An "Unreal" Look at 25,000 Barrels
June 19, 2010 11:00 AM Subscribe
Topical and impressive.
posted by christopherious at 11:10 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by christopherious at 11:10 AM on June 19, 2010
I'm surprised BP still hasn't plugged the whole in the fucking Gulf. That's seriously depressing.
posted by phaedon at 11:11 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by phaedon at 11:11 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
sun to your back. sun to your back.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:11 AM on June 19, 2010 [8 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:11 AM on June 19, 2010 [8 favorites]
> I'm surprised BP still hasn't plugged the whole in the fucking Gulf. That's seriously depressing.
They might not be able to. At all.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:13 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
They might not be able to. At all.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:13 AM on June 19, 2010 [4 favorites]
I'm surprised their rendering engine could handle that many objects without dropping to a frame rate of about 0.001.
The guy says "I accomplished this by using the UDK to construct the setup and then running the benchmark shortcut command to render the scene". So it presumably wasn't rendered in real-time.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:15 AM on June 19, 2010
The guy says "I accomplished this by using the UDK to construct the setup and then running the benchmark shortcut command to render the scene". So it presumably wasn't rendered in real-time.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:15 AM on June 19, 2010
Chocolate Pickle: according to the comments, it did drop to 0.4 fps during the render. So: not realtime
posted by aubilenon at 11:15 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by aubilenon at 11:15 AM on June 19, 2010
That's 5x5 barrels stacked around a pillar, and not straight up 5x5 barrels per level, so each level is 16 barrels instead of 25, so at least that tower is 56% taller than it ought to be. Makes me feel a little better?
posted by mek at 11:15 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mek at 11:15 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
I guess he only got 4 FPS during the rendering process. From the youtube comments:
It was difficult considering during the process of rendering I was getting around .4 fps, staring in one direction for 1 minute was like an overall 1 second in the video.
posted by hellojed at 11:17 AM on June 19, 2010
It was difficult considering during the process of rendering I was getting around .4 fps, staring in one direction for 1 minute was like an overall 1 second in the video.
posted by hellojed at 11:17 AM on June 19, 2010
POINT four frames per second. Big difference there...
Very impressive. However, the barrels really should explode.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:23 AM on June 19, 2010 [8 favorites]
Very impressive. However, the barrels really should explode.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:23 AM on June 19, 2010 [8 favorites]
So they've finally found a way to weaponize Jenga!
posted by Rhomboid at 11:30 AM on June 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Rhomboid at 11:30 AM on June 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
I know for a 100% guaranteed FACT that I saw a video almost identical to this like a year ago at least. Maybe it wasn't Unreal, though.
posted by DU at 11:33 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by DU at 11:33 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
I know for a 100% guaranteed FACT that I saw a video almost identical to this like a year ago at least.
This kind of thing is a popular way of stress-testing game engines.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 11:37 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
This kind of thing is a popular way of stress-testing game engines.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 11:37 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
i thought this started pretty neat (whoa! that's some stack!) but when the oil didn't cover the earth, or show how 25,000 barrels would fill a small lake or something, then it turned into an FPS, i wondered what the fucking point of this was. it just ended with a bunch of barrels in a pile.
posted by rainperimeter at 11:45 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by rainperimeter at 11:45 AM on June 19, 2010
Doom barrel tower in Half-Life (or possibly Half-Life 2).
posted by griphus at 11:47 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by griphus at 11:47 AM on June 19, 2010
Why was there a big pillar in the middle and gaps between the barrels?
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:47 AM on June 19, 2010
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:47 AM on June 19, 2010
The Card Cheat wrote: "They might not be able to. At all."
Please stop spreading alarmist bullshit that doesn't even have a foundation in reality. If there's a failure to plug the gusher, it's not going to be because of a casing failure somewhere in the top few thousand feet of the blown out well.
On the actual topic, that's pretty impressive physics simulation. It's good enough to not make me go "ack, that looks fake," which is an accomplishment I've been waiting a long time for.
posted by wierdo at 11:55 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Please stop spreading alarmist bullshit that doesn't even have a foundation in reality. If there's a failure to plug the gusher, it's not going to be because of a casing failure somewhere in the top few thousand feet of the blown out well.
On the actual topic, that's pretty impressive physics simulation. It's good enough to not make me go "ack, that looks fake," which is an accomplishment I've been waiting a long time for.
posted by wierdo at 11:55 AM on June 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't think this was done in response to the oil spill.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:01 PM on June 19, 2010
posted by dirigibleman at 12:01 PM on June 19, 2010
This gives me the same feeling I had as a kid when I got to see what a garbage dump looked like: 'How the hell are we going to deal with all that we've used?' Except we didn't get to use this oil.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 12:06 PM on June 19, 2010
posted by Hardcore Poser at 12:06 PM on June 19, 2010
I would like to see the same illustration with the stack of money BP is losing.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 12:08 PM on June 19, 2010
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 12:08 PM on June 19, 2010
I have no idea what that means or why there was a gun in it but it was spectacular.
posted by jontyjago at 12:17 PM on June 19, 2010
posted by jontyjago at 12:17 PM on June 19, 2010
I would like to see the same illustration with the stack of money BP is losing.
Best I can do with ascii:
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$
Reported spill-related losses as of June 14 (source) vs. net equity January 1st 2010 (source),
$ = 1.6 Billion USD
posted by 7segment at 12:39 PM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best I can do with ascii:
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$
Reported spill-related losses as of June 14 (source) vs. net equity January 1st 2010 (source),
$ = 1.6 Billion USD
posted by 7segment at 12:39 PM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is what I think of when people talk about space elevators.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:07 PM on June 19, 2010
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:07 PM on June 19, 2010
Cool stuff you can't do in real life.
Well, actually...
posted by oulipian at 2:18 PM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Well, actually...
posted by oulipian at 2:18 PM on June 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
oulipian : Well, actually...
Wow... GREAT link!
Weird. My first thought, "Hey, that looks a lot like Legos".
Then I saw the two humans standing next to the wall for scale, and thought about that as somewhere in the ballpark of half of what BP lets escape daily.
odinsdream : You know, it's the old "this is too depressing to even consider" fallacy.
Well, in fairness, BP only said the relief wells "might" miss. I have much higher confidence in that statement than their statement that the junk shot "might not" work... I mean, the wording sounds quite a lot more positive, despite having no real numbers on which to base either estimate-from-their-asses.
And now, I think I'll go chop wood for a while.
posted by pla at 4:05 PM on June 19, 2010
Wow... GREAT link!
Weird. My first thought, "Hey, that looks a lot like Legos".
Then I saw the two humans standing next to the wall for scale, and thought about that as somewhere in the ballpark of half of what BP lets escape daily.
odinsdream : You know, it's the old "this is too depressing to even consider" fallacy.
Well, in fairness, BP only said the relief wells "might" miss. I have much higher confidence in that statement than their statement that the junk shot "might not" work... I mean, the wording sounds quite a lot more positive, despite having no real numbers on which to base either estimate-from-their-asses.
And now, I think I'll go chop wood for a while.
posted by pla at 4:05 PM on June 19, 2010
They are drilling further down to intercept the well, though it could be a while before this approach does anything.
And they now deploying 32 cleanup machines that they bought from Kevin Costner's company, that started from an idea he had while filming Waterworld, which is the kind of scene that would come up in a weird dream after staying up too late watching videos of oil rushing out into the gulf. But they actually look promising.
posted by eye of newt at 6:55 PM on June 19, 2010
And they now deploying 32 cleanup machines that they bought from Kevin Costner's company, that started from an idea he had while filming Waterworld, which is the kind of scene that would come up in a weird dream after staying up too late watching videos of oil rushing out into the gulf. But they actually look promising.
posted by eye of newt at 6:55 PM on June 19, 2010
Do the physics look suspect to anyone else? The barrels start falling off the top, starting a chain reaction. OK. Then between 1:27 and 1:36 all the barrels (top to bottom) have separated from the column, exploding away from the column. Huh?
posted by gruchall at 1:06 PM on June 20, 2010
posted by gruchall at 1:06 PM on June 20, 2010
odinsdream wrote: "You know, it's the old "this is too depressing to even consider" fallacy."
No, it's the "why are you obsessing over incredibly unlikely possibilities rather than dealing with reality as it is" response.
I'm sure that come the end of July, if they've had some trouble with the relief wells there will be people screaming that it will never work. They pretty much will work barring some utter catastrophe in the drilling process (one would hope they'll be more careful than with the blown out well). There may be minor setbacks. There's a decent chance that it will take longer than the July estimate. It is highly unlikely that in the end neither of the relief wells will be able to successfully kill the blowout.
Odds pulled out of my ass, based on my knowledge of how these things work: Kill by sometime in July 50-60%. Kill by December: 95%
posted by wierdo at 1:07 PM on June 20, 2010
No, it's the "why are you obsessing over incredibly unlikely possibilities rather than dealing with reality as it is" response.
I'm sure that come the end of July, if they've had some trouble with the relief wells there will be people screaming that it will never work. They pretty much will work barring some utter catastrophe in the drilling process (one would hope they'll be more careful than with the blown out well). There may be minor setbacks. There's a decent chance that it will take longer than the July estimate. It is highly unlikely that in the end neither of the relief wells will be able to successfully kill the blowout.
Odds pulled out of my ass, based on my knowledge of how these things work: Kill by sometime in July 50-60%. Kill by December: 95%
posted by wierdo at 1:07 PM on June 20, 2010
The Card Cheat wrote: "They might not be able to. At all."
The solution is right in front of us here. Render 25,000 barrels on top of the leak, then call the gravity resolution function in the API.
posted by spamguy at 1:09 PM on June 20, 2010
The solution is right in front of us here. Render 25,000 barrels on top of the leak, then call the gravity resolution function in the API.
posted by spamguy at 1:09 PM on June 20, 2010
It looks like he programmed several places down the tower to explode the barrels away from the tower.
The part I found a bit odd was that the barrels didn't seemingly pile up as I thought they should, it was like they simply disappeared into the center of the pile.
I should put on my math cap and figure out the expected size of the pile. Yeah, I'll get right on that on this lazy Sunday.
posted by Kip at 4:05 PM on June 20, 2010
The part I found a bit odd was that the barrels didn't seemingly pile up as I thought they should, it was like they simply disappeared into the center of the pile.
I should put on my math cap and figure out the expected size of the pile. Yeah, I'll get right on that on this lazy Sunday.
posted by Kip at 4:05 PM on June 20, 2010
Kill by sometime in July 50-60%. Kill by December: 95%
I live in Key West. Whatever you're saying here made me cry.
posted by humannaire at 6:13 PM on June 20, 2010
I live in Key West. Whatever you're saying here made me cry.
posted by humannaire at 6:13 PM on June 20, 2010
humannaire wrote: "Kill by sometime in July 50-60%. Kill by December: 95%"
I'm probably being pessimistic. They've made very good time thus far on the first relief well.
Also keep in mind that in the next couple of weeks they'll be bringing a lot more processing capacity online, so the volume of oil released into the Gulf should go down, presuming they don't get run off by hurricanes every other week. (Not particularly likely, as even in an active season there's usually only 2 or 3 storms big enough to necessitate evacuating the area. That should significantly reduce the environmental damage caused by any delays in the relief wells.
It's taken a lot longer to get here than it should have, but I for one can see a light at the end of the tunnel, faint as it may be. It may turn out to be a trick of the eye if the new cap they'll be installing next month doesn't work out as well as they plan, but a person can hope, can't they?
posted by wierdo at 8:23 PM on June 20, 2010
I'm probably being pessimistic. They've made very good time thus far on the first relief well.
Also keep in mind that in the next couple of weeks they'll be bringing a lot more processing capacity online, so the volume of oil released into the Gulf should go down, presuming they don't get run off by hurricanes every other week. (Not particularly likely, as even in an active season there's usually only 2 or 3 storms big enough to necessitate evacuating the area. That should significantly reduce the environmental damage caused by any delays in the relief wells.
It's taken a lot longer to get here than it should have, but I for one can see a light at the end of the tunnel, faint as it may be. It may turn out to be a trick of the eye if the new cap they'll be installing next month doesn't work out as well as they plan, but a person can hope, can't they?
posted by wierdo at 8:23 PM on June 20, 2010
wierdo : Odds pulled out of my ass, based on my knowledge of how these things work: Kill by sometime in July 50-60%. Kill by December: 95%
Aka, "three months too late, at best".
It's taken a lot longer to get here than it should have, but I for one can see a light at the end of the tunnel
The only light at the end of this tunnel involves waking America up to the destructiveness of our thirst for oil. Unfortunately, we tend to have short collective memories ("Why would we want to keep investment and depository banks separate? Silly anti-corporate hippies, let the experts do their work"), and I expect taht six months after they cap this disaster (or it runs out, whichever happens first), we'll all smile and drilling will resume as normal.
posted by pla at 4:12 PM on June 21, 2010
Aka, "three months too late, at best".
It's taken a lot longer to get here than it should have, but I for one can see a light at the end of the tunnel
The only light at the end of this tunnel involves waking America up to the destructiveness of our thirst for oil. Unfortunately, we tend to have short collective memories ("Why would we want to keep investment and depository banks separate? Silly anti-corporate hippies, let the experts do their work"), and I expect taht six months after they cap this disaster (or it runs out, whichever happens first), we'll all smile and drilling will resume as normal.
posted by pla at 4:12 PM on June 21, 2010
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posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:08 AM on June 19, 2010