Stargate image May 2008
I modeled almost all of the items in the scene. There are approximately 5
million triangles in the scene. There are no texture maps.

Click image for
full 2560x1600 resolution image
Grass
Grass geometry was generated based on a procedural model at modelling time.
Each blade of grass is made up of 5 triangles. Density and height are
controlled by the perlin noise parameters to match illumination levels in the
scene. Note the lack of seed-stalks on the grass under the trees and in the
higher-traffic area in front of the steps.
Approximately 3 million triangles make up the shorter green grass. The taller
tan seed stalks are approximately 750,000 triangles. There are several
"zones" of resolution. Near the foreground, grass is almost physically
accurate in the model. As distance increases, the width and density of the
grass changes. The transitions between levels of detail are hidden in certain
feature areas.
Especially for the foreground, this kind of detail is difficult to achieve in
a texture.
Trees
The trees are based upon a derivation of an Lsystem. Individual branches and
leaves are modeled. Leaves take illumination from either side. Bark was
achieved using a perlin-noise bump texture. Leaves also have a noise-based
bump texture on them to add depth.
Portal
Originally I had modelled my own stargate. When I was at the point of
modelling the engraving on the outer rim, I came across Stephen Meli's
free model on the web . Like me, he did it all with geometry, not textures.
So I used his stargate. I took parts from his model and used it.
I modeled the steps with some tread wear near the high-traffic area in the
middle. The grooves between the plates are worn almost away on the lower
step. I found a nice mapping of turbulence to make the "dried dirt" on the
steps and platform.
Human
The human figure in the background I created in my fall 2007
Machinima Modeling class. I couldn't implement a suitable sub-surface
scattering model in the alloted time. For this reason I chose to place the
figure in the background as an "observer" or "greeter" for those comming to
the portal. I like the mirrored sunglasses. "On behalf of the agency,
I'd like to welcome you to the gateway to the plains of Altair IV"