first hill reflecting in the water. That gives an
effect
> as if the image was cut in two vertically.
>

Didn't notice that. Thanks

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Nice. I would zoom in a bit more to the arm and tone down the focal blur 
just a little. This should speed up the render time as well.


-- 
-Nekar Xenos
"The truth is out there"

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Nekar wrote:

> Nice. I would zoom in a bit more to the arm and tone down the focal blur
> just a little. This should speed up the render time as well.

South African raytrace artists rule!

Well done - there's something about the epic look in the movie that you
managed to capture in the image. I was about 6 or 7 years old when I saw
Excalibur (the movie) and I vividly remember the arm reaching up out of the
water to grab the sword.

No one shall wield Excalibur...
-- 
Stefan

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"Gail Shaw" <initialsurname@sentech sa dot com> schreef in bericht 
news:45acfcae@news.povray.org...
>
>> Pehaps also, move the arm and sword a bit to the left. What happens now 
>> is
>> that there is a perfect straight line between the left-hand guard and the
>> trees limit of the first hill reflecting in the water. That gives an
> effect
>> as if the image was cut in two vertically.
>>
>
> Didn't notice that. Thanks
>
As an afterthought, you could also move the first hill a bit to the left. 
Effect would be the same, but you could keep the arm in the same location 
which would perhaps be better...

Thomas

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"Thomas de Groot" <t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> wrote in message
news:45ade3ba$1@news.povray.org...
>
>
> As an afterthought, you could also move the first hill a bit to the left.
> Effect would be the same, but you could keep the arm in the same location
> which would perhaps be better...
>

I've moved the camera slightly, while looking at the same position. Looks
quite a bit better.
Going to be another day's render. Still tweaking the fog.

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"Stefan Viljoen" <spa### [at] removethispolardcom> wrote in message
news:45adc1cc@news.povray.org...
>
> Well done - there's something about the epic look in the movie that you
> managed to capture in the image. I was about 6 or 7 years old when I saw
> Excalibur (the movie) and I vividly remember the arm reaching up out of
the
> water to grab the sword.

I have the movie on tape. Must be 15 years old easily.
I watched that scene where Percival throws the sword back a couple times
before I did this.

If you're interested... http://www.take2.co.za/product.php?id=533830

> No one shall wield Excalibur...
but me!

Wasn't that when Uther put the sword into the stone?

In my roleplaying campaign (which uses parallel worlds, future earth and a
fantasy world) my character's just discovered that her great grandmother was
Nimue (the Lady of the Lake) I wasn't expecting that....

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"Gail Shaw" <initialsurname@sentech sa dot com> wrote:
>
> In my roleplaying campaign (which uses parallel worlds, future earth and a
> fantasy world) my character's just discovered that her great grandmother was
> Nimue (the Lady of the Lake) I wasn't expecting that....

No one ever expects the unexpected!

Never trust a kelpie

Stephen

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Gail Shaw wrote:

> I have the movie on tape. Must be 15 years old easily.
> I watched that scene where Percival throws the sword back a couple times
> before I did this.

Ahh... epic! That film had the greatest epic / heroic music ever for me
until Braveheart.
 
> If you're interested... http://www.take2.co.za/product.php?id=533830

Question - I've often wondered about these gray import DVDs - especially to
S. A. from other countries - would I be able to play that in my normal
settop and region locked (I assume) DVD player? Or only on, for example,
xine in Linux which can crack CSS keys?

>> No one shall wield Excalibur...
> but me!
> 
> Wasn't that when Uther put the sword into the stone?

Correct - years later I most vividly remember that scene. The sparks and the
scream of the steel sliding against the rock - ooo
 
> In my roleplaying campaign (which uses parallel worlds, future earth and a
> fantasy world) my character's just discovered that her great grandmother
> was Nimue (the Lady of the Lake) I wasn't expecting that....

Interesting! Ever play Morrowind and / or Oblivion? Cool stuff...

I D&D when I was still in school a bit, but stopped at a stage due to the DM
moving away, etc. etc. Interesting plot twist - sounds like you have a
kickass DM there...

-- 
Stefan

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"Stefan Viljoen" <spa### [at] removethispolardcom> wrote in message
news:45af523a@news.povray.org...
> Gail Shaw wrote:
>
> > If you're interested... http://www.take2.co.za/product.php?id=533830
>
> Question - I've often wondered about these gray import DVDs - especially
to
> S. A. from other countries - would I be able to play that in my normal
> settop and region locked (I assume) DVD player? Or only on, for example,
> xine in Linux which can crack CSS keys?

That's not a grey import.
It's a normal, legal, imported DVD, imported from England and in Region 2.
It will be fully readable on any region 2 dvd player (which is what we get
here)

It's the same thing you'd get from Game or Musica (if they stocked such old
movies) or if you bought from amazon.co.uk

Take2 doesn't stock the DVDs. When you order, they order from the supplier,
which for the one I linked is in England.

> > In my roleplaying campaign (which uses parallel worlds, future earth and
a
> > fantasy world) my character's just discovered that her great grandmother
> > was Nimue (the Lady of the Lake) I wasn't expecting that....
>
> Interesting! Ever play Morrowind and / or Oblivion? Cool stuff...

Both from beginning to end. Also Gothic 2, NWN, Baldur's gate, Might and
Magic (a couple different ones)
I love roleplaying game and strategy games

> I D&D when I was still in school a bit, but stopped at a stage due to the
DM
> moving away, etc. etc. Interesting plot twist - sounds like you have a
> kickass DM there...

He's good with story.
I knew something interesting was going to happen, not exactly what. There
have been hints of things for quite some time.

If you're interested in a not-yet-complete tale of this campaign, as written
by my character in diary form
http://gail.rucus.net/Roleplaying/Guardian.php  (site is a work in progress
still)

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Although it's getting a little off-topic, if you would like to read a most 
excellent version of the story of Arthur, I recommend the series "The 
Warlord Chronicles" by Bernard Cornwell (the author of the Sharp novels.) 
There are three books starting with "The Winter King" The story is told from 
the perspective of Derfel Cadarn, one of Arthur spearmen who became close to 
Arthur. Captivating reading. :-)
That is a very good work so far too!

--
H²

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"Halbert" <hal### [at] gmailcom> schreef in bericht 
news:45b17440$1@news.povray.org...
> Although it's getting a little off-topic, if you would like to read a most 
> excellent version of the story of Arthur, I recommend the series "The 
> Warlord Chronicles" by Bernard Cornwell (the author of the Sharp novels.) 
> There are three books starting with "The Winter King" The story is told 
> from the perspective of Derfel Cadarn, one of Arthur spearmen who became 
> close to Arthur. Captivating reading. :-)
>

Now! I was just going to make exactly the same suggestion!!  :-)

Thomas

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On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 11:09:22 +0200, "Gail Shaw" <initialsurname@sentech sa dot
com> wrote:

>This is an idea I've had for quite some time, based partially on my favorite
>Arthurian movie - Excalibur

You made me think Gail, shame on you :-)
This is roughly, only the second time I've tried fog or focal blur.
I wasn't brought with the Anglo Saxon version. The school of hard knocks for me
and mine.


Regards
	Stephen

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