TITLE: Mesozoic
NAME: Ewan Grant
COUNTRY: UK
EMAIL: ewgr@abaddon.globalnet.co.uk
WEBPAGE: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~abaddon
TOPIC: Nature
COPYRIGHT: I submit to the standard raytracing competition copyright.
JPGFILE: mesozoic.jpg
ZIPFILE: mesozoic.zip
RENDERER USED: 
    Povray 3.02

TOOLS USED: 
    Paint Shop Pro 5.0 ; sPatch 1.5

RENDER TIME: 
    Parse 4 mins 36 secs; Render 2 hrs 27 mins

HARDWARE USED: 
    Pentium P-120 48Mb


IMAGE DESCRIPTION: 

The Mesozoic era. Nature is in its infancy. As the sun sets storm clouds gather
on the horizon.
Centre stage sits the giant Squillion Mollusc, who, alarmed by the presence of
the Emerald 
Swamp Serpent, releases a cloud of noxious gas. (It is conceivable that this
creature abandoned 
its shell altogether and became what we know today as the Giant Squid.)
The IceCream Crab is also aware of the Serpents progress and is in the process
of
deciding wether to scuttle away or retreat within its shell. The reality is
however 
that the Serpent has espied the eggs of the Great Shore Lizard who is
temporarily away
from the nest feeding on the rich seaweed bed just offshore. Fungi too abounds
in many 
forms and the two varieties seen here are particularly rare. In the distance
sits a far 
more verdant land and finally, in the foreground, a Rock PineBerry Bush clings
to a 
precarious outcrop in its struggle for existence.


DESCRIPTION OF HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED: 

I had to give considerable thought to this image. As a relative newcomer to Pov,
(5 months now),
I knew many regular Nature topics would be beyond me as yet. But with the
encouragement I 
gained from comments made on my first entry last April I kept thinking till I
came up with shells, 
or more accurately, molluscs; the beach was a logical step after that and 5,000
years was a brainwave
which allowed me free reign in modelling as no-one really knows what anything
looked like then. 
Lastly how the weather is part of nature too. After creating my beach and main
shell I took 
it step by step and slowly it took shape. Without the useful sPatch it would
have been a 
struggle, that program made my snake and the fungi which sets off the scene,
also "dino" who 
would not look out of place in a Hanna Barbera production. ;-)
The bed of seaweed is a height field placed below a filtered plane which, of
course, is the surface 
of the water.
I played about with the sky so much I have created my own INC file for future
images. 
I chose a wide-angled lens after I realised how cramped everything looked, this
resulted in 
many more translations but I think the effect is worth it.
I had a lot of fun playing with the figures in Sonya Roberts "TREES.INC" to
produce the squat hardy
looking bush I wanted. One of the last things I did was change my light source
to an area_light, 
quite a large array too, which doubled the render time but I loved the new
shadows so it was worth it.
I am keeping my fingers crossed I have succeeded in a novel approach to the
subject matter and 
overall I am really pleased with this image. 

