EMAIL: gmccarter@hotmail.com
NAME: Glenn McCarter
TOPIC: Horror
COPYRIGHT: I submit to the standard raytracing competition copyright.
TITLE: "Sole Survivor"
COUNTRY: USA
WEBPAGE: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/2006/
RENDERER USED: POV-Ray 3.1
TOOLS USED:
  ColorPicker ( define texture colors )
  sPatch ( bezier patches )
  Paint Shop Pro ( heightfields, convert image to JPEG )

RENDER MUSIC: Blue Öyster Cult - "Sole Survivor"
RENDER TIME: first pass - 40m 01s, second pass 05m 42s
HARDWARE USED: Pentium II - 300 mhz

IMAGE DESCRIPTION:

After I hooked up my new ScreenCap 2000 video capture board, 
I captured this image during the local broadcast news coverage of
the Flight 61 tragedy.  You remember it, don't you?  The one where
that plane crashed up near Billings farm?  Remember that sole survivor
who was just too frightened to move afterwards?  Horrible.
Anyway, when I captured the frame, I discovered an image of a skull in
the scene, plain as day.  This horrified me all over again, so I had
to submit it here.


DESCRIPTION OF HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED:

From the start, I planned this to be a "dual image": a hidden image within the
main image.  The conventional three-dimensional model of the aircraft
wreckage forms the suggestion of a 2d image of a skull, when viewed and
illuminated at exactly the correct angle.   In order to achieve the effect,
I juggled a tricky combination of lighting and modelling.

I created everything in the scene, specifically for this IRTC image, except
for updated versions of some macros, weeds, and my human figure.
I did most of the conceptual work in Feb-Apr 1999, before
beginning any real modelling. Conveniently, the easiest way to evaluate the
skull portion of the scene was to render the scene in thumbnail-sized 160x120
test images. The global ambient light level is very low for strong nighttime
contrasts. I spent nearly as much time on lighting/atmosphere, as for
modelling.

No post-processing is used.  The "TV news" efffect is achieved by using
the main image as an image map, then raytracing all the graphics on top,
including the simulated scan lines and grain/noise.

This is my first scene using POV-Ray's atmospheric media, which
creates the visible light beams.  To get this effect, it is critical
to balance ambient light, light source intensity, media
extinction, and media density.  The lens flare effects are also
media-based.  Everything else is conventional CSG.

Thanks to the Myers for ponderings on the meaning of "horror".
	
                     - - - - - - - - - - -

A note to IRTC regulars: yes, this is my very own Winseat image.
For a brief period in early 1999, I was a "temporary associate IRTC admin".
So I felt obligated to carry on the tradition, and do my own version of
Winseat.  Unfortunately, I wrecked the plane.  :-)
Could this be the end of the line for Winseat?  Oh, the horror...