These views of middle earth were simulated using pieces of imagery of Earth's topography as viewed from space and freely available from NASA's VISIBLE EARTH web site. The cloud Map was adapted from the map from http://members.shaw.ca/ evildrganymede/art/planets/earth.htm The idea to create these views was inspired on the JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books.

The planetary maps are inspired on a map published by r3t at http://lotrmaps. middle-earth.us/index2.html These images were created by M. Estrada, © 2004. The simulation tools used to create the planetary views were:

• Persistence of Vision Ray Tracing Software available at WWW.POVRAY.ORG, and
• The space simulator ORBITER, written and maintained by Martin Schweiger. Currently ORBITER is the best space flight simulator available to the public.

         These images available for non-commercial, non-profit, personal use on single computers ONLY.
         Any other use is NOT authorized, including reproducction and posting on any of the internet facilities
         such as websites, newsgroups, etc.

RESOURCES TO RE-CREATE YOUR OWN M.E. VIEWS:

- Pov-Ray files: readme.txt, me3s,pov file and me3s.jpg image. Zip Size: 133Kb
- Orbiter Space Simulator Planet textures and conf. files Zipped file size: 1.85 Mb
Note: Unzip the Orbiter and PovRay files in an empty folder or directory. Read the Readme file.    Note: due to bandwith issues, the cloud map included in the zip file is not as good as the one included in the orbiter package(Earth_cloud.tex); if you can, replace the file Me3_cloud.tex with a copy of the Earth_cloud.tex file (after re-naming it of course).

          Free code and images are provided 'AS IS', without any warranty of any kind for any purpose whatsoever. For help with the Pov Ray and Orbiter files, please consult their corresponding user manual or visit any of their many user groups discussion pages. The code and images are available for non-commercial, non-profit, personal use on single computers ONLY. Any other use is NOT authorized, including reproducction and posting on any of the internet facilities such as websites, newsgroups, etc. The link to this page is:
http://www.sandinovive.org/webusers/guests/e_worlds/mdlearth_from_space.htm

LINKS

· Heren Istarion: The New York Tolkien Society [http://www.herenistarion.org]: An organization founded in Sept. 2000 by A.S. Burdge dedicated to the learning and understanding of the works of Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. Heren Istarion (from 'Unfinished Tales') means "Order of Wizards".

· Maps of Middle Earth [http://lotrmaps.middle-earth.us/]: A great depository of maps based on the various books by J.R.R Tolkien; maintained by Jeroen Backx.

^--Top--^

Page hosted courtesy of www.sandinovive.org | Last Update: January 1, 2007