Anticipation (nk_shutl.jpg)

It's evening at the Cape Kennedy space center, launch pad LC39A. The crew is aboard Discovery and the countdown is at T-5 minutes. Far out of sight, in mission control, many specialists are frantically making sure that every last detail is perfect for the launch. Yet outside, all is quiet in anticipation of the impending launch.

Description of how this image was created

NOTE: The source is not included because it is very sloppy (hacked-up Moray output with hundreds and hundres of little cylinders and boxes). It's not even very educational to look at. If you have questions (especially about the sunset or lens flare, which are the most interesting), send an email my way.

I began by taking a sunset from an old image that was never finished. I played around with the sunset and finally got something that I liked. Then I added the lens flare (using the lens flare plug-in that I created - download from www.grfn.org/~nkopp/pov/flare1.html ). I used the preset 50mm lens flare, but changed a bunch of the parameters to fit the image. This first version of the scene had very blocky objects as place holders for the shuttle and launch tower.

My next step was to research the space shuttle. I downloaded pictures of the launch pad and of various launches. I also the dimensions of the shuttle and of the various parts of the launch tower.

Next, I modeled the FSS (Fixed Service Structure). This is almost exactly to scale (1 unit = 1 foot) and accurate in the details that I added. The FFS was modeled in Moray 2.5 for DOS, and I made good use of it's 'copy' command. I used PFE (a text editor) to merge the two scenes (the FFS and my sunset) together. The rocket boosters and fuel tank came next, and were merged into the FFS file in moray.

I then created the various arms (orbital access, oxygen vent, and hydrogen vent).

Next came the RSS (Rotating Service Structure). I didn't have much data about this, so a lot of guess work was involved. I tried to make it look as much like the photographs as I could, but I had to cut corners in detail because of time constraints.

Finally, I modeled the orbiter itself in sPatch. The textures on the orbiter are image maps. I had a horrible time getting the sPatch output to work in Moray. I first exported it to a DXF, which I then converted to a RAW using wcvt2pov (3dwin wouldn't recognize the validity of the sPatch DXF), and then I converted it to a INC/UDO using 3dwin. Phew!

With the orbiter done, I added a bunch of little lights (which doubled the render time) with mini lens flares for each of them. I also used ground-based spotlights to light the scene (along with a little light from the setting sun).

The scene consists of bunch of files - one for the FSS, one for the RSS, one for the orbiter, one for the lights & lens flares, and one for the sunset (which includes the other four).

The textures, including the sunset textures, are all originals, created by myself. They are not very detailed, since the time spent on modeling the scene did not leave as much time for texturing as I would have liked. For the most part, thought, they serve their purpose quite well. I especially like the textures on the main fuel tank... too bad it's not well lit anymore.

Comments

From roth@ens.ascom.ch:

nice atmosphere, really suits the title of the image. well done!

From 93johnst@scar.utoronto.ca (Darcy Johnston):

I really like the sky. Very nice.

From djconnel@flash.net (Dan Connelly):

Nicely done! I can't say much more... the originality isn't huge, but techically it is quite nicely done. The only minor point is the simple texturing, but this is a worthy contender.

(it makes my entry seem embarrassingly trivial....)

djconnel@flash.net

From castlewrks@aol.com (Robert J Becraft):

Ahhh detail.... ahhhhh great shuttle..... ahhhhhhhh... great sky. There is very little that can be added to this to make it much better. The lense flare creates those funky donuts that find their way into the nether parts of a render and I'm not sure I like the starry look of the sun.

From bbowen@cswnet.com (Barrett L. Bowen):

Beautiful sunset. Great contrast for the elegance of both the natural and the man-made. batronyx@conwaycorp.net

From sonya_roberts@geocities.com (Sonya Roberts):

Very nice! Great detail on the structure to the left of the image - I like the effect of all the little light source lens flares.

From daves@wkpowerlink.com (Dave Shea):

This was the one image this round that blew me away. 3 20's from me. You deserve it.

From chipr@niestu.com (Chip Richards):

Very nice image. I absolutely love the sky--I must look to see how you did that. Excellent detail on all the objects.

From gmccarter@hotmail.com (Glenn McCarter):

Immaculate. Every detail, right down to the O-rings! Two nitpicks: US flag looks very fuzzy compared to the sharp detail on the structures. Sun looks out of place -- with such a deeply colored sunset, I would expect the sun to be just BELOW the horizon. Imposing viewpoint. Outstanding lighting and sky. Stunning! A tour de force.

From wozzeck@club-internet.fr (Francois Dispot):

Very good looking. I like the different colours of the lights.

From ethelm@bigfoot.com (Ian & Ethel MacKay):

Excellent! Well Done. Hard to imagine any improvements.

From bsieker@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de (Bernd Sieker):

Wow! I really love the detailed service tower. The shuttle itself lacks a bit of detail in comparison.

From lpurple@netcom.com (Lance Purple):

The modelling is great, and the sky texture is a really good "dawn".

From web user at dial-up35.webbernet.net:

The sky and the detaild ground structures, especially the lights are great. This is an impressive image. If I have any complaint, it is that perhaps the impressive sky and structures overshadow the Shuttle a bit.