Synthetic bark (23rd of June 2010)

synthetic bark, colors of mahagony

Nature is full of interesting shapes. Although my scientific interests revolve around structures and shapes on nano- and micro-scales, it should be said that these shapes are much simpler than those from the visible surrounding. The fact that many of the nanoscale shapes can be well approximated by mathematical equations means that they are relatively simple (to be realistic, mathematics that can be easily comprehended and quickly written down means that the shape it produces is simple - fractals are clearly an exception). Especially interesting are textures on centimeter scales - those are shapes that we perceive as both visual and tactile sensations. Imagine a feeling when stroking moss or bark (and now imagine that you have a gigantic palm so that you can stroke the forest in Gorski Kotar in Croatia - perhaps this would be a similar sensation?). So I wondered, how to encode those tactile elements in synthetic visual? One of possible answers to this question is shown in the experiments in this post - they represent synthetic tree barks. For the start, something that, at least by its color, reminds one of a kind of an "African" tree.

synthetic bark, mahagony, detail

On a magnified detail one can see how much of texture and subtle variation of height there are on the bark. PovRay is a great tool for such experiments because it allows one to write down the surface in an almost arbitrarily complex way. Concerning the complexity of a mathematical representation, a final result is not immediately obvious to the programmer (painter?) so I have to admit that I was also positively surprised when the image started to calculate.

The story in this post started a couple of days ago while I was driving next to Sutla river. Along the way I spotted an impressive oak, with an even more impressive bark. In the beginning, I wanted to represent the bark as realistically as possible, but as the experiment progressed, I decided to leave myself an additional space. Therefore my "synthetic bark" is only inspired by the "real" tree bark. Nevertheless, to show you how colorful and visually stimulating the tree bark can be, I offer several examples that I photographed during a walk around the Institute (below).

true bark 4
true bark 3
true bark 2
true bark 1
true bark 7

Here is another experiment (below) that reminds of "birch".

synthetic bark, birch

The images are textured on many spatial scales as is shown by the magnified detail below.

synthetic bark, birch, detail

And here are again several "real" tree barks to compare (below).

true bark 9
true bark 10
true bark 8
true bark 6
true bark 5
synthetic bark, african tree

And, for the end, an experiment that shows some warm, again a kind of an "African" tree. One could make a huge print out of this experiment, perhaps 2m x 1m in size. I think that such a print would nicely fit with a modern wooden furniture.

synthetic bark, african tree, detail
<< Island of whale horses A la Jabulani >>

Last updated on 23rd of June 2010.