New Tour of Neptune Available!

[Bob Hegwood]

Brain-Dead Bob again...

Just finished new tour of Neptune. This one is a little different.

Can be found on the 2nd download page at my website HERE.

Thanks, Bob

[maxim]

Bob,

I just took a look at your neptune script, and think it is a very nice piece of scripting. A pleasure to watch.
But however a proposal: I (personally) found it very impressive to have those deep planetary shadows when ambient light is set to zero. On the other hand one has to recognize things that are quite faint, or currently at the night side. So you might dim lights up and down for night side views (or the rings) about like in this altered code snippet from your tour:

Code: Select all

...

# Set Ambient Light Level (0.0 to 1.0 is a good Lo-Hi range)...
  set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.00 }

...

#
#------------------------------------------------------------------
# Investigate Triton's Sulci.
#------------------------------------------------------------------
#
gotolonglat {time 3.0 distance 3.0 longitude -36.5 latitude 31.0}
wait {duration 3.0}
gotolonglat {time 5.0 distance 2.0 longitude -321.0 latitude -3.8}
wait {duration 5.0}

print {text "We're on the night side - so let's dim up light a bit..." row -4 column 1 duration 5.0}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.10 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.20 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.30 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.40 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.50 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.60 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.70 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.80 }
wait {duration 4.65}

print {text "Now we're looking at the Lo Sulci!" row -4 column 1 duration 6.0}
mark {object "Sol/Neptune/Triton/Lo Sulci" size 15 color [1 1 1] symbol "x"}
wait {duration 6.0}
unmark {object "Sol/Neptune/Triton/Lo Sulci"}
wait {duration 2.0}
print {text "A 'Sulci' is a set of parallel grooves/ridges." row -4 column 1 duration 8.0}
wait {duration 10.0}
print {text "There are more of these here too..." row -4 column 1 duration 4.0}
wait {duration 6.0}
gotolonglat {time 5.0 distance 2.0 longitude -305.0 latitude -2.0}
wait {duration 5.0}
print {text "Here's the Ho Sulci." row -4 column 1 duration 6.0}
mark {object "Sol/Neptune/Triton/Ho Sulci" size 15 color [1 1 1] symbol "x"}
wait {duration 6.0}
unmark {object "Sol/Neptune/Triton/Ho Sulci"}
wait {duration 2.0}
gotolonglat {time 5.0 distance 2.0 longitude -328.0 latitude 6.0}
wait {duration 5.0}
print {text "And the Ob Sulci." row -4 column 1 duration 6.0}
mark {object "Sol/Neptune/Triton/Ob Sulci" size 15 color [1 1 1] symbol "x"}
wait {duration 6.0}
unmark {object "Sol/Neptune/Triton/Ob Sulci"}
wait {duration 2.0}
#
#------------------------------------------------------------------
# Investigate Triton's Fossae.
#------------------------------------------------------------------
#
gotolonglat {time 3.0 distance 3.0 longitude -328.0 latitude 6.0}
wait {duration 3.0}

print {text "Back to real lighting..." row -4 column 1 duration 2.0}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.70 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.60 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.50 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.40 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.30 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.20 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.10 }
wait {duration 0.05}
set { name "AmbientLightLevel" value 0.00 }
wait {duration 1.65}

...


I think it gives a good impression of locations, and tells people when we are real and when whe enhance things.

maxim

[Bob Hegwood]

Maxim...

Thanks for the comments and the suggestion. I'll play around with it a bit to see what
I can do with the lighting. Please keep in mind, however, that I can't SEE a lot of the
neat stuff that Celestia can show. Remember that I'm using a non-graphics card
endowed machine.

Again though, thanks very much for the tip.

Take care, Bob

[don]

Just finished new tour of Neptune. This one is a little different.

Wow, very nice tour Bob!

Triton is one amazing place, that's for sure. And it's pretty too!

Excellent scripting work Bob. All the moves were smooth, none went through solid matter, and the ending position of Triton and Neptune is a beautiful view.

Well done!

[Bob Hegwood]

Gee Don...

Blush...

Tell me what you REALLY think!!!

Come to think of it though, what do you mean by

none went through solid matter

??? Nothing in *any* of my scripts goes through
solid matter as far as I know? Do you have one that
does? If so, let me know about it, and I'll fix it.

Take care, Bob

[don]

Tell me what you REALLY think!!!

Well, if you insist -- -- You, Sir Hegwood, are THE Celestia TourMaster!

Come to think of it though, what do you mean by

none went through solid matter

Just that it's nice to run scripts where the camera does not go through solid matter. ... My graphics card doesn't like doing that. .. Nothing in mind, but earlier scripts did this a lot.

[TERRIER]

Nice script again Bob,
Just wondering if you can include another of Neptunes moons in the script ?

I'd like to see Nereid, a moon that was actually discovered from Earth, by Gerard Kuiper in 1949. It's also got a very interesting orbit, which would be good to show somehow, maybe at the end of the script?

Read more about it here !
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/nereid.htm

http://www.nineplanets.org/nereid.html

Cheers
TERRIER

[Bob Hegwood]

I'd like to see Nereid, a moon that was actually discovered from Earth, by Gerard Kuiper in 1949. It's also got a very interesting orbit, which would be good to show somehow, maybe at the end of the script?

Mr. Terrier,

I already investigated Neptune and its moons quite thoroughly, and I just didn't see any
way to display Nereid in an interesting way. Other than its orbit, there's nothing of
interest to be found here. It's displayed using the same tired asteroid texture and mesh,
and the only way to show the orbit would be to speed up the time by a factor of at
least a hundred-thousand so you could watch the eccentricity of the orbit. This is probably
just a captured asteroid anyway, so why the interest? Just its orbit?

Sorry, but I just don't know how to do it in an interesting way. I managed to make
Galatea at least a bit more interesting by placing it in front of the Adams Ring, and by
explaining the effect that this moon has on that ring. Can you suggest an interesting
way to show Nereid?

Believe me, I looked for ways, but I just thought that it was too boring for a tour.

Hell, even the web-pages devoted to Nereid are boring. They are *all* versions of
the same Nine-Planets paragraph and table.

Thanks, Bob

[TERRIER]

Hello Mr Hegwood,

I already investigated Neptune and its moons quite thoroughly, and I just didn't see any
way to display Nereid in an interesting way. Other than its orbit, there's nothing of
interest to be found here. It's displayed using the same tired asteroid texture and mesh......

Ah, I forgot about the standard asteroid model, I've actually got another model that I think was made by Jestr, so it looks a bit more interesting !

and the only way to show the orbit would be to speed up the time by a factor of at
least a hundred-thousand so you could watch the eccentricity of the orbit. This is probably
just a captured asteroid anyway, so why the interest? Just its orbit?

Hey, I'm Nereids #1 fan.....
....Nah, Basically, I thought it would be nice to end the script showing another moon after the long tour of Triton, and Nereid does have that eccentric orbit, which gives it a smidgen of interest.

Sorry, but I just don't know how to do it in an interesting way. I managed to make
Galatea at least a bit more interesting by placing it in front of the Adams Ring, and by
explaining the effect that this moon has on that ring. Can you suggest an interesting
way to show Nereid?

Yes, and very nicely it (Galatea) is done too
Just wondered if you could possibly show it's actual orbit from a distance of about 0.18au, which i think will keep it all on the screen once time is speeded up. Then by tracking Neptune, and following Nereid, with speed set at 1,000,000x, including rendering of orbits, and switching moon labels on, we'll be able to see the eccentric nature of it's orbit in action.

Then for a close-up view, I wondered about using a telescopic view of say 2500x from as close to Neptune as possible. Locking Neptune onto Nereid then tracking Nereid, and setting time to 100,000x so that the moon comes toward the screen with a slight rotation, before moving away into the distance.....maybe a good parting shot !?

Anyway, just an idea or two, I don't know if they are feasible ?

regards
TERRIER

[bh]

Blimey...this is my first time in this section...(as it sounded a bit techy for an ESB drinking kind of guy!). I'm going to give it a try!

Sounds good Bob!

Regards...bh.

[Bob Hegwood]

Ah, I forgot about the standard asteroid model, I've actually got another model that I think was made by Jestr, so it looks a bit more interesting !

The whole point to this script was to educate using Mr. Hutchison's adherence to "Reality" as defined by what your eyes could see if you were there...

Basically, I thought it would be nice to end the script showing another moon after the long tour of Triton, and Nereid does have that eccentric orbit, which gives it a smidgen of interest.

I'll play with it some more this weekend to see if we can find something of interest. Might
be interesting to show Neptune from behind Nereid as it approaches at its closest point?

Anyway, just an idea or two, I don't know if they are feasible ?

Hey, I appreciate the feedback. Like I said, I'll have another look at it this weekend.

Take care, Bob

[Bob Hegwood]

Blimey...this is my first time in this section...(as it sounded a bit techy for an ESB drinking kind of guy!).

Mr. Hundley, the whole point of my scripts and website is that you do NOT have to be a
rocket scientist to enjoy the universe. Download the tours, and follow the installation
instructions. Piece of cake!

By the way, aren't you the guy making all of those high-tech, unbelievably accurate
spacecraft models? Pretty good for an ESB drinking kind of guy!

Your work (and Terrier's) is muchly appreciated...

Thanks, Bob

[Bob Hegwood]

I'll play with it some more this weekend to see if we can find something of interest. Might
be interesting to show Neptune from behind Nereid as it approaches at its closest point?

Mr. Terrier...

I'm sorry, but there isn't anything even REMOTELY interesting about Nereid. I tried
all weekend to put it in a neat place, to watch it approach and leave Neptune, to
investigate the orbital display. <shrug>

There's nothing even interesting about the orbit in my opinion. It doesn't get close enough
to Neptune to provide a good perspective view, and the rock itself is basically
featureless. I'm sorry. I *did* try. If you come up with any better idea, let me know
about it.

Take care, Bob

[Bob Hegwood]

Just an informational update...

The COMPLETE Neptune Tour package has been update to include Jens Meyer's
great Proteus texture. Provides a MUCH better view of this little moon.

This version of the tour is v1.02, and can be found on my website HERE.

Thanks, Bob

[don]

Look forward to finding some time to grab the update and see how it looks. Soon, I hope!

Thanks Bob.

[Bob Hegwood]

Don,

Don't go to the trouble. That texture was the only thing I added to the tour, and you
can get it at Jens' page HERE.

Thanks, Bob

[don]

Too late.

I don't mind watching your tours more than once Bob. I always learn something!

The new texture sure looks different than the old one. They don't even look like the same object when compared side-by-side. Any idea which one is more "correct"?

[Bob Hegwood]

Don,

All I know is that I can recognize the crater in Jens' texture and I can't see it in
the normal texture. Or, I should say that I can't recognize it in the normal texture.
Then again, since I don't know what it's supposed to look like - who knows?

All I can tell you is that I prefer Jens' texture

Up to you, sir...

Take care, Bob

PS - They *do* have the same flat (indented?) area on the right-hand side of
the texture as it rotates. Maybe that helps? The indentation is the outer rim of the crater.

[don]

Thanks Bob.