Name: Mike Robertson
Email: mad_dawg00@hotmail.com
Topic: First Encounters
Copyright: I submit to the standard Raytracing Competition Copyright.
Title: One Small Step?
Country: USA
Web Page: None at this time
Renderer Used: POV-Ray 3.1a for Windows - OF COURSE!
Tools Used: POV-Ray 3.1a for Windows, HFLab and Moray for Windows
Render Time: One Hour, Eighteen Minutes and Forty-Four Seconds
Hardware: P200 with 64M Ram

Image Description:

I went through all the usual (and unusual) ideas.  I always wondered what Neil Armstrong would have looked like (or done) if - just by chance - there was life on other planets - particularly - our Moon, and he just happened to be in the wrong place and the wrong time!  Well, there you have it, I hope he brought an extra pair of mylar underwear!

Description of how this image was created:

Most of the scene is done using Moray, a most awesome tool and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone - including my Grandma, who doesn't even have a computer!  Most of the scene is done using primitives, with a few exceptions, like the astronut's (spelled right) shoulders, boots and of course, the moon's surface.  The shoulders and boots were bezier patches - simple 'U' shapes.  

The two Height Fields (part of the Moon surface) were done with HFLab (another program I never saw until I did this project) to give a bumpy rough AND sharp jagged look.  A large disc was used to set the more flat 'sandy' areas.  The two HF's were tweaked in Moray until I was satisfied with how they looked.  Anyway, I used a few bezier patches for the more 'rolling' mounds and hills AND the large mountain in the background.

After completing all of the objects I moved over to POV-Ray and entered the needed code to difference the foot print with the surface.  

I created a lot of my own textures, but relied on Moray's built-in textures for a good portion of the metallic features.  One of the more fun textures created are not even detectable.  The monster behind the camera has this cool green crackle texture, but the visor on the astronut would not show it off.  The hardest part of this project was the astronut's shoulders and setting each object in place without having overlay.  Overall I had a blast doing it and look forward to many more!

Mike