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From: billd@fps.com (Bill Davidson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: PoolTable Turing Test Photo
Keywords: graphics copyright renderman
Message-ID: <14869@celit.fps.com>
Date: 17 Jan 91 23:03:54 GMT
References: <1084@cthulhuControl.COM> <1971@umriscc.isc.umr.edu>
Distribution: comp
Organization: FPS Computing Inc., San Diego CA
Lines: 25

In article <1971@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> mcastle@mcs213f.cs.umr.edu (Mike Castle (Nexus)) writes:
>The only image I could find was one using the balls 1,9,8, and 4 (of course
>the name of the image is 1984 :-).  It's in "3D Computer Graphics" by Andrew
>Glassner (image C-14) and "An Introduction to Ray Tracing" edited by Glassner 
>(p193).  It is credited to Tom Porter, Pixar.

The first place I saw this image was at the art show at SIGGRAPH '85.
It also appears in the January 1986 issue of ACM Transactions on
Graphics.  It is one of the most photorealistic computer generated
images I've ever seen.  The motion blur is not the only thing that is
impressive.  The reflections are well done also.  There is a neon "BUD"
sign and it is even motion blurred on the eight ball.  There is a
window in the pool hall which is reflected in the balls and shows a
person and palm trees outside.  There are pool table lights.

I have a photography background so I did notice one "flaw".  There is
no reflection of a camera lens in the balls.  A real photograph would
have one (actually, a lot of photographers would love to find a way to
produce images of shiny spheres without camera lens reflections so this
is probably a good thing ;-).  Another thing is that I've never seen
any pool balls so pristine as these other than right after they come
out of the box new.  The same goes for the felt.  He should have
shmegged them up a bit ;-).

--Bill Davidson