Why

"... the compulsion to dream, that is, to generate visions that nature in the unending proliferation of its forms cannot concoct; it is visible in the compulsion to intoxication, that is to the superfluous and unproductive intensification of energy" ["Excesses", Alphonso Lingis]

Hardware

The images were rendered on the following machines:

Software

Software used to produce the images in this gallery includes:

Rendering and modelling		Bryce 5 Corel		Bryce 4 Corel
		Bryce 3D MetaCreations		KPT Bryce 1.0 HSC
		KPT Bryce 2.1 MetaTools
Modelling		Ray Dream Studio 5 and 5.5 MetaCreations		Carrara 1.0 eovia
		Extreme 3D 1.0 and 2.0 Macromedia		Blob Sculptor 1.2 esp Software
Figure models		Poser 3 and 4 CuriousLabs		Poser 1 and 2 Fractal Design
Texture maps		Painter 3D 1.0 Corel
Image editing		Photoshop 5.0.2 Adobe		Painter 5 and 5.5 Corel
		Photoshop 4.0.1 Adobe		Photoshop 3.0.5 Adobe

The 'Other Worlds' pages were generated by a set of custom-written Perl scripts. Data about the images in the gallery and the downloadable files is first entered into a FileMaker database. The data is exported from the database as tab-separated text, which is read by a Perl script running under MacPerl. The script outputs a set of files containing a mixture of HTML and macro commands. These files are then expanded by the Melissa+ macro processor (which is used throughout this site) to generate the final HTML. HTML template and source files are edited with BBEdit, and inline graphics were produced primarily with Adobe Photoshop and Kai's Power Tools with a little help from Kai's Power Goo.

Downloads and Information

Each image description is accompanied by an Info button:

Clicking this button will take you to a page containing more information about the image and, in some cases, links to related files that are available for download. You will also find downloadable files in the Resources section. Downloadable files are stored in Macintosh-specific formats such as BinHex (.hqx) and StuffIt (.sit), which can be decompressed using StuffIt Expander from Aladdin Systems. StuffIt Expander is available for free for both Macintosh and PC. The files themselves were created on a Macintosh, but once decompressed should be usable under Windows. See the legal note below for conditions of use.

Visitor survey

I'm curious to know which of these pictures people like best, so I've implemented a tool to do a kind of opinion poll. Each image also has a Rating button:

Clicking that will take you to the foot of the notes page for the image, where you'll find a bar marked with numbers from 0-7. To give a rating to the image, click one of these numbers. The values are intended to be a measure of how you think the image measures up relative to other images in this gallery, not relative to all the other digital artwork you've ever seen (given the extraordinary amount of talent there is out on the Web, I'd probably get nothing but 0's). You needn't bother to rate every image in the gallery, but if you want to take a moment to give your opinion on one or two, that's very much appreciated. If you don't want to express an opinion, but just want to see what other people thought, click the part of the bar that says ratings.

The rating system requires JavaScript to work: this is not strictly necessary in terms of the way the tool is implemented, but is a defensive measure designed to stop web-crawling robots from accidentally rating all the images in the gallery as they scan my pages.

Legal

All images, scene files and models appearing on these pages (with the exception of application icons) are © Angus McIntyre, and usual legal protections apply.

Limited personal use of these images and models is allowed. You may not republish any of the images (for instance on your Web site or in a book) without prior permission. Use as desktop images/wallpaper for your own use is allowed, however (for Macintosh users, Tracy Ann Conolly has made some excellent desktop pictures based on these images which are available from Saffron). Similarly, models, textures and other downloadable items from the resources section may be used in your own compositions (appropriate credit would be appreciated, but is not demanded). You may not sell or distribute anything you find on this site, either separately or as part of a collection, nor may you present it as your own work, in either modified or unmodified form.

For information about linking to these pages or any images, please see my linking/use policy.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Legalese sucks.