The design file in this folder shows a very realistic pumpkin resting on a partially reflective marble platform. Two large scary spiders are walking by, as a smaller one hides underneath the pumpkin. To render the image, simply complete the following 4 steps:
1. Open the design document by double-clicking the "Great Pumpkin" document icon.
2. Select "Estimate Render Time..." from the "Render" menu to see an estimate of how long the rendering will take on your Macintosh. Click to continue. This is a complex image, since there are so many objects involved, so the rendering time is long.
3. To preview what the image will look like, drag out a rectangle to be rendered in the eye view window. This "preview" rendering will take about 1/60th as long as a full rendering.
4. Select "Render Image" from the "Render" menu, and RenderBoy will hide all of its windows and begin rendering. The windows will reappear when the image is completed. The "Rendering In Progress" menu is available to abort the image or to check on its status.
THINGS TO NOTICE...
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IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
The design shows a pumpkin resting on a block, and the entire thing is illuminated by two light sources. The block has a texture projected from the top which gives it the appearance of a shiny marble slab. This slab is partially reflective so that the pumpkin can be seen reflecting in it. The two light sources are positioned so that they create a variety of interesting shadows and spectral reflections. Although this is a very simple design, the resulting image is suprisingly interesting to look at. This is not unusual, in that it is often the simple images which are the most visually striking.
DESIGN DESCRIPTION:
Note that the pumpkin is actually made up of several overlapping egg objects. This was quite easy to accomplish using the orientation tool. The base that the pumpkin sits on is just a single block. A marble texture has been projected onto it from above. Note that the surface properties of this block have been set so that it partially reflects the pumpkin which sits on top of it.
PATTERNS OF OBJECTS:
As mentioned above, the pumpkin is made from several overlapping egg objects arranged in a circular pattern. First one egg object was created. Then a second egg was created by using the orientation tool to re-orient a copy of the egg around a point slightly off its center. Finally, the "Repeat Last Usage" menu item was used to create additional copies until the circular pattern resulted. Note that for this right, the orientation angle should be evenly divisible into 360 degrees. In this case, 30 degrees was used so there are 360/30=12 eggs in the pattern. In general, the "Repeat Last Usage" function is EXTREMELY useful for positioning multiple objects in any kind of linear or circular pattern.
The spiders were created in a similar fashion. First the torso was created as an egg. Two separate tools were used in creating the spider's legs. First one leg was created, then the orientation tool was used to copy and reorient it about the torso. The "Repeat Last Usage" tool was then used to create the remaining legs on that side. Finally, the mirroring tool was used to automatically create the legs on the other side of the spider. Using these techniques, you can create a spider design in about five minutes. It is important to let the tools do the work for you. It is often not practical to create complex designs (like spiders) any other way.
