TITLE: Cemetery
NAME: David A.R. Wallace
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
EMAIL: dwallace@lynx.dac.neu.edu
TOPIC: Horror
COPYRIGHT: I SUBMIT TO THE STANDARD RAYTRACING COMPETITION COPYRIGHT.
JPGFILE: cemetary.jpg
ZIPFILE: cemetary.zip
RENDERER USED: 
    POV-Ray 3.1

TOOLS USED: 
    Paint Shop Pro (for JPEG conversion)

RENDER TIME: 


HARDWARE USED: 
    Cyrix 6x86 PR200 MMX, 96 MB RAM.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: 


  A complete cemetery, viewed from just outside the front gate.  Lots of
graves, a fountain, a mausoleum, and a brick path surrounded by a metal
fence.  The place is a bit worn down with tilted markers and a rusty
gate.  Light is provided by the moon and a few lanterns outside the
mausoleum.  An eerie reddish fog rounds out the scene.


DESCRIPTION OF HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED: 


  The image consists of 10 element types.  5 of them are grave markers:

1. Classic headstone.  Identified by the "R.I.P." inscription and its
  tendency to tilt, is one of the more numerous markers.  The tilt comes
  from a random number generator, which requires that the marker be a
  macro, which allows each headstone to get its own set of random
  numbers.  A declare would get only one set for all of the headstones,
  which doesn't look nearly as good.  A dirt mound lies in front of the
  marker.

2. Large cross.  A fanciful cross with a roundel triplet at each end and
  a large circle in the middle.  Most of the work was in setting up the
  indent where the circle and cross meet.  The cross is mounted on a
  frustum base with a stone mound in front of it.  The crosses are bent
  using the same technique as the classic headstone.

3. Low plaque.  A long, narrow, plaque with 2 flowerpots and an inset
  inscription.  These markers are placed along the back row where they
  fit better.  This also makes them all but invisible as the other
  graves, and especially the fog, obscure them.

4. Gabled pillar.  A tall stone pillar with a fancy gabled roof and a
  cross of St. Peter on each of its four sides.  A curved base and an
  inset on each side round out the marker.

5. Flower oval.  A large oval surrounded by spheres, mounted on a low,
  curving base.  Like the classic headstone, it includes an inscription
  ("Gone") and a dirt mound in front.  The cemetery contains as many of
  these dark stone markers as the classic headstone.

The other four are large and unique:

6. Fence.  The cemetery is delineated by a rusty iron fence.  The posts
  are topped by a pair of crescents and set into stones.  The fence
  sections and gates are mounted on the posts.  The curved elements are
  macros.

7. Road.  A fairly wide road runs from the front gate to a side gate,
  turning at a point behind the mausoleum.  The bed is made from brick
  which is covered with moss and mildew.  The curbs at the edges are
  dark, almost basaltic, rock.

8. Fountain.  The fountain, although near the back of the cemetery,
  is still prominent.  A three-tier sculpture of which the top two are
  visible.  Water spouts from the top into the upper basin, then flows
  from notches at the edges into the next basin and so on and so forth.
  The fountain itself is made of gray stone with a slight greenish tint.
  The water is tinged purplish--is it merely rust or something sinister?

9. Mausoleum.  Perched near the bend in the road, it clearly dominates
  its part of the scene.  Simplified Greek in architecture, it is
  surrounded by fluted columns except in front of the large double
  doors.  The base forms four steps.  The roof angles from all four sides
  to the top--no gables.  A silver lantern hangs from each corner,
  providing light under the roof.  The main structure is black and red
  marble, and the doors are bronze-lined wood.  As for the interior.... ?

10. Fog.  I wanted some type of ground fog to add that something extra,
  but I had to test (often) before coming up with the two layer fog in
  the final image.  The low, dark fog doesn't do much, but the upper
  red fog is surreal and adds the spooky air I wanted.

Oh, by the way, some of the dirt mounds contain, shall we say, some
detritus?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The POV Team for their excellent, and free, raytracing program.