POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.newusers : Sci-fi Lasers ?? help ! Server Time
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  Sci-fi Lasers ?? help ! (Message 1 to 10 of 10)  
From: B-rat
Subject: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 3 Feb 2006 14:45:00
Message: <web.43e3b24af52523be7037812b0@news.povray.org>
does anyone know of a way to make star trek "phaser beam" laser effects ??
there seems to be no actual way to make this effect as far as i have read on
the newsgroups... can someone please help ?? optics.pov and laser.pov
doesnt have that star trek like effect that im looking for... its supposed
to be a VERY narrow beam (line or thread) of light .. sort of like a string
beetween to point.. emmissions doesnt seem to work either or i am using
them incorrectly...


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From: Alain
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 3 Feb 2006 18:49:36
Message: <43e3ec10$1@news.povray.org>
B-rat nous apporta ses lumieres en ce 03/02/2006 14:43:
> does anyone know of a way to make star trek "phaser beam" laser effects ??
> there seems to be no actual way to make this effect as far as i have read on
> the newsgroups... can someone please help ?? optics.pov and laser.pov
> doesnt have that star trek like effect that im looking for... its supposed
> to be a VERY narrow beam (line or thread) of light .. sort of like a string
> beetween to point.. emmissions doesnt seem to work either or i am using
> them incorrectly...
> 
> 
Use a narrow cylinder going from the phaser to the target. Make it hollow and fill it
with an 
emiting media with a high density value. You can also add some absorbing media with a
complementary 
pigment.
If the container is very narrow, you need to use a comparatively large density value
as there's not 
much media available.
Using that kind of media, if you also use radiosity with "media on", your beam will
actualy 
illuminate it's surrounding. You need to use a large count value, otherwise, you'll
miss the beam to 
often.

-- 
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
Don't cry because it is over, smile because it
happened.


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From: B-rat
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 4 Feb 2006 05:45:00
Message: <web.43e484799034a6727037812b0@news.povray.org>
Alain <ele### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> Use a narrow cylinder going from the phaser to the target. Make it hollow and fill
it with an
> emiting media with a high density value. You can also add some absorbing media with
a complementary
> pigment.
tried that .. didnt quite work ;)
> If the container is very narrow, you need to use a comparatively large density value
as there's not
> much media available.
> Using that kind of media, if you also use radiosity with "media on", your beam will
actualy
> illuminate it's surrounding. You need to use a large count value, otherwise, you'll
miss the beam to
> often.

can someone give me an example of this ?


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From: B-rat
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 4 Feb 2006 08:55:01
Message: <web.43e4add39034a6727037812b0@news.povray.org>
ok.. well this sort of does the trick if its modified a bit :D

cylinder {<-10,10,0>, < -5, 10, 0>, 0.2 hollow
    texture {pigment {color rgbf <0.3,0,0.3,1>}}
    interior {
        media {
            scattering {1, color rgb 100 extinction 100}
           emission color rgb 0.8
            method 3
            intervals 1 samples 4
             }
              }

}

it sort of works... sort of ..


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From: Bob Hughes
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 4 Feb 2006 12:02:00
Message: <43e4de08$1@news.povray.org>
Subject line "sci-fi lasers" piqued my interest so I gave it a try beginning 
from your example.

This has a soft edge by using the cylinder pattern, and to arrange the 
resulting laser I started with the cylinder object oriented and scaled to 
fit the media then rotated, scaled, translated into place. That can make it 
easier to work with the media. Watch out for any density changes during the 
resizing.

// pink phaser beam

cylinder {<0,0,0>, <0,1,0>, 1
 hollow
    texture {pigment {color rgbf 1}}
    interior {
        media {
         scattering {1, color rgb <1,0,1> extinction 0}
         emission <1,0,1>*3
         absorption <0.3,0.9,0.3>*9 // help opacity against background
            method 3
            // intervals 1 samples 4
            density {
             cylindrical
             density_map {
              [0 rgb 0]  // outer edge
              [0.5 rgb <1,1,1>]
              [1 rgb <3,3,3>] // inside
             }
            }
        }
    }
    rotate -90*z
    scale <5,0.2,0.2>
    translate <-10,10,0>
}

You might want to consider illumination effect on surroundings, and this 
having a scattering media means it'll be affected by external lighting. Alot 
depends on how you intend it to look in a scene.


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From: B-rat
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 4 Feb 2006 13:25:01
Message: <web.43e4f0e29034a67279d64170@news.povray.org>
nice example :D

a little color change to fit different ships and its just what i wanted,
thx


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From: B-rat
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 4 Feb 2006 15:00:00
Message: <web.43e506cc9034a67279d64170@news.povray.org>
well.. the only problem with that is the fact that i cant emm.. well quite
frankly i cant turn it into a beam laser, which is kind of what im going
for at the moment, the problem being that i cant determin exactly where it
will start and where it will end... and i've been playing around with this
for a while and i just cant get it to go from point A to point B... help ?


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From: Bob Hughes
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 4 Feb 2006 22:03:43
Message: <43e56b0f$1@news.povray.org>
"B-rat" <Bra### [at] gmailcom> wrote in message 
news:web.43e506cc9034a67279d64170@news.povray.org...
> for at the moment, the problem being that i cant determin exactly where it
> will start and where it will end...

Oh... yeah... I overlooked that aspect, sorry.

I'm not sure if it could be done in a better way than the following example. 
The problem is with the starting point having to be at the origin instead of 
any vector, which then necessitates that object (the firing ship?) being 
positioned correctly first. But at least the target can be anyplace (I 
think-- I didn't check negative vectors). Chances are it could be done 
another way but this is all I came up with.

#include "transforms.inc"

#declare A = 0;  // origin (where beam begins)
#declare B = <6,4,2>;  // beam target location
#declare W = 0.2;  // width of beam

cylinder {A, B, W
 hollow
    texture {pigment {color rgbf 1}}
    interior {
        media {
         scattering {1, color rgb <0.9,0,0.3> extinction 0}
         emission <0.9,0,0.3>*3
         absorption <0.3,0.9,0.3>*9
            method 3
            density {
             cylindrical
             density_map {
              [0 rgb 0]
              [0.5 rgb <1,1,1>]
              [1 rgb <3,3,3>]
             }
             scale W
             Point_At_Trans(B)
            }
        }
    }
}


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From: B-rat
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? help !
Date: 5 Feb 2006 02:10:01
Message: <web.43e5a42a9034a672f187b58f0@news.povray.org>
hmm, all i have to do now is translate it at the end and the origin can be
anywhere i want, thanks.


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From: Bob Hughes
Subject: Re: Sci-fi Lasers ?? glad to have helped
Date: 5 Feb 2006 22:58:09
Message: <43e6c951$1@news.povray.org>
"B-rat" <Bra### [at] gmailcom> wrote in message 
news:web.43e5a42a9034a672f187b58f0@news.povray.org...
> hmm, all i have to do now is translate it at the end and the origin can be
> anywhere i want, thanks.

I had fun sending the beam from a sphere to a box and through a cone on the 
way there. Lasers are intriguing things... even if ray traced without 
photons!  ;)

Bob


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