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From skipt1@aol.com:
Very nice picture, the ground came out well as did the birds.  Nice trick with
the clear heightfield, it makes this picture.  It looks a little more like a
painter's style then heat waves, but I like it nonetheless.
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From tek@evilsuperbrain.com:
This image has a nice feeling of being a wildlife photograph.

There's a few things that stop it looking realistic: the crackle height field is
too low res (I can actually see the pixels), there's generally not enough
detail and general debris in the scene, and the transition between the 2 types
of ground is very sharp and unnatural.

But these problems are easy to overcome with more work, and I really think the
techniques you've used here have the potential to make very believable images.
I'm particularly impressed by the heat haze.

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From rgow@lanset.com:
Ground textures & plant colors are excellent. Good job on birds. Cracked mud
looks too regular, more like stonework.

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From helene.dumur@free.fr:
A good idea, a very good realisation.

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From ewaninthailand@yahoo.co.uk:

I do so like your solution to the shimmering waves of heat. I searched my mind
for some time without getting anything that worked. 
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From i-mcnamara@cornellcollege.edu:
A very good image.  The sand in the background looks very good, and the crackle
in the foreground does a pretty good job in simulating cracked ground.  The
heat distortion in particular turned out very well.  In fact, it's making me
thirsty.  Good grass and trees, the parrots are a bit blocky but they still
work (not that I could do even that well), though the cockatoos look great. 
Great job.
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From klynn@telefish.net:
The use of the clear heightfield is clever!
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From jacoons@ameritech.net:
I especially like the "mirage" effect ("heat distortion") in distance. I have
tried this myself in PovRay, but didn't achieve the effect you did. The
transition of the brown sand to the cracked sand could be improved a bit. The
birds are a nice touch. I'm not sure why, but the parrots are difficult to
recognize. 
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From ericf@foothill.net:
I like the choice of elements that make up this scene.  It fills it nicely
without cluttering it.  And the juxtaposition of mud flats and the grassland
beyond it is a nice touch.  I would quibble a bit about the mirage effect,
maybe it distorts more in Australia than it does in deserts I've been in, but
it seems overly distorted.  Overall, though, an interesting image to look at,
and to look for all the elements in it.

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From boork@zipcon.net:
I really like the way the distant distortion and reflection turned out.
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From raytracing@grayproductions.net:
I was trying to get that heat look in my piece and finally toss it when I
couldn't find a good way to do it.  Then I see it done right here...  :D
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From darwallace@earthlink.net:
The crackle heightfield needed a small amount of granite or agate to break up
the edges a bit.  The pool likewise needed some ripples, especially with the
birds about.


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From file:
Notable for composition


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From file:
Good idea for the horizon but the light is not the right one
Notable for originality, modelling


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From file:
The heat haze on the horizon is fab.


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From file:
I like this. A lot! The water, to me, is a little too clear and blue. I would
see it, in my minds eye, and brown, muddy, and soaking into the parched ground.
The heat distortion is maybe a little too much. If you tone that down just a
*tiny* bit, I think it would be even clearer what you were aiming for. I really
like how you did this. The only other thing I can think of is a titch of motion
blur for the birds, but thats hard to get short of post-processing.
Notable for textures, originality