The Internet Ray Tracing Competition

January 7, 2001 9:40 AM

The Internet Ray Tracing Competition for November, December 2000. Some of these are amazing - and some only use POVRay for a renderer. Anyway, looks like Gilles Tran is probably going to win again. But who will take second and third? Props up to my good homey DSI for his phat submission!
posted by SilentSalamander (14 comments total)

I get the distinct feeling that this was not publicized quite as broadly as you might think. First off, the preponderance of POVRay images isn't surprising considering that it's got a link to the POVRay home page; it's clearly been heavily publicized among users of that package.

I by no means looked at the descriptions of every one (that would have taken a long time) but I looked at quite a few which didn't include a ".txt" as a source file, because I wanted to see what other ray tracers were used. I only saw one which used Bryce and only one RayDream, but the most surprising thing was that I didn't find a single entry using Lightwave.

And that is very strange in some ways, though not in others. Lightwave is extremely expensive. On the other hand, it's capable of effects which blow the socks off of nearly all the pictures I looked at.

So while this is interesting and all, I don't think it proves anything about POVRay if that turns out to have been the package which created the winner.

I *know* that there are a lot of hobbiests out there using Lightwave because it's got a webring.


posted by Steven Den Beste at 11:14 AM on January 7, 2001

The IRTC is a pretty well-known competition.
posted by rodii at 1:21 PM on January 7, 2001

I was suprised by the number of naked women.
Smashing link, interesting art.
posted by starduck at 7:06 PM on January 7, 2001

Is lightwave really that expensive? Last time I checked it was only about $2500. Maya is twice that for the budget version. Having said that it has gone way up in price from the early 1990's when you could get the Amiga version for $750.
posted by davidgentle at 7:52 PM on January 7, 2001

Who is Ray, and why is everyone tracing him?
posted by Optamystic at 7:57 PM on January 7, 2001

Hey Optamystic - is that genuine ignorance, or are you just taking the piss on me? I'll be happy to explain it, if you're sincere. I just don't want to be flamed by one of the many metafilterer's with sticks up their asses.

I don't know about Lightwave, but I'm considering purchasing Maya... It's going to set me back a bit, though, considering I'm not making the phat bones yet......
posted by SilentSalamander at 8:37 PM on January 7, 2001

Lightwave is quite expensive when compared to Imagine (about $500) or Bryce (probably about $300) or POVRay (Open source and free). Bryce is quite popular with amateurs because it's very powerful and not all that expensive. The problem with POVRay is that it's batch-oriented, not interactive, and it doesn't have an object editor, or so I understand it.

Bryce is nowhere near as advanced as Lightwave, but you pay for what you get.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 9:15 PM on January 7, 2001

He was making a joke, not "pissing on you."

... was going to say more, but restraint is a virtue.
posted by mkn at 9:59 PM on January 7, 2001

Thank you, mkn...(walks away, hands thrust in pockets, shaking head and grumbling to himself).
posted by Optamystic at 10:17 PM on January 7, 2001

"Taking the piss" is not the same as "pissing on" someone. It's a Britishism which means, basically, to deflate someone by mocking them cleverly. You will also hear the noun form "piss-take" as in "he thought we were serious but it was a piss-take."

If I remember correctly, its derivation has to do with the morning erections men get from holding their bladders shut all night. See, the man thinks he has an amazing hard-on, but if you take his piss away, it's really nothing. Taking someone's piss means revealing them as puffed-up and self-important.

A very odd bit of slang -- every bit as odd as some of the ones on this side of the pond...
posted by kindall at 10:39 PM on January 7, 2001

Thanks kindall.

Man, some of you MeFi'ers... somebody REALLY peed in your cheerios.
posted by SilentSalamander at 10:28 AM on January 8, 2001

no object-editor, eh?
lookie! here! I've used both Breeze Designer and AC3D and they worked fine.
posted by sonofsamiam at 12:07 PM on January 8, 2001

I am aware it is a figure of speech.

But it was used inappropriately, because the joke was a general one - not directed at a particular person. Sheesh, defensively hostile people...

walks away grumbling...
posted by mkn at 4:11 PM on January 8, 2001

The thing I've always wondered is, after you take someone's piss, what do you do with it?
posted by kindall at 4:56 PM on January 8, 2001