Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> Op 20/12/2021 om 21:52 schreef Chris R:

> This looks very convincing to me.
>
> [nitpicking] Maybe the snow seems a bit polluted by industrial fall out
> from its original surroundings? [/nitpicking]  :-)

I think that's the effect of larger bits of transparent ice and not fluffy
diffuse snow.  At least that the impression I get, especially with the specular
reflections.

I wasn't quite able to envision an earlier comment about adding some emission,
but now I think that it does need to be in some way "brightened".

deeper sslt?
rgbt?
emission?
a smaller emissive or rgb 1 diffuse 1 snowball just beneath the surface?


Still, a very impressive texture  - it is looking REAL.

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"Chris R" <car### [at] comcastnet> wrote:
>
> The snowman is taking on a life of his own.  Still need to do some work on the
> scarf.  I added more texture to his arms, and the nose needs more texture as
> well.  I'll have to see about more prominent placement that makes the puddle
> more visible in the full scene, and see how much the sslt affects the total
> rendering time...
>

It is looking better and better! I think the new light-placement is also a very
good improvement. I like that frozen ice puddle too; I tried something like that
years ago but was never quite happy with the result.

I really like your initial render of the entire scene; so many nice textures and
lighting effects. Worth the extended render-time; it's a beauty.

[m@b wrote:]
Here is my take on a melting snowman:
<https://youtu.be/puo_eVkz0gY>

That's great! Very well-done. I also like the fluffy appearance of your
snowman-- and the way its carrot nose tilts as the melting proceeds. A nice
touch.

Happy Holidays to All!

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> >
> > Any particular tools you use to convert frames to movies?
> >
> > -- Chris Rath
> >
>
> <https://ffmpeg.org/>   is very versatile, you can call it as a shellout
> from POV-Ray.
>
> m@

I currently use VirtualDub 2 FilterMod (which includes ffmpeg as its engine, I
believe.) It has a GUI, which I like. Even though old, it's still available...

https://codecpack.co/download/VirtualDub-FilterMod.html

It can output various modern (or old) file formats, with various types of
compression. It has lots of configurable choices too-- many of which I don't
understand or use, ha. But I'm always learning.

[I've never been able to understand the 'shellout' feature in POV-Ray for
Windows, or how to use it. I don't come from a programming background, so the
concept itself is kind of a mystery.]

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"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> > Op 20/12/2021 om 21:52 schreef Chris R:
>
> > This looks very convincing to me.
> >
> > [nitpicking] Maybe the snow seems a bit polluted by industrial fall out
> > from its original surroundings? [/nitpicking]  :-)
>
> I think that's the effect of larger bits of transparent ice and not fluffy
> diffuse snow.  At least that the impression I get, especially with the specular
> reflections.
>
> I wasn't quite able to envision an earlier comment about adding some emission,
> but now I think that it does need to be in some way "brightened".
>
> deeper sslt?
> rgbt?
> emission?
> a smaller emissive or rgb 1 diffuse 1 snowball just beneath the surface?
>
>
> Still, a very impressive texture  - it is looking REAL.

If anyone is interested, here is what I am using for the material:

#declare Real_snowman_snow_texture3  = texture {
    pigment {
        granite
        color_map {
            [0.0 rgb <1.2, 1.2, 1.2>]
            [1.0 rgb <1.15, 1.15, 1.15>]
        }
        scale 0.5
    }
    finish {
        fresnel
        diffuse 0.7
        specular albedo 0.2
        roughness 0.001
        subsurface { translucency 0.5 }
    }
}

#declare Real_snowman_snow_material3 = material {
    texture {
        Real_snowman_snow_texture3
    }
    interior {
        ior 1.33
    }
}

The snowballs are isosurface spheres.  I use f_snoise3d at a scale to deform the
spheres, and the f_granite at a smaller scale to get the bumps that make the ice
crystals on the surface of the sphere.

-- Chris R.

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"Chris R" <car### [at] comcastnet> wrote:
> A bit of a work-in-progress, but far enough along to show.  This took about
> 4-days to render without any camera blur, which I'd like to add at some point.
>
> There are a few more ornaments/elements I'd like to add in for interest.  I'll
> probably have to play with the lights a bit or it will never finish rendering
> before the holidays are over... :-;
>
> -- Chris Rath

Taking a lot of your suggestions into account, I give you the final rendering,
completed just in time to end 2021, (it took 4 1/2 days to render!)

Happy New Year to all, and I look forward to more POV-ing in 2022.

-- Chris Rath

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"Chris R" <car### [at] comcastnet> wrote:
> "Chris R" <car### [at] comcastnet> wrote:
> > A bit of a work-in-progress, but far enough along to show.  This took about
> > 4-days to render without any camera blur, which I'd like to add at some point.
> >
> > There are a few more ornaments/elements I'd like to add in for interest.  I'll
> > probably have to play with the lights a bit or it will never finish rendering
> > before the holidays are over... :-;
> >
> > -- Chris Rath
>
> Taking a lot of your suggestions into account, I give you the final rendering,
> completed just in time to end 2021, (it took 4 1/2 days to render!)
>
> Happy New Year to all, and I look forward to more POV-ing in 2022.
>
> -- Chris Rath

Sorry, forgot to attach the image...

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