The Data Zone is meant to give you some interesting stuff to read (I hope) - new articles will be added with time.(Btw, if you feel like writing, or have recently been to a party feel free to make a <A HREF="#submit" onMouseOver="window.status='submit ';return true">contribution</A>).
<A HREF="#for tracers">for all tracers</A> - trace compo at every party?<BR>
<A HREF="#easy">Easy tracing ?</A> - is tracing easy or what ! <BR>
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<H3><a name="for tracers"> </A>For all tracers...</H3>
The scene is known for producing vastly amount of fantastic coders, musicians and pixel graphicians, but not tracers.Every time I'm at the party I see a lot of people doing 3D, yet only few contributions are being made to the gfx compos.Many good tracers simply give up and choose not to compete as they know that 3D will be underrated in a 2D compo.This is not how the 3D community will evolve in the scene.I believe that by gathering enough votes from you - all tracers which would like to compete in a trace compo in the upcoming parties, will convince most party organaizers to split the gfx compo into pixel and trace compos(except Assembly as they have had a trace compo since '95, and possibly Saturne and Weird as they have had trace compos last year). Therefore I encourage you to submit your vote below.If I receive enough votes for a specific party, I'll contact the organisers and do everything I can in order to convince them that a trace compo should be held at their party.
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Vote as soon as possible, as the orgnizers must know this very early. <br> <br>
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Wouldn't it be nice to know that you are going to compete against some serious tracers during the next party?Of course, it's not about winning but about competing, evolving our talents and making friends.The results of all votings will be published on these pages.
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<H3><a name="easy"> </A>Easy tracing ?</H3>
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Everybody who has been following the scene long enough will tell you that 3D generated images don't stand a chance against pixel drawn in a gfx compo.Actually, this is very true..As we all know it, nearly all the traced images which competed against pixelled images have allways been of very low quality.Simple images consisting of standard primitives, pre modelled checkboards, or some ready to use - seen/available everywhere models won't cut it.Most of the traced images produced by the scene wouldn't even make the game standard today.Which is rather disappointing as the scene has always been one step ahead of the game developers - but not in raytracing.<br>
There seems to be a broad convenience among sceners that raytracing is not a real art, it's kind of cheating, because it's easy to do.If tracing is so easy, how come the quality of traced images is so low?Well, raytracing is easy in the beginning, and that's why we see so many low quality traces in gfx compos.It's easy to use primitives with some textures and lot's of flares.It's easy to press the render button and wait 15 minutes.it's easy to do something which requires no knowledge what so ever.<br>
A high quality trace on the contrary, requires a good understanding of the program and a lot of experience.Something which can only be achieved from trying time after time after time and lots of patience.The question is: are all scene tracers to lazy to produce a high quality traces?NO!Take a look at wild demos, do they seem to be of low quality?Most of them are of good and some of very good quality.Is making 3D animation easy then?No, I would say that it's even more difficult then making a still.The only advantage in making animation lies in the way human eye registers movement.We can't see frame by frame of the animation as flys can.Therefore an animation does not require as much work on details as a still image would, as we simply do not see it.There is no need of creating a very detailed space ship with highly bumped mapping, if it will only be used for high speed flyby's.On the otherhand 3D animations are very time consuming and can be very frustrating.The main problem with making animations, is adjusting everything correctly - and this can be a real killer.<br>
Imagine that you are in the process of adjusting some details(not object details)in a small part of your animation, and simply can't get it right.The part is only 5 sec. long but made you do hundreds of wireframe, gouraud and phong shadings so you spend hours and hours on renderwondering for at last to make the last raytraced preview.Just when you thought that everything was perfect after watching the final raytraced version, you confidently switch to higher resolution, more frame rates and colors and wait looooong hours or days for the very final only 5 sec. long animation.To your big surprise everything looks totally screwed.The full screen version looks so different from the small perfect preview that you begin accusing yourself of rendering the wrong version of your preview(as you have hundreds of them on your HD).Unfortunately/fortunately you rendered the right one.The switch from 1/4 or smaller screen size to full screen can make so drastic visual difference that it's shocking.Small details(which make all the differences) as depth field are simply not visible good enough in smaller renders.After some time you managed to do this 5 sec. animation just right, but what an effort!.
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This example may sound a bit extreme, but it's not fictious.With time, a tracer will become more experienced and will be able to avoid lots of problems.But some problems will remain all the same.The most frustrating aspect of making animations, or raytracing in all, is the time factor.Because of the limited amount of CPU power, the tracer is more or less bound to it's own limits of patience.The computer is clearly the limiting factor here as not everyone can afford to buy a faster computer.<br>We should all respect the tracers who participate in wild demo compos, even if their work is not so good, as they put a lot of work in it.
All in all, making 3D animations is a very hard work, which requires lots of commitment and very patient minds, that is, unless you own an MP workstation....
Making high quality stills is easier and not as frustrating, but it still requires a lot of effort.In stills the small object details makes the big differences.The more detailed the objects are the better the overall visual impression of the final render.Building a very detailed model, which looks good from all angles, is not an easy task.Making use of the right combinations of texture/light settings is even harder, but adjusting all objects in your scene so they are 'just right', is the hardest part of all - unless you are not interested in creating a fullblown killer trace. <br>
Needless to say, all serious tracers spend a lot of time on creating their 3D Environments .Environments which can be easily reused.A good model can be used over and over in different images.An advantage which is often misused by some tracers.This is cheating in some way, just as an 2D artist redraws a picture.I'm not a big fan of redrawing or making use of the same objects over and over again as I believe that artists should always improve their skills, by constantly seeking new challenges and explore new possibilities...<br>
One thing is clear for me though: all high quality traces require just as much work, experience and talent as does the making of high quality pixel images.And one last thing: tracing is only easy for those who make it easy for them selfs.
This section is supposed to help you find a graphician you are looking for.If you don't know his e mail and couldn't find him elsewhere on the net try here.Chances are that he will check this section in GFXZ and contact you.Type in your e mail, your handle/group and the graphician you are looking for.
You have probably seen some cool traced images and wondered if you could do it too.Every thing is possible and If you really want to try it, you probably already know it.Here is some advise which will bring you on the right track: first of all, choose a 3D application which is widely used among others, so it will be easier for you to get help - and don't be afraid to ask.Begin with some very simple objects and functions like sphere or lathe and do a lot of experimenting with them in your scenes.Try different texture settings with different light settings from various angles etc.Don't be afraid to experiment a lot.Be creative and always try something different.After some time you will have a good understanding of how things work, and begin experimenting with some of the more complex functions.From now on stop making flying cubes and nice looking spheres and begin modelling.Modelling can be difficult in the beginning but stay on it, don't give up.With time you will master this too, and as a result you will begin to see some nice traces.Don't stop here though, be never satisfied with your work for more than couple of days.Always strive for higher goals.Your images must keep getting better on a constant basis, otherwise you are getting nowhere.Take your time and don't get lazy on details.Be a self critic and never underrate others thinking that they wont notice this or that small error or lack of detail.Get inspired by watching others work(check the<A HREF="tragall">Trace Gallery</A>). Always compare your images with the best you have ever seen.Buy some 3D magazines(CGW, 3D Artist, 3D Design), get likeminded friends, surf the net in search for 3D galleries, tips, FAQ, etc.Educate yourself, read everything you can about 3D and get excited about what you are doing.Only you can do it.Use the<A HREF="glossary">3D glossary</A> in the beginning as a reference, and occasionally check GFX Zone for new articles from more experienced tracers.With your consistence as a tracer, the scene will soon experience a new generation of tracers, capable of producing mindblowing, killer 3D gfx which will leave the game industry in dust... : -)This will make the scene stronger and more respected in the real world.It's up to you, and remember, always compare with the best.
Every serious scene graphician, and I really mean everyone, tracer or not - whether using Amiga or PC, is very welcome to submit their articles.Here are the subjects which you can write about:
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the Scene and the graphical thoughts about it, party reports with the emphasis on graphics and wild demos, interviews with famous graphicians with technical information (what hardware/software they use, how they have done the difficult stuff, special techniques, some background, etc.), all kinds of tips and guides for beginners - if you are good at using Lightwave or 3D Studio or have discovered something special in Deluxe Paint or Brilliance, don't hesitate to write about it.All articles will be published on these pages with full credits.Feel free to include images illustrating some important aspects of your articles(screenshots, work in progress, etc.).Do not attach your articles, send them as e mails.Attached images for the articles should be in GIF format. <br>
If you are planning on submitting your artwork ( sorry, at least for now, only 3D will be accepted ) make sure that the aspect ratio of the image is no larger then 640*480 pixels(due to the limited HD space allocation on my IPS's server) and that it's saved in some of the following formats: GIF, 100%JPG(you can submit in other formats but they will be converted to GIF for thumbnails and JPG's for larger versions).Eventually you can point me to an ftp or your home page with the name of your image to download.If enough art contributions will be received, the charts will be created so everybody will be able to vote for their favourite graphician and image. <br> <br>
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