Matt Patrick's CS 3710 Ray Tracing Project

Why University Hall?

Our ray tracing project asked us to create a scene from the southern
Alberta landscape. I chose the University Hall building here at the
University of Lethbridge. I feel it is a unique piece of architecture
in the province and is a landmark in the region.

How I Did It:

Originally I simply used POV Ray to render my scene in 3D. I started to construct
the main building in POV Ray and had the main portion completed before I found some
difficulties specifying textures. Mainly creating a concrete and grass texture
was extremely difficult.With the base of my building done I turned to modelling
software called MOray to assist me in modelling the more complex textures in my
scene.

Difficulties:

I found it initially difficult to figure out the different types of software.
Having never done any 3D ray tracing or any computer animation I first needed to
grasp some of the basics. It took a while to read tutorials and help pages.
My texture problem was one I struggled with for a while. My concrete always
looked wrong. Eventually I found a texture that looked similar to the concrete
of U-Hall. I had more difficulty with the grass. I eventually found an internet
source that allowed for a better looking texture. I included the library and
utilized the tool to create grass (Runevision ) .

Library

Conclusion:

I enjoyed this project because it demonstrated the concepts of 3D space and
how objects are created in the 3 dimensional space. It was interesting to learn how to create
a realistic sky colour. Next time I would spend more time learning more advanced ray tracing
products to improve the quality of my image.