3-D Models > Backgammon

Objective: This image was generated using a ray tracer (POV-Ray) for an introduction to graphics couse at DePaul University. The assignment was to model a backgammon set in a "dramatic" moment. Analysis: Not being a backgammon player, I went online and found pictures of several sets to use as a guide. The "dramatic" part was the real puzzle for this assignment, since the instructor refused to elaborate on what that meant. I went online and found photographs of backgammon boards from a championship match and based the location of the pieces on that. Ultimately, I lost points for not creating enough "drama" in the scene, which I later learned can be accomplished by placing the camera beneath pieces or dice. I actually did experiment with that, but so little of the board was visible that I decided to pan out for a better view. The main "board" was made by creating a box and insecting it with a slightly smaller box to create the raised edges. The triangular board is actually a texture map I created in Photoshop and then wrapped around a plane and inserted inside each box. The hinges were actually quite complex, and in retrospect, it took far too long to make them given the fact that few details are visible on them in the final scene. They were added via a "Union" command to the two halves of the board. The backgammon pieces are simply short, red and white cylinders. The grader took off points for not adding an interesting texture to them. I actually tried this, but the detail was hardly visible from such a wide angle. The Dice are simply a cube intersected with a slightly smaller sphere (to give them rounded edges) and then several tiny spheres positioned to create impressions representing each number. The "Cubing" die is a cube with a texture map stretched over it. The texture map was created in photoshop and had to be redone several times because of the way it wraps (basically, the numbers on each die face had to be reversed and inverted to get them to look right when applied to the cube. The survace is simply a green plane with a default POV-Ray pattern applied.