cmountford

6th May 2002 18:46 UTC

LOTR fans!
This is for all you Lord of the Rings fans out there: it's not perfect yet, but it is kind of cool IMO. I've been tinkering around with several things trying to make a preset to resemble Sauron's eye. Some of them are obviously messed up, but I decided to include all of them. Tell me which you like best

I have a question for people like UnConeD: The Eye in the LOTR movie appears to be more like a "cat's eye." Could you give me some help in giving it the weird-looking thing in the center of a cat's eye? Feedback especially appreciated from those who have seen the Fellowship of the Ring.

All feedback is welcome positive or negative (please keep it related to AVS, though).

C.Mountford

Jaheckelsafar

6th May 2002 19:10 UTC

Well, I think my favourite out of the bunch was almost perfected 2.2, it is most like I remember the eye. I still think it needs work though. The problem is that it doesn't look like there's enough going on. I don't know what you add that wouldn't make it look over crowded.

:hang: Sorry I couldn't be more help :hang:

cmountford

6th May 2002 19:24 UTC

almost perfected 2.2 was my favorite, too
yes-that's my favorite. I still don't know how to make that cat's eye effect in the center of the eye. Maybe UnConeD can help. Thanks for the input.

Any other comments or improvements are welcome! :)

UnConeD

7th May 2002 05:06 UTC

Try a superscope to obscure it, like this:

frame: sd=1
point:
sd=-sd;u=i*2-1;
y=u*.9;
x=cos(u*1.565)*sd*.2

You'll probably want to use a low amount of points combined with a higher line width. The 1.565 should be pi, but to prevent weird line drawing caused by rounding off errors, I used a lower value.

cmountford

7th May 2002 05:43 UTC

thanks!
UnConeD-thanks a lot! :) Your instructions really helped. Now I'll post a 2nd version just to make sure I did it right. I decided to leave the inside of the eye slightly fiery-so that's why I have so many different superscopes.

Jaheckelsafar

7th May 2002 07:26 UTC

Woah! I think you may have overdone the points on the superscopes. 1800? I took a zero off the end of all of the 1800 point ones and didn't notice a difference except for a jump for 8 or 9 fps.

It does look much cooler now. :up:

cmountford

8th May 2002 06:24 UTC

oops
Oops! I don't know what I was thinking whenever I made that preset :D. Thanks for catching that for me-I will look at it tomorrow or ASAP (whichever comes first) :) lol

--C.Mountford--

UnConeD

8th May 2002 11:16 UTC

Slight correction above: the 1.565 was meant to be pi/2, not pi of course :).

cmountford

9th May 2002 07:27 UTC

Where's all the LOTR fans?!?
Surely there's more Lord of the Rings fans out there, right? I've gotten good help on fixing up my preset from UnConeD, but I need some more suggestions on what to change.

If you're a LOTR fan, even if you know very little about AVS, please comment on my preset. Criticism, suggestions; they're all welcome! Just say whatever you think about the preset and we'll work on it.

"Peace" I shout over the roaring of the thunderstorm :D

--C.Mountford--

Zevensoft

9th May 2002 11:27 UTC

In a LOTR related note (not really an AVS-related one), a large number of people have made OGL LOTR demos (Including my friend Graham Aldridge) for a contest, linkage here.

dromeda42

10th May 2002 23:10 UTC

uhm...i've tried to open up the visualisation, but my comp somehow won't let me...any suggestions?

cmountford

11th May 2002 03:10 UTC

how did you open it?
First, a little background information about how you opened it always helps :)

But I'll put a few possible suggestions. Because certain programs can override Window's built-in decompressor program's settings (or several other possible reasons), if your computer it doesn't recognize the .zip file after you download it, try downloading a copy of winzip at www.winzip.com

If you are using winzip, make sure you either set the destination to the AVS directory, which is usually located at c:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins\Avs\. Or if you're unzipping to the default Winzip directory, you can copy the preset into the Winamp AVS directory.

If the preset unzips fine to the AVS directory, then I'll probably need to know everything you did and anything the computer prompts you to do. Then we'll work from there.

--C. Mountford--

Doggy Dog

13th May 2002 19:25 UTC

It's a ok preset, I like its theme :).

cmountford

16th May 2002 07:17 UTC

any more ideas?
Is there a LOTR-related theme that you'd like to see in AVS? I'd like to hear some ideas!

Of course, comments & suggestions about my old preset are always welcome.

I want to make some new LOTR presets, but I'd like some input first

--C. Mountford--

cmountford

19th May 2002 00:50 UTC

Check out these presets!!!
Here's a couple presets that I think are greatly improved. Check them out & tell me what you think.

Again, I'm still waiting to hear ideas about Lord of the Rings themes that you'd like to see presets for. Comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

soulcatalyst

24th May 2002 03:51 UTC

sting
Nice work. I'm digging 'The eye fire.2'. Very sinister, very much on fire, very Sauron.

Anyway, here's an idea to kick around for another LOTR-type preset: How about something based on Frodo's sword, Sting? Maybe not using the sword itself, but with the feel of the weapon in mind...sharp, shiny, and glowing blue when the orcs show up...

uNDefineD

27th May 2002 12:45 UTC

Even though they don't really look like the eye, I still quite like these ones. Nice job!

BTW, even though it wasn't my intention, I thought my Blaze Ring kinda had the right effect going, if not the shape. Have a look.

EDIT: I remixed one of the latest ones.

cmountford

28th May 2002 05:46 UTC

I'm still here
Just wanted to let you know I'm still here and have been checking this thread as often as I can-and I've seen the two new posts-I've just been busy thinking.

...Thinking about "things that were...things that are...and some things that have not yet come to pass"
:)
I've (actually) been trying to figure out how to make something like Frodo's sword Sting. (this is in respones to soulcatalyst's reply in this thread with the subject "sting). I've been thinking about a rotating superscope in the shape of a pointy object, preferably a sword. If possible, I'd like to use the RGB features in superscope to make it cycle through some "dull" color and a blue (symbolic of when the sword turns blue as orcs are near)
Or possibly have a DM distort it or something like that. I'm still not sure what approach would be best.

It may be too early for me to ask a good question for the smart people in the forum, but I just wanted to get my ideas down in writing before I forgot them :D.

uNDefineD: Nice work on the ring. I liked how fiery it looked.

I'll get back as soon as I have a little bit more of a clue what I'm trying to do

cmountford

31st May 2002 05:58 UTC

Here's some modified presets of Sauron's Eye. Some of the modifications are hardly noticable, but I think one actually seriously improved the effect. These are just some of the ones I liked the best (even though Eye almost perfected 2.2 fire.2 didn't have the cat's eye)

What do you think about the idea of LOTR themed presets? Originality & stuff like that?

I appreciate any reviews, preset topic suggestions, criticism, remixes, or any other form of input.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Secondly: I don't want somebody to exactly tell me what to do for this (I'd like to more or less come up with it), but I just need a few **hints** as to what sort of superscope/movement (or DM) combinations might accomplish the suggestion for Frodo's Sword sting and / or my idea for either Barad Dur or Mount Doom?

Again: I don't want exact instructions, I'd much prefer some hints that will get me started. I just have no clue what type of stuff I'm trying to make, so any input is welcome and appreciated.

Thank you very much

Jaheckelsafar

31st May 2002 07:54 UTC

You'd have a hard time making anything as complicated as a sword in a DM. Your best bet for a sword would probably a wireframe with a superscope. That gives a decent framerate (depending on how complicated your model is), and you can do a nifty glow/tracer thing. (see attached file)

It would also be easiest with multiple scopes.


As for the theme, I dunno how many presets based on lord of the rings you'll be able to make with the limitations of AVS. Good luck.

cmountford

16th June 2002 22:05 UTC

messed up sting
I changed your anyshape thing a little bit, but it morphs when I don't want it to. It'd be cool if I could add a handle at the bottom if I could get it to stop morphing what side the end to hold is. (basically-freeze it at an angle that makes it appear that the sword has a handle on the bottom instead of a randomly changing handle-you'll see when you download it.

I'm eager to see any remixes you guys might come up with. Or new ideas on how to make a better-looking sting than my remix.

ninfreak69

17th June 2002 00:31 UTC

I screwed around with the cat eye idea......i tried using the dot fountain and it looks kool......but the black mixes in a bit.....dont look all that bad....tell em what u think......i used ur 2.1 eye

UnConeD

17th June 2002 00:59 UTC

In the pack you put in a different thread, the point sizes for the cat-eye-shape superscopes are still waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too high (1800??). On top of that, you seem to use 5-6 superscopes... I can only think of 2 useful ones (one for fill and one for border).

ninfreak69

17th June 2002 01:44 UTC

i cant get rid of the damn colored pixels of dot fountain.....well it was a good idea.....just didnt work

cmountford

17th June 2002 05:35 UTC

reason
Yeah, the first one was a mess-up, but my newest one is much better.
In my newest one, however, the most n for init is 800 for my border around the eye. The multiple ones were originally to create a semi-opaque darker area that wouldn't bleed into the main fire part & "put the fire out." This allowed for the maximum fire while still having a little bit fancier cat's eye than I originally intended.

--edit: The preset is Sauron's Fiery eye.3--

UnConeD: Perhaps you can give me some advice on the sword. It morphs when I don't want it to (see previous reply of mine). Maybe :)

--Thanks--

Jaheckelsafar

17th June 2002 06:49 UTC

Hey, it's my scope, dammit. I can help too. You don't always have to go running to UnConeD. Now I'm offended. :) :)

Changing rcbs to 0 will stop the morphing. It's caused by the chaging radius of the points on the shape. (I thought the comment would be clear enough for customization) For the handle, just toss on another superscope. Shift the x1,y1,z1 values before the rotation (the sin/cos statements) to place it where you want.

Looks nice so far. :up:

cmountford

17th June 2002 15:50 UTC

it's my birthday!!!!
Thanks. No offense intended-just wanting a few more opinions since there hadn't been any new replies from others for a while and there had just been 2 replies from others. I actually thought this thread was dead (almost), but it turned out otherwise.

Thank you very much

Jaheckelsafar

17th June 2002 17:36 UTC

None taken. Just had parties to go to. :)

Happy b-day.

Just so you know, there's a typo.

"rc=if(rcbs,sin(rcc)*.02,rcb)" in the perframe section should be "rc=if(rcbs,sin(rcc)*rcb,rcb)"

Any ideas on how to make the scope easier to use, lemme know. That kinda how I designed it.

cmountford

17th June 2002 22:15 UTC

It was our birthday present, precioussss
"It was our birthday present, yesssss precioussssss." -- Gollum

I just had to say that...precioussss. Thanks for the help, I'll check out the SSC & post a reply with the zipped file as soon as I modify it.

"Don't hurt us, precioussss....with the nassssty cruel ssssteel."

cmountford

17th June 2002 22:27 UTC

lol
I forgot about the comment! I remember now looking at it once, but I guess I forgot it was there. Yeah-it was clear. I assume I'd change the second scope to be the shape I wanted for the handle, and then change the position to where I want, right?

Zevensoft

18th June 2002 13:45 UTC

Here's a LotR-related superscope, you may be able to use it somewhere else...

Init

pi=acos(-1);orxs=pi/70;orys=pi/60;orxs=pi/50;n=4000;dst=tan(120*(pi/180)/2);

orx=orx+orxs;ory=ory+orys;orz=orz+orzs;lz=0;lx=1;ly=0;

z1=sin(i*pi*n/8)/10;
y1=0*cos(i*pi*2)+(cos(i*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*sin(i*pi*2);
x1=(cos(i*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*cos(i*pi*2)-0*sin(i*pi*2);
z3=sin((i+1/n/8)*pi*n/8)/10;
y3=0*cos(i*pi*2)+(cos((i+1/n/8)*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*sin(i*pi*2);
x3=(cos((i+1/n/8)*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*cos(i*pi*2)-0*sin(i*pi*2);
z2=sin(i*pi*n/8)/10;
y2=0*cos((i+1/n*2)*pi*2)+(cos(i*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*sin((i+1/n*2)*pi*2);
x2=(cos(i*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*cos((i+1/n*2)*pi*2)-0*sin((i+1/n*2)*pi*2);
tx=x1*cos(orz)-y1*sin(orz);ty=y1*cos(orz)+x1*sin(orz);x=tx*cos(ory)-z1*sin(ory);
tz=z1*cos(ory)+tx*sin(ory);z=tz*cos(orx)-ty*sin(orx);y=ty*cos(orx)+tz*sin(orx);
tx=x2*cos(orz)-y2*sin(orz);ty=y2*cos(orz)+x2*sin(orz);x2=tx*cos(ory)-z2*sin(ory);
tz=z2*cos(ory)+tx*sin(ory);z2=tz*cos(orx)-ty*sin(orx);y2=ty*cos(orx)+tz*sin(orx);
tx=x3*cos(orz)-y3*sin(orz);ty=y3*cos(orz)+x3*sin(orz);x3=tx*cos(ory)-z3*sin(ory);
tz=z3*cos(ory)+tx*sin(ory);z3=tz*cos(orx)-ty*sin(orx);y3=ty*cos(orx)+tz*sin(orx);
x1=x;y1=y;z1=z;
x=x/(z+dst);y=y/(z+dst);
x4=x1-x2;x5=x1-x3;
y4=y1-y2;y5=y1-y3;
z4=z1-z2;z5=z1-z3;
nx=y4*z5-z4*y5;ny=z4*x5-x4*z5;nz=x4*y5-y4*x5;
dd=sqrt(nx*nx+ny*ny+nz*nz);nx=nx/dd;ny=ny/dd;nz=nz/dd;
ldx=x1-lx;ldy=y1-ly;ldz=z1-lz;
dd=sqrt(ldx*ldx+ldy*ldy+ldz*ldz);ldx=ldx/dd;ldy=ldy/dd;ldz=ldz/dd;
li=(nx*ldx+ny*ldy+nz*ldz);li=if(above(li,0),li,0);
br=if(above(z+dst,.5),1-((z)/(3-.5)),0);
red=br*li;
green=br*li;
blue=br*li;

Zevensoft

18th June 2002 14:14 UTC

That version above is flat-shaded. The new version below is faster and (if winamp supported smooth-shaded lines) gouraud-shade (compatible, ie. by vertex).

All you gotta change is the point code:

z1=sin(i*pi*n/8)/10;
y1=0*cos(i*pi*2)+(cos(i*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*sin(i*pi*2);
x1=(cos(i*pi*n/8)/10+.9)*cos(i*pi*2)-0*sin(i*pi*2);
tx=x1*cos(orz)-y1*sin(orz);ty=y1*cos(orz)+x1*sin(orz);x=tx*cos(ory)-z1*sin(ory);
tz=z1*cos(ory)+tx*sin(ory);z=tz*cos(orx)-ty*sin(orx);y=ty*cos(orx)+tz*sin(orx);
nz=sin(i*pi*n/8);
ny=0*cos(i*pi*2)+(cos(i*pi*n/8))*sin(i*pi*2);
nx=(cos(i*pi*n/8))*cos(i*pi*2)-0*sin(i*pi*2);
tx=nx*cos(orz)-ny*sin(orz);ty=ny*cos(orz)+nx*sin(orz);nx=tx*cos(ory)-nz*sin(ory);
tz=nz*cos(ory)+tx*sin(ory);nz=tz*cos(orx)-ty*sin(orx);ny=ty*cos(orx)+tz*sin(orx);
x1=x;y1=y;z1=z;
x=x/(z+dst);y=y/(z+dst);
ldx=x1-lx;ldy=y1-ly;ldz=z1-lz;
dd=sqrt(ldx*ldx+ldy*ldy+ldz*ldz);ldx=ldx/dd;ldy=ldy/dd;ldz=ldz/dd;
li=(nx*ldx+ny*ldy+nz*ldz);li=if(above(li,0),li,0);
br=if(above(z+dst,.5),1-((z)/(3-.5)),0);
red=br*li;
green=br*li;
blue=br*li;

UnConeD

18th June 2002 15:52 UTC

Gradient
I'm not sure what you meant with the unit-sphere, but wouldn't it be easier to calculate the normal in a point as the gradient of the torus' equation?

For a torus with radii c (from center to the tube's center) and a (radius of the tube) the equation is:

sqr(c - sqrt(sqr(x)+sqr(y))) + sqr(z) = sqr(a)


So the gradient's components are:

http://acko.net/dump/torusgrad.png

By calculating the 3 components and normalizing the resulting vector, you get the normal on the function's isosurface through that point (which is of course your torus).

As you can see, the x and y components are nearly the same, so you can optimize them easily.

Oh and if you calculate the sines and cosines of your rotation matrix only once instead of each frame, it'll speed up more.

Jaheckelsafar

18th June 2002 18:02 UTC

Um, yeah. Quick, before my brain explodes.

Yes, that's what I meant. You can stretch it by mulyiplying x1,y1,z1 to give it more of a crossguard look.

Zevensoft

19th June 2002 13:50 UTC

Unconed, the unit sphere method is faster because it just uses the fact that the face normal at any point on a sphere is the negative of the vector of the point. So basically, I'm using a sphere's normals and using them for the torus. It looks good, and runs good. I also used that hint about the pre-defined sin and cos, thanks for that.

UnConeD

19th June 2002 17:05 UTC

Hmmm you mean you're calculating the normal as if the torus was a round string of spheres, not that it's enclosed in a sphere, right?

3dino

19th June 2002 18:32 UTC

check this: the Ring

3dino

19th June 2002 21:44 UTC

sorry those colored bmp files are big :mad:
here is a smaler pack:

cmountford

19th June 2002 22:59 UTC

jpeg
Just use a jpeg. I'll just convert it back to a .bmp

I'm almost ready to post some modifications (hopefully improvements) :)

3dino

20th June 2002 12:57 UTC

ok, first the original picture:
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~freeman/images/lotrfotr.jpg
and this is the AVS version:

Zevensoft

20th June 2002 13:09 UTC

Here's a new version, I managed to improve the look, and added a shadow+bouncing effect.

Maybe next I'll add specular highlights.

cmountford

23rd June 2002 23:17 UTC

Okay-here's some Bryce pics
I'm currently using a demo of Bryce, so one of the pictures will have the demo MetaTools background embedded in it.

Maybe some of you smart people could make a DM to zoom in on Barad Dur then rise up to the top (like in the movie one of the times when Frodo puts the ring on & he sees Barad Dur in the distance...then it keeps getting closer & closer. When it seems that he's reached it, the image moves up to the top of the tower where he sees the eye-you know...that scene I just described). That *would* be extremely cool

If I had a full version of Bryce5, I'm sure they would be much better.

cmountford

15th July 2002 22:16 UTC

more help
This is great coding work for the ring, guys! Thanks a lot...I just wish I could do stuff like that so I could put it in one of my upcoming packs. Jaheckelsafar: The handle of the sword is really stumping me. And the sword is still a little messed up. I'm trying to get it to look just a little more like a sword (handle shape, etc.) but am still having problems figuring out what to do.

Please help! Also, maybe some of you people who are good with coding can come up with a DM to get the desired effect I mentioned in a reply I made earlier...zooming in, then going to top of Barad Dur.

Thanks a lot.

The LOTR Thread lives on!!! :D

SSGX

20th July 2002 09:37 UTC

My Eye
Hello everyone!

Heh...this is my very first post on the Winamp forums...

In fact, this thread was what made me register...lol

While reading it, I decided to create my own version of The Eye of Sauron... And I think it turned out pretty well...so I just had to register to show it off...lol Perhaps this'll end up being the beginning of a productive stay here... Who knows...lol

It even uses a slight variation of the superscope code given by UnConeD in this very thread for the pupil... But there's a comment included that says a bit more about it...

A couple of notes about myself, though... This preset is only the 5th that I've created... None of the others are "released"...they all remain for my own private use... And so far, they're all pretty basic... But they're just what I want... Simple and highly reactive... I'm sure I'll share them someday soon...

And without further ado... The Eye of Sauron!

Jaheckelsafar

21st July 2002 19:44 UTC

Umm... gimme a week or two. Just got my laptop back and had to restore the harddrive cause explorer kept crashing. Only in town for the weekends and all that... I'll modify work from the original anyshape code though, 'cause I'm not sure how any changes will affect yours.

Jaheckelsafar

27th July 2002 14:11 UTC

Hey, whipped this thing up. It might not be quite what you're looking for, and could be made faster without the point setup I used because the shapes are significantly simpler. You could probably make it look more like a sword too.

Anyhoo, here it is.

Xion(810)

25th August 2002 23:36 UTC

I think El-Vis made a realistic-looking eye of Sauron...Look.

jheriko

31st August 2002 08:17 UTC

you can create the zooming in then going up then stopping effect using dynamic movement quite easily if you already know how to make a zooming in and a going up on their own by using the if statement... you simply need to make a timer that increments and use if functions to make it do the zoom code for the first, say 3 seconds ish then do the going up then do nothing... i wont tell you exactly how to do it cos i guess that will take some of the fun out of it but id say that would be the best way to do it, how you'dd create the tower and everything? i dunno, the problem with zooming in with dm is everything will go blocky unless you start zoomed out, which means tiling so you'll lose the rest of the image... i don't think dm is actually the answer to that one now that i think about it more...

you'dd probably want to make the tower from a 3d ssc then make that move towards you then down using the if statement, you could then use dm to fade the eye in...

jheriko

31st August 2002 08:26 UTC

sorry i forgot to include this in the last post but if you go and download my 3rd pack from here (its not very big) it contains a lotr based preset of a spinning ring(solid ring using one superscope with hashed lighting effect on it) with the eye flashing up onbeat, i ended up simplifying the eye a great deal so that it looked alright without needing to render for too many frames so its not very good to base an eye preset on but if that ring were modified an optimised it only uses one superscope and looks nicer.. a cool thing would be to put the writing around the ring :)

fholborn

17th December 2002 03:59 UTC

OK, try this Lord of the Rings Flaming Eye!
Hey all, got some serious flames going here wrapped onto 2 of C.Mountford's excellent render-shape inputs. Is that about it?

Enjoy!

/Fred