TITLE: tp_heads NAME: Berin Loritsch COUNTRY: USA EMAIL: berin.loritsch@cpmx.saic.com WEBPAGE: None TOPIC: Great Engineering Achievements COPYRIGHT: I SUBMIT TO THE STANDARD RAYTRACING COMPETITION COPYRIGHT JPGFILE: tp_heads.jpg RENDERER USED: povray 3.0 for Windows TOOLS USED: Polyview (jpg conversion) RENDER TIME: 56 minutes 1 second HARDWARE USED: Pentium 120 IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Tape heads truly are an incredible engineering acheivement. The specs are very strict, the fact that it works to reproduce a pleasing sound, and the fact that it had many advancements over the years. This particular head is an accurate (+/- 2mm) model of a TASCAM 122 MK III cassette head assembly. It includes a seperate record and play head in the same space that most cassette machines can only fit one all-purpose head. The multiple heads allow you to record and playback simultaneously (actually there is a 30 millisecond delay). To think, this technology was stolen from Germany post WW II and perfected by Americans (and now starts the flame war, but check the history books first please ;). DESCRIPTION OF HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED: I used an old head assembly from a deck that I serviced a month or so ago. I then created the extremely complex CSG shapes by measuring the head with my DayTimer's ruler (the ruler millimeter sub-divisions are every two mm). With great patience, I made any changes that were necessary. I replaced the name TEAC (TASCAM's owner) with POVRAY to show loyalty, avoid trademark copyright allegations, etc., etc....