I have created a fairly complex object which is essentially a sphere 
with a bunch of stuff in it.  I've been working on animating the object, 
and have achieved the effect which I want (distortions using the "blob" 
command).  The only problem is I can only blob a sphere, rather then the 
object itself.  I think that I may get the scene I desire by making an 
image_map of the object, and mapping that onto the blob.  I tried this 
using a map of the earth, and got essentially what I wanted.

Problem is, I don't know how to convert the object into an image_map. 
Any ideas?

Thanx

Bryan

PS: In the animation the object moves through a small hole in a barrier, 
  with a "dumbbell" shaped blob as the intermediary step.  You 
essentially go sphere -> dumbbell -> sphere (on other side of wall).

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"Bryan Heit" <bjh### [at] NOSPAMucalgaryca> wrote in message 
news:438b72f6$1@news.povray.org...
>I have created a fairly complex object which is essentially a sphere with a 
>bunch of stuff in it.  I've been working on animating the object, and have 
>achieved the effect which I want (distortions using the "blob" command). 
>The only problem is I can only blob a sphere, rather then the object 
>itself.  I think that I may get the scene I desire by making an image_map 
>of the object, and mapping that onto the blob.  I tried this using a map of 
>the earth, and got essentially what I wanted.
>
> Problem is, I don't know how to convert the object into an image_map. Any 
> ideas?
>
> Thanx
>
> Bryan
>
> PS: In the animation the object moves through a small hole in a barrier, 
> with a "dumbbell" shaped blob as the intermediary step.  You essentially 
> go sphere -> dumbbell -> sphere (on other side of wall).


Hi Bryan,
When you say a 'sphere with a bunch of stuff in it', I'm not sure whether 
you mean that there's stuff inside a translucent sphere or that there's 
stuff stuck into the surface?
but I'll assume you mean the second one. Three potential approaches spring 
to mind:

1.  You may be able to get somewhere with isosurfaces, which allow you to 
define blob-like objects from objects other than just spheres. Mike Williams 
has written the definitive isosurface tutorial. The section that describes 
combining shapes in a blob-like way is at 
http://www.econym.demon.co.uk/isotut/combine.htm.

2.  You may be able to stick your stuff into the blob object, using the 
trace command to locate appropriate and corresponding points on the surface 
of the blob as it distorts from one animation frame to the next.

3.  You might want to look at the cylindrical or spherical camera types in 
the help to see if they might enable you to take 'snapshots' of  your object 
that you could then wrap around a blob object. I've not used these camera 
types myself, but it might be worth you experimenting to see whether they 
seem to do what you need. My interpretation of the help is that you could 
use a spherical camera type with the camera positioned at the centre of your 
object (You may need to locate a single light source at the same point to 
get even light distribution and eliminate shadows). It seems to imply that 
you could take the generated image and project it straight onto a sphere 
without distortion.

If these ideas don't hit the spot, then I suggest you post a small image on 
povray.binaries.images to illustrate your problem.


Regards,
Chris B.

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Bryan Heit <bjh### [at] NOSPAMucalgaryca> wrote:
> Problem is, I don't know how to convert the object into an image_map.
> Any ideas?

If you mean that you want to render a spherical image map of the object from
the outside, you could try setting all the shapes that make up the object
to no_image, place a hollow mirror 1.0 sphere around the object, and use a
spherical camera at the center of the object.  This will give you a
spherical projection of the object as seen from the outside.

Post a reply to this message

inio wrote:
> Bryan Heit <bjh### [at] NOSPAMucalgaryca> wrote:
> 
>>Problem is, I don't know how to convert the object into an image_map.
>>Any ideas?
> 
> 
> If you mean that you want to render a spherical image map of the object from
> the outside, you could try setting all the shapes that make up the object
> to no_image, place a hollow mirror 1.0 sphere around the object, and use a
> spherical camera at the center of the object.  This will give you a
> spherical projection of the object as seen from the outside.
> 
> 
> 


Thanx, worked perfectly!

Bryan

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