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World Largest Egg: Computer Graphic CPSC3710 Project

Vegreville, Canada is the site of the largest Easter egg in the world. The Easter egg or Ukranian 'Pysanka,' was constructed in 1975 to commemorate early Ukranian settlements in an area east of Edmonton.

The unique nature and complicated geometry of the egg shape is so complex that I decided to try and design a replica of the egg using Povray. Professor Ronald Resch, a computer scientist at the University of Utah, designed the Easter egg. I have been influenced by his work since I first saw the "Big Egg". The egg " Pysanka" is really an immense jig-saw puzzle containing 524 star patterns, 2,206 equilateral triangles, 3,512 visible facets, 6,978 nuts and bolts, and 177 internal struts.

World Recognition

As a result of Professor Resch's work and leadership, the Pysanka is recognized around the world as not only a unique artistic masterpiece but also an achievement of nine mathematical, architectural and engineering firsts. The design represents the first computer modeling of an egg.

I visited Vegreville on my tour of Alberta and being a computer science student I was amazed by the work of the Professor Resch's work. Here is my project progress.

Computer Science Project

Computer graphics has moved to a new level and taking this class made me realize how difficult it is when it comes to graphic representation. We are supposed to take a project using povray, 3D Max, Maya to produce a high quality ray traced image of the Southern Alberta landmark.

I started early using my mighty 3d Max to draw my favorite place in Calgary; the Calgary Tower. My Computer crashed several times so I decided to use Povray. Since I am new to the program I had to rely on tutorials on the web site.I decided to draw the Easter Egg because I had no idea how they came up with a perfect egg shape. I searched on the web sites for perfect egg and I was wrong. I used a stack to join two spheres to look like an egg. Although it is hard to have a perfect egg shape, I modeled the spheres to scale to have a near egg shape object.I had so many problems on the project since I am knew to povray program and I never got to know how to effectively use objects and other functions.

I used the program not only to draw a traced image but also try to understand the mathematical concept of graphics. I spent so many hours working on the project trying every possible way to have a perfect image. Since I wanted to climb on the top of the egg but I am afraid of heights, I came up with a model to have the egg stand on a step pyramid. This way I can picture myself walking to the top.After trying so many objects; cone, box and cylinder, I finally used set of boxes to create a stack with different length to look like a step pyramid. From there I borrowed the set of reeds http://www.f-lohmueller.de/pov/g_a8.htm. I changed the perspective look of the reeds to look like a green fence. Then I used cylinders for the hay where people can sit on and hide eggs at the same time. I also draw another small egg to represent egg hunt near the fence and carriage wheel. I wanted the image to have a perfect Easter meaning.I also used different textures, color and gradient to have a perfect landscape. Apart from the egg, landscape took me days to have a perfect bumpy ground and a cool alberta spring sky. I make the egg to have a golden brown color and green to match the ground texture.

I a m grad to have taken this project as I did a lot of research and experiencing different ray tracing technique.My best tutorial site http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/library/linuxguides/povray/povuser.htm and http://www.lenharth.org/~andrewl/books. I would recommend anyone trying to learn more about povray to check the sites. I think my hard work, eager to learn new stuff and hours spent to complete the project was a success. I enjoyed the project and I learned a lot.

>>>>>>And my Final Easter Egg>>>>>>