I think I have seen that before, did I maybe see it here? That article is interesting and a little strange.
He calls the render a "digital drawing". What is that? I have never heard that before. Do you guys in the industry ever use that term?
He says he has debunked the image many times but does not seem to know it is TG. Not that its his job to know, but he says some other interesting things too.
QuoteAnother, more subtle, aspect of this drawing is the angle of the Moon, Sun, and horizon. The Moon orbits the Earth while the Earth orbits the Sun, and the way the geometry of these orbits works out makes it so that the path the Moon appears to take across the sky is pretty close to the path the Sun takes. If you were to mark the position of the Sun in the sky every hour or so, and connect them to make an arc across the sky, you'd find the Moon follows roughly the same path*.
However, at the north pole (or up at very high latitudes) the Sun never gets very high above the horizon. The path it takes is low, making a shallow angle with respect to the horizon. And remember, the Moon's path is similar. Yet, in the drawing, we see the Moon above the Sun, the line connecting them perpendicular to the horizon. In reality, the crescent Moon this close to the Sun would be swung over to the side, and not above the Sun. In the image here, note how the crescent is almost vertical, not horizontal. That's because at the latitude of the photographer the path of the Moon and Sun in the sky intersects the horizon at a relatively shallow angle.
Well I know that TG is not meant to be simulator. That it does not and does not claim to reproduce the mechanics of our solar system.
But I have to ask after reading his story; Wouldn't it be a rather easy thing for planetside to create a node that limits a earth and moon and sun to only real positions relative to one another? The idea being that if a user wanted, he could never make a mistake like described in the article, assuming his statements are correct? That is, if our purpose is "photo real" (sometimes) then shouldn't we have those bodies lined up correctly?.. Excluding photo real fantasy I mean.
Quote... but also, when I look at it, I can just tell it's not real. It has that feel of a digitally created image; the way the landscape looks, the reflections in the water, the way the sky is so perfectly smooth. Those aren't really quantitative or physical bits of evidence, but I've learned to trust my senses when I see something that my instincts tell me isn't real, and to look into it further. Sometimes that instinct is wrong, of course, which is why I don't just jump to a conclusion based on it! But it's a good way to start an investigation. Call it my spidey sense.
Well I think planetside is already hard at work to deal with his "spidey sense". Frankly I think his only hope in the future (to debunk anything) is the mechanics stuff. But he raises some good points. We who want photo real should examine some of the things he touched on in order to overcome them.
QuoteI think it's all but inevitable that the kind of moment you describe will happen one day...
Yes. And while I only want to show the media to be the asses that they are (I think they are still looking for that missing plane, on the moon
) I can easily see someone using this tech and a bit of artistry to do some real harm.
I remember when the towers in NY came down. I remember thinking, "what movie is this?". Indeed we are set up into two groups (mostly) those who think everything is fake, and those who will believe anything they see. And then maybe a few who always take the time to think, but I think those people are out numbered.
Actually, I believe that there are a number of instances in the world where governments in the world have already used Digital imagery to foment crimes. Or to bring believability to a lie. Or sometimes to create distrust with provable fakes.
I hope a Artist does it to the media, before a malevolent person or group does it to the world. If it has not already happened.
So, not just a hobby then guys? Some serious stuff we play with. I think they call it wagging the dog?
