Last January, I came across and intriguing photograph of Loubressac 
Castle (Lot, France). It stayed in the back of my mind till this summer 
when I started to model it in Silo, and thinking about a background 
landscape. I remembered my own entry to one of the TC-RTC challenges 
back in 2010 (Acres of Diamonds) and decided to use it. Many iterations 
and transformations resulted in the present image.

Indebted to Mike Hazelgrove for the clouds macro; Gilles Tran for the 
MakeGrass macro. Paolo, I tweaked your Grunge texture. Thanks indeed!

Some little tricks worth to mention: the Displacement utility in Poseray 
was used for the tower so that the sunlight might be broken about the 
masonry and the roof tiles. The trees, down in the plain, are 
billboards. In order for the shadows to look right, they are composed of 
two versions: one (with no_shadow) systematically oriented towards the 
camera, one (with no_image) systematically oriented towards the Sun.

-- 
Thomas

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Attachments:
Download 'pending storm_final.jpg' (332 KB)

Preview of image 'pending storm_final.jpg'

On 9/27/20 2:47 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> Last January, I came across and intriguing photograph of Loubressac 
> Castle (Lot, France). It stayed in the back of my mind till this summer 
...
> 
I like it.

Bil P.

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I really like the artistic composition of this image, and especially the chosen
late-afternoon (or early-morning?) Sun angle-- it throws the tower into shadow,
a nice touch. Beautiful,

> The trees, down in the plain, are
> billboards. In order for the shadows to look right, they are composed of
> two versions: one (with no_shadow) systematically oriented towards the
> camera, one (with no_image) systematically oriented towards the Sun.
>

That's quite clever, and works well! A nit-pic, though: It looks like the
'shadow billboards' are not quite lined up with the actual tree billboards; the
shadows are a little bit offset from the trees (to my eyes.) Not as to the
direction of the Sun, but as to emanating from the 'trees' themselves. The
shadow billboards had to be rotated to face the Sun, so maybe their
rotation-axes are not correct, i.e., offset somehow from the y-axis 'center' of
each billboard(?)

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On 2020-09-27 4:44 PM (-4), Kenneth wrote:
> 
> 
> That's quite clever, and works well! A nit-pic, though: It looks like the
> 'shadow billboards' are not quite lined up with the actual tree billboards; the
> shadows are a little bit offset from the trees (to my eyes.) Not as to the
> direction of the Sun, but as to emanating from the 'trees' themselves. The
> shadow billboards had to be rotated to face the Sun, so maybe their
> rotation-axes are not correct, i.e., offset somehow from the y-axis 'center' of
> each billboard(?)

The shadow positions look fine to me.  The problem I see is that there 
is often no tree trunk shadow, probably due to them being narrower than 
a pixel, and this makes the shadows seem disconnected from the trees.

Post a reply to this message

Op 27/09/2020 om 23:05 schreef Cousin Ricky:
> On 2020-09-27 4:44 PM (-4), Kenneth wrote:
>>
>>
>> That's quite clever, and works well! A nit-pic, though: It looks like the
>> 'shadow billboards' are not quite lined up with the actual tree 
>> billboards; the
>> shadows are a little bit offset from the trees (to my eyes.) Not as to 
>> the
>> direction of the Sun, but as to emanating from the 'trees' themselves. 
>> The
>> shadow billboards had to be rotated to face the Sun, so maybe their
>> rotation-axes are not correct, i.e., offset somehow from the y-axis 
>> 'center' of
>> each billboard(?)
> 
> The shadow positions look fine to me.  The problem I see is that there 
> is often no tree trunk shadow, probably due to them being narrower than 
> a pixel, and this makes the shadows seem disconnected from the trees.

Well gentlemen, this is interesting. Kenneth: I /think/ I have 
positioned the billboard correctly according to origin, but I might need 
to control this. Cousin Ricky: yes indeed, the trunks are a tad too 
narrow. Maybe I should have planted different trees :-)

-- 
Thomas

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Op 27/09/2020 om 15:17 schreef William F Pokorny:
> On 9/27/20 2:47 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> Last January, I came across and intriguing photograph of Loubressac 
>> Castle (Lot, France). It stayed in the back of my mind till this summer 
> ...
>>
> I like it.
> 

Thanks indeed. :-)

-- 
Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Thomas de Groot wrote on 27/09/2020 08:47:
> Last January, I came across and intriguing photograph of Loubressac 
> Castle (Lot, France). It stayed in the back of my mind till this summer 
> when I started to model it in Silo, and thinking about a background 
> landscape. I remembered my own entry to one of the TC-RTC challenges 
> back in 2010 (Acres of Diamonds) and decided to use it. Many iterations 
> and transformations resulted in the present image.
> 
> Indebted to Mike Hazelgrove for the clouds macro; Gilles Tran for the 
> MakeGrass macro. Paolo, I tweaked your Grunge texture. Thanks indeed!
> 
> Some little tricks worth to mention: the Displacement utility in Poseray 
> was used for the tower so that the sunlight might be broken about the 
> masonry and the roof tiles. The trees, down in the plain, are 
> billboards. In order for the shadows to look right, they are composed of 
> two versions: one (with no_shadow) systematically oriented towards the 
> camera, one (with no_image) systematically oriented towards the Sun.
> 

A very nice composition, and I like a lot the landscape and its colors.
The castle grass is kept very well by the gardeners (or maybe by the 
goats), it is curious that there is so much moss on the stones...

;-)

Paolo

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hi,

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> ... thinking about a background landscape. ...

fully agree with PG regarding landscape and colours.  not too far off views seen
in the Eifel.  lovely.


regards, jr.

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Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

>
> The shadow positions look fine to me.  The problem I see is that there
> is often no tree trunk shadow, probably due to them being narrower than
> a pixel, and this makes the shadows seem disconnected from the trees.

Well... I was wrong-- the shadows do line up. My apologies, Thomas! My eyes seem
to be working better today ;-) Yes, what threw me off were the missing (i.e.,
too thin) tree trunks in the tree shadows, and not seeing where the actual tree
trunks meet the ground.

Btw, the clouds in the image look really nice, a BIG detail I didn't pay
attention to at first... even though the title is "Pending Storm", ha. I was too
busy enjoying other parts of the image  :-O

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Attachments:
Download 'pending storm close-up.jpg' (111 KB)

Preview of image 'pending storm close-up.jpg'

This is a nice image. Your buildings are excellent as always, but I'm most
intrigued by the landscape. The patchwork of fields is very convincing - you
allude to a previous challenge scene, but I'm sure I've never seen this effect
before. How was it done?

I've experimented briefly with British-style irregular drystone-walled fields
before, and it's no trivial problem! As with many experiments, it dissolved into
an abstract geometric modelling saga woefully unsuited to SDL, but I hope to
return to it someday...

Also excellent clouds!

Bill

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Extremely nice picture! Good atmosphere.
Once again, well done Thomas.

Cheers
Ton.

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This came out well - the perspective / viewpoint works very well.

It looks very different between my 2 monitors.  I'm not sure how to
independently change the screen colors/gamma on my laptop but leave the
auxiliary monitor as it is.

Most noticeable to me was the wood railing - the colors, the texture/normals,
and the algae growth (probably because it's in the foreground).
As others have mentioned, the landscape and clouds are very well done.
The rusted bars are excellent - that texture must have taken quite some time to
develop.  (But perhaps they should not all appear to bent exactly the same).

The moss on the stone at the base of the railing is --- odd?  Unnatural?
Perhaps also add a bit of space around the post bases (larger hole, shadow) and
a bit of extra growth and rot where the water collects.

The castle looks very clean.  And perhaps add just a bit of texturing to the
little red roofs in the distance.   Maybe some bugs?  a bird?  a farm cart?

And really - those clouds are fan-tastic.

Good work, Thomas.   I'm glad to see some rendered fruits of people's effort
still being posted   :)

-BW

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Op 28/09/2020 om 23:52 schreef Bill Pragnell:
> This is a nice image. Your buildings are excellent as always, but I'm most
> intrigued by the landscape. The patchwork of fields is very convincing - you
> allude to a previous challenge scene, but I'm sure I've never seen this effect
> before. How was it done?
> 
> I've experimented briefly with British-style irregular drystone-walled fields
> before, and it's no trivial problem! As with many experiments, it dissolved into
> an abstract geometric modelling saga woefully unsuited to SDL, but I hope to
> return to it someday...
> 
> Also excellent clouds!
> 
> Bill
> 
> 

Thanks Bill, much appreciated indeed.

I tried to find the old TC-RTC site again but - even with the Wayback 
Machine - was unable to open it. :-/

Basically, the checkered fields are superimposed as a slope texture, 
taking into account a b&w diamond pattern image_map. In the original, 
the pattern was straight but I thought it would be more convincing if 
that were changed to a more wavy pattern.

The code for the landscape is as follows (you can extrapolate for your 
own needs):
//start code--------------------------------
#declare ImagePat = pigment {image_map {png 
"DiamondPattern_05b_inverse.png" gamma srgb interpolate 2 transmit all 
0.0 } rotate 90*x rotate 45*y scale 0.1}
//Map is necessary to place bushes and trees on the field edges:
#declare Map = pigment {ImagePat transform {HF_trans}}
#declare N_pat = normal {bump_map {png "DiamondPattern_05b_inverse.png" 
gamma 1.0 interpolate 2} rotate 90*x rotate 45*y scale 0.1}

#declare P_field1 =
pigment {
   agate
   pigment_map {
     [0.3 srgb <0.4, 0.5, 0.0>]
     [0.7 srgb <0.3, 0.4, 0.0>]
   }
   scale 0.01
}

#declare P_field2 =
pigment {
   bozo
   pigment_map {
     [0.45 srgb <0.7, 0.6, 0.0>]
     [0.55 srgb <0.9, 0.5, 0.0>]
   }
   scale 0.01
}

#declare Pattern =
texture {
   pigment {
     average
     pigment_map {
       [1.5 P_field1]
       [0.2 ImagePat]
       [1.0 P_field2]//srgb <0.5, 0.8, 0.2>*0.4]
     }
   }
   normal {N_pat bump_size 6}
}

#declare Patterned =
texture {
   slope {<0, -1, 0> 0, 0.5
     altitude <0, 0.0, 0>
   }
   texture_map {
     [0.10 Pattern]
     [0.15 Me_Rocks]
   }
}

#declare F_HF_01 =
function {
   pigment {
     image_map {
       tga "GC_Apophysis_06_hf.tga" gamma 1.0
       map_type 0
       interpolate 2
     }
     warp {repeat x}
     warp {repeat y}
     scale 50
     warp {
       turbulence 0.2
       octaves 1 //[6]
       lambda 1  //[2]
       omega 0.2 //[0.5]
     }
     scale 1/50
   }
}

#declare Fieldscape =
intersection {
   height_field {
     function HF_res, HF_res {F_HF_01(x,y,z).hf}
     smooth
     translate <-0.5, 0, -0.5>
     texture {Patterned}
     transform {HF_trans}
   }
   box {
     <-0.5, -0.5, -0.5>, <0.5, 0.5, 0.5>
     scale HF_scale * <0.99, 10, 0.99>
   }
   //rotate 90*y
}

Fieldscape
//end code--------------------------------

I suppose there are other ways to reach this, in particular by including 
the diamond pattern as a function into the height_field. It is something 
which I have not explored (yet) and I foresee a couple of difficulties 
with that approach. In the present scene I just wanted a ready-made 
landscape so that I could concentrate on the castle.

The pattern (Map) is also used to place the trees on the landscape by 
means of the eval_pigment() code.

The clouds are based on code by Juha Leppälä (as used originally by Mick 
Hazelgrove, who also posted it here, I don't remember when exactly).

-- 
Thomas

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Attachments:
Download 'diamondpattern_05b_inverse.png' (369 KB)

Preview of image 'diamondpattern_05b_inverse.png'

Op 28/09/2020 om 23:52 schreef Bill Pragnell:
> Also excellent clouds!
> 

http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.images/thread/%3C40f02e03%40news.povray.org%3E/?mtop=195124

The original image where the code was used. I have not yet found 
when/where the code was published.

-- 
Thomas

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in news:5f703570@news.povray.org Thomas de Groot wrote:

> Last January

Thomas,

great image, I like it. 
There is one thing I wonder about with several of your landscapes, they 
are desolate. Is that intentional? 

ingo

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Op 29/09/2020 om 09:23 schreef ingo:
> in news:5f703570@news.povray.org Thomas de Groot wrote:
> 
>> Last January
> 
> Thomas,
> 
> great image, I like it.

Thanks indeed.

> There is one thing I wonder about with several of your landscapes, they
> are desolate. Is that intentional?
> 
> ingo
> 

[grin] Good point. It probably is on a semi-subconscious level. Living 
in a country that is a bit too crowded for my taste (although I am in 
the less crowded northern half) is influencing my choices. Also, I have 
always preferred to visit landscapes "far from the madding crowd" out of 
taste and out of professional reasons (geology). Last (but not least) I 
am not a great friend of humanity in general...

I like to use Poser and I have made a series of scenes in the past where 
the human factor was present. This has drifted somewhat to the 
background at the moment. Otherwise, cities do not interest me. Maybe 
little ancient villages and - certainly - ruins, explain my (19th 
century) Romantic nature. :-)

-- 
Thomas

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Op 28/09/2020 om 10:38 schreef Paolo Gibellini:
> A very nice composition, and I like a lot the landscape and its colors.
> The castle grass is kept very well by the gardeners (or maybe by the 
> goats), it is curious that there is so much moss on the stones...
> 
> ;-)
> 
> Paolo

Thank you indeed, Paolo. Somehow I wanted to include your Grunge texture 
but I agree that it is not yet perfect for the purpose. Some more work 
needed. As also the grass. Gilles' macros are great but have some 
difficulties. I am not done yet with that part.

-- 
Thomas

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Op 28/09/2020 om 19:52 schreef Kenneth:
> Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> 
>>
>> The shadow positions look fine to me.  The problem I see is that there
>> is often no tree trunk shadow, probably due to them being narrower than
>> a pixel, and this makes the shadows seem disconnected from the trees.
> 
> Well... I was wrong-- the shadows do line up. My apologies, Thomas! My eyes seem
> to be working better today ;-) Yes, what threw me off were the missing (i.e.,
> too thin) tree trunks in the tree shadows, and not seeing where the actual tree
> trunks meet the ground.
> 
> Btw, the clouds in the image look really nice, a BIG detail I didn't pay
> attention to at first... even though the title is "Pending Storm", ha. I was too
> busy enjoying other parts of the image  :-O
> 

I was in doubt about the trees because of their trunks. I may use others 
instead. The clouds are very satisfying. They are based on code by Mick 
Hazelgrove (and Juha Leppälä). I posted an address in my answer to Bill 
Pragnell. I have not yet found when I downloaded the code nor from where 
exactly. However, it makes fantastic cloud scapes. If the origin cannot 
be found, I shall post the code as I have it today.

-- 
Thomas

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Op 27/09/2020 om 15:17 schreef William F Pokorny:
> On 9/27/20 2:47 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> Last January, I came across and intriguing photograph of Loubressac 
>> Castle (Lot, France). It stayed in the back of my mind till this summer 
> ...
>>
> I like it.
> 
> Bil P.

Thank you!

-- 
Thomas

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Op 28/09/2020 om 12:19 schreef jr:
> hi,
> 
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> ... thinking about a background landscape. ...
> 
> fully agree with PG regarding landscape and colours.  not too far off views seen
> in the Eifel.  lovely.
> 
> 
> regards, jr.
> 

Ah, the Eifel! Yes, that comes indeed to mind.

-- 
Thomas

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Op 29/09/2020 om 00:47 schreef Ton:
> Extremely nice picture! Good atmosphere.
> Once again, well done Thomas.
> 
> Cheers
> Ton.
> 
> 

My sincere thanks, Ton!

-- 
Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Op 29/09/2020 om 00:52 schreef Bald Eagle:
> This came out well - the perspective / viewpoint works very well.
> 
> It looks very different between my 2 monitors.  I'm not sure how to
> independently change the screen colors/gamma on my laptop but leave the
> auxiliary monitor as it is.

Not sure what may cause this. I am not using exotic gamma settings (1.0) 
nor colours (mostly srgb).

> 
> Most noticeable to me was the wood railing - the colors, the texture/normals,
> and the algae growth (probably because it's in the foreground).

And just an image_map and normal_map :-)

> As others have mentioned, the landscape and clouds are very well done.
> The rusted bars are excellent - that texture must have taken quite some time to
> develop.  (But perhaps they should not all appear to bent exactly the same).

The metallic texture is by Explo Eristotle (many years ago) and one of 
the best rusty textures I know of. I was waiting for a comment about the 
bars ;-) Fact is that the railing is built in Silo using instances, so 
they look identical. Your comment is to the point and I should do 
something about it.

> 
> The moss on the stone at the base of the railing is --- odd?  Unnatural?
> Perhaps also add a bit of space around the post bases (larger hole, shadow) and
> a bit of extra growth and rot where the water collects.

That part definitely needs some more work.

> 
> The castle looks very clean.  And perhaps add just a bit of texturing to the
> little red roofs in the distance.   Maybe some bugs?  a bird?  a farm cart?

Right. More to do... Not too sure about the additions. I intentionally 
left them out.

> 
> And really - those clouds are fan-tastic.
> 
> Good work, Thomas.   I'm glad to see some rendered fruits of people's effort
> still being posted   :)
> 

We have to keep up the tradition of our POV-Ray fathers, haven't we? ;-) 
But seriously, I certainly would like to see more of these fruits on the 
POV-Ray market, like in the old days.

-- 
Thomas

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Really nice - I love the clouds in particular. :)



-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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On 2020-09-29 4:52 AM (-4), Thomas de Groot wrote:
> Op 28/09/2020 om 19:52 schreef Kenneth:
>> Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> The shadow positions look fine to me.  The problem I see is that there
>>> is often no tree trunk shadow, probably due to them being narrower than
>>> a pixel, and this makes the shadows seem disconnected from the trees.
>>
>> Well... I was wrong-- the shadows do line up. My apologies, Thomas! My 
>> eyes seem
>> to be working better today ;-) Yes, what threw me off were the missing 
>> (i.e.,
>> too thin) tree trunks in the tree shadows, and not seeing where the 
>> actual tree
>> trunks meet the ground.
>>
> 
> I was in doubt about the trees because of their trunks. I may use others 
> instead.

Have you tried using +AM3?  I'm thinking that stochastic sampling may 
hit areas that are missed by the more "orderly" methods.

Post a reply to this message

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> Basically, the checkered fields are superimposed as a slope texture,
> taking into account a b&w diamond pattern image_map. In the original,
> the pattern was straight but I thought it would be more convincing if
> that were changed to a more wavy pattern.

It's very effective. Looking closely, one can see the checker-like pattern, but
the wider view is quite natural. I've used a similar technique in the past for
placing objects - using a version of a texture specifically designed for
filtering a random field of items.

My previous attempt at field boundaries was a random point graph, which
unfortunately required an external program - both for speed and sanity, since
SDL is quite unsuited to that sort of thing. I never got as far as making the
actual field colours, just the boundary walls (see attached). Sadly, as with so
many projects, real life distracted me in some way and it fell by the wayside...

Bill

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Attachments:
Download 'fields.jpg' (121 KB)

Preview of image 'fields.jpg'

Op 29/09/2020 om 20:41 schreef Cousin Ricky:
>> I was in doubt about the trees because of their trunks. I may use 
>> others instead.
> 
> Have you tried using +AM3?  I'm thinking that stochastic sampling may 
> hit areas that are missed by the more "orderly" methods.

It was on my todo list and I shall certainly use it. In de meantime I 
have just broadened the trunks and they are now more visible.

-- 
Thomas

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Op 29/09/2020 om 23:18 schreef Bill Pragnell:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> Basically, the checkered fields are superimposed as a slope texture,
>> taking into account a b&w diamond pattern image_map. In the original,
>> the pattern was straight but I thought it would be more convincing if
>> that were changed to a more wavy pattern.
> 
> It's very effective. Looking closely, one can see the checker-like pattern, but
> the wider view is quite natural. I've used a similar technique in the past for
> placing objects - using a version of a texture specifically designed for
> filtering a random field of items.
> 
> My previous attempt at field boundaries was a random point graph, which
> unfortunately required an external program - both for speed and sanity, since
> SDL is quite unsuited to that sort of thing. I never got as far as making the
> actual field colours, just the boundary walls (see attached). Sadly, as with so
> many projects, real life distracted me in some way and it fell by the wayside...
> 
> Bill
> 

Yes indeed, this works quite well. You should try to take that up again. 
For my part, I have used ChrisB's Blockwall macro in my Islay scene 
(unfinished) a couple of years ago to a similar effect. That seemed to 
me rather promising although the macro also had a couple of quaint 
peculiarities, and it would be unsuitable I guess for a whole landscape. 
Interesting topics to explore...

-- 
Thomas

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Op 29/09/2020 om 17:56 schreef Jim Henderson:
> Really nice - I love the clouds in particular. :)
>

Thanks Jim. Those clouds seem to appeal to a majority it seems ;-) I 
guess this is partly because they are almost at eye level which makes 
them more dramatic.

I failed to mention earlier that the high, thin, clouds in the sky were 
produced by Zeger Knaepen's FastClouds macro. Some dramatic lighting 
effect /under/ the clouds is the result of just two properly adjusted 
fog codes...

-- 
Thomas

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Another nice landscape from Thomas! :-)
You seem to have used quite a lot of tricks in this one, in a very successful
manner. Well done!

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> Op 29/09/2020 om 17:56 schreef Jim Henderson:
> > Really nice - I love the clouds in particular. :)
> >
>
> Thanks Jim. Those clouds seem to appeal to a majority it seems ;-) I
> guess this is partly because they are almost at eye level which makes
> them more dramatic.
>
> I failed to mention earlier that the high, thin, clouds in the sky were
> produced by Zeger Knaepen's FastClouds macro. Some dramatic lighting
> effect /under/ the clouds is the result of just two properly adjusted
> fog codes...
>
> --
> Thomas

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Op 30/09/2020 om 15:04 schreef BayashiPascal:
> Another nice landscape from Thomas! :-)
> You seem to have used quite a lot of tricks in this one, in a very successful
> manner. Well done!
> 

Thank you! And I am not finished it appears. More tricks to come. It is 
the advantage of increasing hindsight with the number of individual 
POV-Ray user years. The number of interesting tricks published in these 
groups increases. Believe it or not, at this moment I have a collection 
of tricks and such from 241 individual users! Many with more than one 
trick. :-)

-- 
Thomas

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Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> Believe it or not, at this moment I have a collection
> of tricks and such from 241 individual users! Many with more than one
> trick. :-)

That would be a very interesting read, if presented in a single document... ;)

Post a reply to this message

Op 01/10/2020 om 09:38 schreef Bill Pragnell:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> Believe it or not, at this moment I have a collection
>> of tricks and such from 241 individual users! Many with more than one
>> trick. :-)
> 
> That would be a very interesting read, if presented in a single document... ;)
> 

If I can find the time... ;-)

-- 
Thomas

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"Bill Pragnell" <bil### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> > Believe it or not, at this moment I have a collection
> > of tricks and such from 241 individual users! Many with more than one
> > trick. :-)
>
> That would be a very interesting read, if presented in a single document... ;)

I 2nd that; Thomas may have the best collection of tips and tricks that exists,
judging from his always-nice renders and comments!

I used to have such a collection-- far less in number than Thomas's-- but it was
on an older hard drive that failed, and I haven't yet found my back-up copy (if
indeed I made one.) :-(  I have a tendency to write detailed notes and tips IN
my scenes, so at least I have those to refer to...but they are usually
scene-specific, not general.

Post a reply to this message

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> This came out well - the perspective / viewpoint works very well.
>
> It looks very different between my 2 monitors.  I'm not sure how to
> independently change the screen colors/gamma on my laptop but leave the
> auxiliary monitor as it is.

I have a similar problem, which might be related to yours(?)

Three or four years ago, my trusty old cathode-ray-tube monitor died, and I
bought a typical inexpensive LED 'TV' monitor as a replacement (a Vizio model.)
There was a decided color shift (or specific-color 'enhancement') that I still
have not figured out or corrected, at least with the TV's basic color controls.
I've simply gotten used to it by now, sad to say.

But I raised this problem in the newsgroups years ago, and Clipka mentioned that
my new monitor (or my computer) may not have the correct 'ICC color profile'
installed. I neglected to follow up on that advice-- it was rather technical--
and now I don't remember where the newsgroup posts are, or the date.

So your problem may likewise be related to an incorrect or mis-matched color
profile somewhere. Just a guess, though.

Post a reply to this message

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

>
> Three or four years ago, my trusty old cathode-ray-tube monitor died, and I
> bought a typical inexpensive LED 'TV' monitor as a replacement...

It was actually about 7 years ago, now that I recall-- which might give both of
us a better chance of finding the comments by Clipka.

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 30 Sep 2020 08:46:20 +0200, Thomas de Groot wrote:

> Op 29/09/2020 om 17:56 schreef Jim Henderson:
>> Really nice - I love the clouds in particular. :)
>>
>>
> Thanks Jim. Those clouds seem to appeal to a majority it seems ;-) I
> guess this is partly because they are almost at eye level which makes
> them more dramatic.

Possibly - for me, it's also the texture itself, it just feels like a 
cloud.  :)

> I failed to mention earlier that the high, thin, clouds in the sky were
> produced by Zeger Knaepen's FastClouds macro. Some dramatic lighting
> effect /under/ the clouds is the result of just two properly adjusted
> fog codes...

Very nice.

Jim
-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

Post a reply to this message

Op 01/10/2020 om 22:10 schreef Kenneth:
> "Bill Pragnell" <bil### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
>> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>>> Believe it or not, at this moment I have a collection
>>> of tricks and such from 241 individual users! Many with more than one
>>> trick. :-)
>>
>> That would be a very interesting read, if presented in a single document... ;)
> 
> I 2nd that; Thomas may have the best collection of tips and tricks that exists,
> judging from his always-nice renders and comments!
> 
> I used to have such a collection-- far less in number than Thomas's-- but it was
> on an older hard drive that failed, and I haven't yet found my back-up copy (if
> indeed I made one.) :-(  I have a tendency to write detailed notes and tips IN
> my scenes, so at least I have those to refer to...but they are usually
> scene-specific, not general.
> 

Naaahh.... putting me under duress, are you? ;-)

As a matter of facts, I have been playing for a long time with the idea 
of "publishing" all that stuff some way or another. I am aware that when 
I shall come to disappear, all that stuff will be "lost". I need to do 
something about it, if only because I feel an obligation to the 
community who provided me with it. Additionally, I may discover use for 
the many items I never included in my scenes. A majority most probably.

You have got my attention gentlemen.

-- 
Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
I have been playing for a long time with the idea
> of "publishing" all that stuff some way or another. I am aware that when
> I shall come to disappear, all that stuff will be "lost". I need to do
> something about it, if only because I feel an obligation to the
> community who provided me with it. Additionally, I may discover use for
> the many items I never included in my scenes. A majority most probably.
>
> You have got my attention gentlemen.

I'd say that a good step 1 would be to get everything into one folder and make
an index file with all of the filenames (with an eye toward making it HTML).

Then you can start with the minimum needed to make it "useable" - under each
filename, you can put author, date/version, link to original post if you know
it, and any notes or comments that you might have.   Mention scenes that you've
used it in.  Perhaps while you're doing this, think of a grouping scheme or tags
for the files: plants, buildings, people, clouds, water....

That way you can sort of skim through it and hit the highlights, which are
likely the most interesting/useful items in the collection.

That sets it up for posting to a file hosting site, and folks can download it,
look it over, and discuss some of the files - then it kinda takes on a life of
its own and people can find missing information, divine the purpose of code that
you're not sure of, catch bugs, make edits for clarity and efficiency, etc.
Many hands make light work.

Many things might be a wonderful addition to the Insert Menu.

Post a reply to this message

Am 28.09.2020 um 12:19 schrieb jr:
> hi,
> 
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> ... thinking about a background landscape. ...
> 
> fully agree with PG regarding landscape and colours.  not too far off views seen
> in the Eifel.  lovely.
> 
> 
> regards, jr.
> 
What part of the Eifel do you have in your mind? I admit that I never 
visited the western parts (high fens) but only the High Eifel, the 
Volcanic Eifel, Mayen and the Maria Laach Abbey and very often the 
valley of the Ahr where my wife is born at the village Rech. But in all 
the now 40 years I visit the Eifel I never noticed this kind of 
landscape there.

@Thomas: A very interessting approach in using billboards trees. May be 
there are some litte technical difficulties (the missing shadows of the 
stems), which can be solved. But the generell idea is great.

For my actuall scene I played with the trial version of Xfrog and 
generated different plant models where you dont need a Billboard fake. I 
tried to get a licence (the actual sale-offer of 99 US-Bucks is really a 
bargain for this elobarated software) but have not received a license 
code so far after more than a week of payment. So may be I have to 
cancel this order and be content with my models of Pinus pinaster, typha 
latifolia, a rottenn version of their tutorial to Solidago canadensis 
and the common broom I modelled during the trial periode.

Best regards
Michael

Post a reply to this message

Op 02/10/2020 om 18:10 schreef MichaelJF:
> @Thomas: A very interessting approach in using billboards trees. May be 
> there are some litte technical difficulties (the missing shadows of the 
> stems), which can be solved. But the generell idea is great.

I don't remember where I got the idea; it certainly was not an original 
one ;-) I have used it now in a number of scenes, also with a gradation 
to "real" trees more in the foreground. The shadow problem with the Sun 
more on edge to the billboards came along rather naturally and the 
solution was almost obvious.

> 
> For my actuall scene I played with the trial version of Xfrog and 
> generated different plant models where you dont need a Billboard fake. I 
> tried to get a licence (the actual sale-offer of 99 US-Bucks is really a 
> bargain for this elobarated software) but have not received a license 
> code so far after more than a week of payment. So may be I have to 
> cancel this order and be content with my models of Pinus pinaster, typha 
> latifolia, a rottenn version of their tutorial to Solidago canadensis 
> and the common broom I modelled during the trial periode.
> 

Xfrog is considered one of the top plant-generating software. I have not 
considered (yet) to buy it. My need is not that great. However, before 
cancelling, have you tried to contact them?

-- 
Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Op 02/10/2020 om 01:57 schreef Jim Henderson:
> On Wed, 30 Sep 2020 08:46:20 +0200, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> 
>> Op 29/09/2020 om 17:56 schreef Jim Henderson:
>>> Really nice - I love the clouds in particular. :)
>>>
>>>
>> Thanks Jim. Those clouds seem to appeal to a majority it seems ;-) I
>> guess this is partly because they are almost at eye level which makes
>> them more dramatic.
> 
> Possibly - for me, it's also the texture itself, it just feels like a
> cloud.  :)

All praise should go to Mick who put them together in the first place 
(in 2004).

> 
>> I failed to mention earlier that the high, thin, clouds in the sky were
>> produced by Zeger Knaepen's FastClouds macro. Some dramatic lighting
>> effect /under/ the clouds is the result of just two properly adjusted
>> fog codes...
> 
> Very nice.
> 

There is a further trick concerning media clouds that I am willing to 
share ;-)

I (almost) always use CIE.inc, part of the Lightsys IV family of macros 
provided by Jaime Vives Piqueres. I almost always increase the intensity 
of the Sunlight by a couple of factors. A consequence of this is that 
media clouds may come out too overexposed as it were. A ready solution 
to this problem is to put a copy of the Sun, with lower intensity, 
together with the clouds media, in a separate light_group{}. See: 
http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Light_Group

-- 
Thomas

Post a reply to this message

hi,

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> I have been playing for a long time with the idea
> > of "publishing" all that stuff some way or another. I am aware that when
> > I shall come to disappear, all that stuff will be "lost". I need to do
> > something about it, if only because I feel an obligation to the
> > community who provided me with it. Additionally, I may discover use for
> > the many items I never included in my scenes. A majority most probably.
> >
> > You have got my attention gentlemen.
>
> I'd say that a good step 1 would be to get everything into one folder and make
> an index file with all of the filenames (with an eye toward making it HTML).
>
> Then you can start with the minimum needed to make it "useable" - under each
> filename, you can put author, date/version, link to original post if you know
> it, and any notes or comments that you might have.   Mention scenes that you've
> used it in.  Perhaps while you're doing this, think of a grouping scheme or tags
> for the files: plants, buildings, people, clouds, water....
>
> That way you can sort of skim through it and hit the highlights, which are
> likely the most interesting/useful items in the collection.
>
> That sets it up for posting to a file hosting site, and folks can download it,
> ...

minor quibble.  I think the wiki a better place.  (or at least in addition to)


regards, jr.

Post a reply to this message

hi,

MichaelJF <mi-### [at] t-onlinede> wrote:
> Am 28.09.2020 um 12:19 schrieb jr:
> > Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> >> ... thinking about a background landscape. ...
> > fully agree with PG regarding landscape and colours.  not too far off views seen
> > in the Eifel.  lovely.
> >
> What part of the Eifel do you have in your mind? I admit that I never
> visited the western parts (high fens) but only the High Eifel, the
> Volcanic Eifel, Mayen and the Maria Laach Abbey and very often the
> valley of the Ahr where my wife is born at the village Rech. But in all
> the now 40 years I visit the Eifel I never noticed this kind of
> landscape there.

funnily enough, from admittedly v dim memories (40+ years), I was thinking of
the Mayen towards Nürburg/Monschau area.  but yeah, maybe .. misty-eyed.  :-)


regards, jr.

Post a reply to this message

Am 03.10.2020 um 11:19 schrieb jr:
> hi,
> 
> MichaelJF <mi-### [at] t-onlinede> wrote:
>> Am 28.09.2020 um 12:19 schrieb jr:
>>> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>>>> ... thinking about a background landscape. ...
>>> fully agree with PG regarding landscape and colours.  not too far off views seen
>>> in the Eifel.  lovely.
>>>
>> What part of the Eifel do you have in your mind? I admit that I never
>> visited the western parts (high fens) but only the High Eifel, the
>> Volcanic Eifel, Mayen and the Maria Laach Abbey and very often the
>> valley of the Ahr where my wife is born at the village Rech. But in all
>> the now 40 years I visit the Eifel I never noticed this kind of
>> landscape there.
> 
> funnily enough, from admittedly v dim memories (40+ years), I was thinking of
> the Mayen towards Nürburg/Monschau area.  but yeah, maybe .. misty-eyed.  :-)
> 
> 
> regards, jr.
> 
No, your memory may be correct. May be they changed the use of the land 
in the mean time. I cannot remember such great areas of single trees 
there. But it was 20 years ago that I visited the Mayen/Adenau area more 
often and not forty. I remember the landscape there a bit, because I 
remember more the streets there. They were very well suited for 
motor-biking.

Best regards
Michael

Post a reply to this message

> 
> Xfrog is considered one of the top plant-generating software. I have not 
> considered (yet) to buy it. My need is not that great. However, before 
> cancelling, have you tried to contact them?
> 

Yes of course I tried to contact them several times, but I yielded only 
automated answers. something like this:

Your request (26497) has been received and is being reviewed by our 
support staff.

To add additional comments, reply to this email.

I fear no one is on board at the moment (corona?). Of course Xfrog is 
the top plant-generating software and 99 US-Bucks is a bargain really. 
One has to invest aome time to understand their approach and work 
through their tutorial. They seem to have a problem with close ups of 
flowers. The blossom of an orchid seems to be impossible, but may be  I 
overlooked some options.

Best regards
Michael

Post a reply to this message

Op 02/10/2020 om 12:36 schreef Bald Eagle:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> I have been playing for a long time with the idea
>> of "publishing" all that stuff some way or another. I am aware that when
>> I shall come to disappear, all that stuff will be "lost". I need to do
>> something about it, if only because I feel an obligation to the
>> community who provided me with it. Additionally, I may discover use for
>> the many items I never included in my scenes. A majority most probably.
>>
>> You have got my attention gentlemen.
> 
> I'd say that a good step 1 would be to get everything into one folder and make
> an index file with all of the filenames (with an eye toward making it HTML).
> 
> Then you can start with the minimum needed to make it "useable" - under each
> filename, you can put author, date/version, link to original post if you know
> it, and any notes or comments that you might have.   Mention scenes that you've
> used it in.  Perhaps while you're doing this, think of a grouping scheme or tags
> for the files: plants, buildings, people, clouds, water....
> 
> That way you can sort of skim through it and hit the highlights, which are
> likely the most interesting/useful items in the collection.
> 
> That sets it up for posting to a file hosting site, and folks can download it,
> look it over, and discuss some of the files - then it kinda takes on a life of
> its own and people can find missing information, divine the purpose of code that
> you're not sure of, catch bugs, make edits for clarity and efficiency, etc.
> Many hands make light work.
> 
> Many things might be a wonderful addition to the Insert Menu.
> 

In fact, I have something like this already. Everything is inside one 
single folder, subdivided into sub-folders (authors), and 
sub-sub-folders (include/macro groups). I have an index in the form of a 
spreadsheet. Unfortunately, I have not updated it since 2012, but the 
bulk is there already probably. I urgently need to check the whole thing 
out.

I was thinking also of an eventual HTML version. I have a little 
experience with building HTML pages through the work for the TC-RTC, but 
this would be a major project indeed.

-- 
Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:

> I was thinking also of an eventual HTML version. I have a little
> experience with building HTML pages through the work for the TC-RTC, but
> this would be a major project indeed.

Not at all.
Sounds to me like you have virtually everything you need already.
In the same way that you might #write a concat () command to a file with
POV-Ray, you can construct/format a line of HTML in your spreadsheet.

Then you just copy/paste into a .htm file and you're pretty much done.

I did this with converting .stl to mesh and .svg to bezier splines.  (My
understanding is that that's how Cousin Ricky converts his svg as well.)

Post a reply to this message

Op 04/10/2020 om 16:21 schreef Bald Eagle:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> 
>> I was thinking also of an eventual HTML version. I have a little
>> experience with building HTML pages through the work for the TC-RTC, but
>> this would be a major project indeed.
> 
> Not at all.
> Sounds to me like you have virtually everything you need already.
> In the same way that you might #write a concat () command to a file with
> POV-Ray, you can construct/format a line of HTML in your spreadsheet.
> 

Right. I was indeed aware of that.

> Then you just copy/paste into a .htm file and you're pretty much done.
> 
> I did this with converting .stl to mesh and .svg to bezier splines.  (My
> understanding is that that's how Cousin Ricky converts his svg as well.)
> 

Ok. Good to know. Thanks a lot for this info. I shall have to explore 
this obviously. Don't hold your breath though: much to do besides and 
before, but I shall get there.

-- 
Thomas

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I found the perfect bird for your scene.

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'xlarge (10).jpeg.jpg' (90 KB)

Preview of image 'xlarge (10).jpeg.jpg'

On Sat, 03 Oct 2020 08:58:30 +0200, Thomas de Groot wrote:

> Op 02/10/2020 om 01:57 schreef Jim Henderson:
>> On Wed, 30 Sep 2020 08:46:20 +0200, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> 
>>> Op 29/09/2020 om 17:56 schreef Jim Henderson:
>>>> Really nice - I love the clouds in particular. :)
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Thanks Jim. Those clouds seem to appeal to a majority it seems ;-) I
>>> guess this is partly because they are almost at eye level which makes
>>> them more dramatic.
>> 
>> Possibly - for me, it's also the texture itself, it just feels like a
>> cloud.  :)
> 
> All praise should go to Mick who put them together in the first place
> (in 2004).

:)

I would say that the tool is worthy, but good tools can be used poorly, 
and you've definitely NOT done that. :D

>>> I failed to mention earlier that the high, thin, clouds in the sky
>>> were produced by Zeger Knaepen's FastClouds macro. Some dramatic
>>> lighting effect /under/ the clouds is the result of just two properly
>>> adjusted fog codes...
>> 
>> Very nice.
>> 
>> 
> There is a further trick concerning media clouds that I am willing to
> share ;-)
> 
> I (almost) always use CIE.inc, part of the Lightsys IV family of macros
> provided by Jaime Vives Piqueres. I almost always increase the intensity
> of the Sunlight by a couple of factors. A consequence of this is that
> media clouds may come out too overexposed as it were. A ready solution
> to this problem is to put a copy of the Sun, with lower intensity,
> together with the clouds media, in a separate light_group{}. See:
> http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Light_Group

Very useful, thanks for sharing that :)



-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

Post a reply to this message