Hall of fame: Sea cave, 8th of June 2015.
>> "Sea cave" was a project that I invested a lot of effort in. For the first time, I dealt a bit more
seriously with UV mapping, i.e. projection of image textures, which I made, on a 3D model of a gull which I modelled (when I look back on that
year 2009, I can't really understand how I managed to make it all, neither where I found the drive, but I am not sorry at all). But, besides that,
I read also the papers on algae, especially those which can be found on Krk island and which tend to grow in caves, where there's less light. The
finished image contains a huge number of objects - algae - which are below the water surface and whose shapes cannot be seen, but they give some color
to the scene (how strange it is to hear "the image contains a huge number of objects which cannot be seen", but for people who comprehend the
image as a small universe, as a set of visible and less visible, or only indirectly visible objects, this is completely normal).
The final version of the image is shown above, but >> the project started less lavishly, as shown in the image below.
In the first version, all the light is direct, the entry to the cave is clearly lit, but the water surface is quite dark (above). The surface itself is also different - these are isosurface objects in PovRay. Those interested in coding in PovRay, at least as I see it, can take a look at >> series of lectures which I gave in May 2013 in Ljubljana (in English). PovRay coding is quickly overviewed in >> the third and >> the fourth lecture.
But, everyone who sat next to the sea, listened to it carefully and watched it, knows that the sea in adequate conditions emits light which dances on
the rocks in the rhythm of waves. To sit on a rock at the end of the day and watch a web of light weaved by the sea below are naked feet. Above us,
gulls surf on air currents, almost standing in place, as if doing some sport! And then they retract their wings a bit and slip like a bullet from
the island toward the shore in the distance.
Anyway... That is why I tried to get reflected light which would partially lit the gull and partially additionally lit the cave and water (above).
For such calculations in PovRay one needs to turn on the so called "photons", actually the tracing of the light rays from the source all until they,
after reflections and refractions, hit the object which one defines as a "target" for photons. This involves a lot of calculations which slows down
the rendering of the image, but these days it could be done much quicker than in year 2009, of course.
Before the final version, I made still one more (above), and then I decided that it's enough. It is difficult to decide when the CG image is
really finished and one could always get back to it. If I had some more time and enthusiasm, I would probably do it today.
Actually I did. Namely, I messed a little bit with the codes for the creation of algae. What nice small algorithms, computer representations of
visual "hallucinations" and thinking these are! To think beautifully, to think freshly. If we could only always do it.
The image below shows the alga which is a model of amphiroa rigida.
And the image below shows a "hump" which models codium bursa.
And here's axinella (below) for the end.
While I worked on the project I read a lot about caustics, i.e. the shapes which are created by focusing of reflected and refracted light and
I concluded that PovRay is an excellent virtual laboratory for the simulation of such effects. That is why I proposed the theme for the
diploma work "Investigation of caustic by raytracing and comparison with the experiment". The >> diploma
work was made in year 2011 by Bruno Paun, and you can >> download it HERE (in Croatian).
What would I do differently today? I would model the gull in even stronger and more dynamic pose and I would make sure that the wing conformation
is in better accord with the bird anatomy.
| << Quantum information scientists | Meadow buttercup >> |
Last updated on 9th of June 2015.