EMAIL: robomark@ihug.co.nz
NAME: Mark Gilliver
TOPIC: Time
COPYRIGHT: I SUBMIT TO THE STANDARD RAYTRACING COMPETITION COPYRIGHT.
RENDERER USED: winpov 3.0beta
TOOLS USED: GUM 0.92, Breeze Designer 2.01
RENDER TIME: 3 hours 18 minutes
HARDWARE USED: 486DX2-66

IMAGE DESCRIPTION:

I call this device 'Time's missing link'.

It is a standard hourglass with an extra tube (on the right) and a motor
to recycle the sand to the top sphere.  The motor is powered by a battery
which is recharged by the small solar dish on top.  The electricity is also
used to run the laser in the neck of the hourglass which measures the sand
passing through and this run the digital clock at the base.

It's my idea of what might happen if gears had not been invented.

Where the idea came from I don't know, I think it was a slow day at work.

DESCRIPTION OF HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED:

As my version of GUM is unregistered I am limited to 50 objects in a file.
To overcome this I created the model in sections.

I started with the support structure to determine the overall size and
position of everything.

The other sections were done by using a piece of the structure as a 
reference point.

The textures were done using the POV-Ray sample textures, importing them
into Breeze Designer (which has a good texture facility) and then tweaking
them to my preference.

Finally I created a file with the lights, camera and base plane in it.
I then imported all of the sections and rendered it.   The GUM restriction 
only means you can't save more than 50 object in a scene.

WHAT I KNOW CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE PICTURE
(but didn't have the time to work out...)

The laser beam is only a cylinder, a cylindical light would be better as it
would 'glow' on the surrounding objects.

The lights would look better with Area spot-lights but the rendering time
would make it prohibitive on my machine.

The textures currently make the object look like it belongs in a mystical
stand at a fair ground.   A good varnished wood texture and maybe a clear
glass with a coloured vein running through it would raise it market value.