Kevin's Watch

Here is a representation of Kevins watch overlooking the Mithil River. Ive had Kevins Watch made for a year or so but I needed to create a landscape that surrounds it.. The mountain range is the northern most points of the Southron Range which wraps around and encloses the Plains of Ra. thats not Mount Thunder that would be further to the north out of view in this scene, I will post a view from the top of the watch with TC including the stairway.. this is just a Hawks eye view of the watch and valley.

The second View is to show the slight angle at which Kevins Watch Leans away from the cliff. it leaves the platform of KW about 20 - 30 feet out from the cliffs edge.

That's very nice.

But no one seems to want to depict Kevin's Watch leaning outwards, for some reason.

I cannot speak for BH, however, trying to construct a leaning forward Kevin's Watch is taking all my poor skills to the limit.

As soon as it is constructed I will be more than happy to share it with all here at the Watch.











It just isn't goin to happen any time soon

10/10 to BH for this one.

Is there any reason why they should? (I think there may be a 'leaning outward' version on the front cover of one of the editions of LFB in the cover art section - not one of my favorites it has to be said).

wayfriend wrote:That's very nice.

But no one seems to want to depict Kevin's Watch leaning outwards, for some reason.

Blackhawk, that is awesome! (and I mean that in its true sense, not the degraded sense in which it is commonly used today {a little bit of the purist in me coming out today - ha ha ha!}). Have you ever thought of doing the first view of Revelstone - the one that had Foamfollower in rapture when he delivered TC there in LFB - it would be great to see what you could make of the Giants message in stone. Thanks again for the posting above - It comes closer to my mental picture of the Land than I would have believed possible!

thanks Hue, Peter, and Wayfriend...

Wayfriend.... Unfortunately the direction of the scene I had layed out has the Watch pointing towards the North, it doesnt lean out much but its about a 5 degree angle.... noticeable directly from the side but not from the back or front. I will post a side shot to show the lean...maybe a western sunset view from the ground.

Hue, Thankyou much for the 10/10 To get lean you need to have a separate terrain with a little verticle rotation on the X or Z axis. its the only way i have been able to make anything lean outward from a terrain using Bryce.

Peter, If I can make even one person happy besides myself it was worth it, I am glad what I created meets or comes close to your minds eye of Kevins Watch. I have created Coercri but it is lacking some Giantish stonework... I will be creating Revelstone, Actually i have the Outer stone Gates almost done.... heh...so far thats it though, I think Revelstone is the one I am going to have to be the most careful with.. im going to need to make something that looks Like a mountains face with a story carved into it ( something so awesome not even a giant can relay it with words) its going to be a while still for Revelstone...but not as long as it will take for SRD to finish the books I hope. the more i learn the faster it goes.

I have alot of pieces started.. The sarangrave with Landsdrop and Mt Thunder in the background, Coercri still ongoing, I restarted working on two parts of Brathairain Harbor and the Spikes, the Sandhold , the sandwall and City including the tier of riches(the First)...Kempers Pitch etc., Foul's Creche... And the Cavern of the One Tree, on my list is Melenkurion Skyweir with the River coming out of it into Garroting Deep... Dooms retreat, Doriendor Korishev...and Starfares Gem when i have more characters made i will attempt the Soulbiter with the Drommond being Ice locked....list goes on...

Is there a problem such that the landscape software can't depict something which is undercut?

peter wrote:

wayfriend wrote:But no one seems to want to depict Kevin's Watch leaning outwards, for some reason.

Is there any reason why they should? (I think there may be a 'leaning outward' version on the front cover of one of the editions of LFB in the cover art section - not one of my favorites it has to be said).

Because the book says that it does.

In [u]Lord Foul's Bane[/u] was wrote:There he saw that he was on the tip of a slim splinter of stone - at least five hundred feet long - that pointed obliquely up from the base of the cliff like a rigid finger accusing the sky.

In [u]The Illearth War[/u] was wrote:This ledge took them to the base of the long, leaning, stone shaft of the Watch.

In [u]The Runes of the Earth[/u] was wrote:This stone circle with its parapet was Kevin's Watch, a platform carved into the pinnacle of a leaning stone spire high above the line of hills which divided the South Plains from the Plains of Ra.

you can see the lean from this angle better.. its not much but it is an oblique angle... too much angle and it looked like TC would be in no danger of falling at all.. I posted the ground view perspective above attached to my original post. Its not too much of an angle but still leaves those on the platform of the watch about 20-30 feet out from the cliffs edge. The Pics are so large because i used the link from my site... for some reason i cant get the actual photo link from the Albums.

wayfriend wrote:Is there a problem such that the landscape software can't depict something which is undercut?

Wayfriend.. only trying to use one terrain with the editor in Bryce and a few others...but you can easily make offsets with two separate landscapes to get a leaning effect and you can use other methods for terrain like a roof overhanging ledge or a cave cut into the side of a landscape.

The main reason you couldnt see any angle is because the view was from slightly left of behind KW so it didnt give you the angle of the shaft or the perspective compared to the cliff face from an eastern or western Point of view. I only did it that way so i could have the Mithil river in the whole scene, I have KW leaning North and slight West.

QED Wayfriend - now I have to re-adjust my (erroneous) mental image hardened over 30 years into granite as obdurate as that of the watch itself. To hell with it - its not worth the effort - I'll leave it as it is

wayfriend wrote:Is there a problem such that the landscape software can't depict something which is undercut?

peter wrote:

wayfriend wrote:But no one seems to want to depict Kevin's Watch leaning outwards, for some reason.

Is there any reason why they should? (I think there may be a 'leaning outward' version on the front cover of one of the editions of LFB in the cover art section - not one of my favorites it has to be said).

Because the book says that it does.

In [u]Lord Foul's Bane[/u] was wrote:There he saw that he was on the tip of a slim splinter of stone - at least five hundred feet long - that pointed obliquely up from the base of the cliff like a rigid finger accusing the sky.

In [u]The Illearth War[/u] was wrote:This ledge took them to the base of the long, leaning, stone shaft of the Watch.

In [u]The Runes of the Earth[/u] was wrote:This stone circle with its parapet was Kevin's Watch, a platform carved into the pinnacle of a leaning stone spire high above the line of hills which divided the South Plains from the Plains of Ra.

Peter - yeah, that happens here.

Blackhawk - I noticed when I pulled up those quotes that, while the spire itself is said to be about 500 feet, in total the top of the spire is said to be 4,000 feet above the plains. You seem to have gotten that aspect down.

I just think it should lean more conspicuously.

And, perhaps, have it emerge directly from the cliff-face, rather than (as you have done) from a shelf.

wayfriend wrote:That's very nice.

You just added a couple of new interpretations to the term "understatement."

wayfriend wrote:But no one seems to want to depict Kevin's Watch leaning outwards, for some reason.

It would, however, make the concepts of ladder like stairs make more plausible.

I think it looks incredible, and very plausible as the real thing. I would be awestruck if I had appeared there myself.

At the risk of getting bogged down in minutiae here (if it isn't to late for that already) it occurs to me that the watch in its leaning out cannot do more so than is consistant with the problems Covenant had in navigating the stairs. Too much lean - too easy to descend (remember Covenant had to come down ladder like), to steep and as pointed out, the stairs become a ladder. On this basis I reckon BH's depiction hits the spot! {Wow. Just had a copy of 'Gilden Fire' purchased on e bay delivered, my copy having been lost years ago - I'm outta here!}.

Thanks Again everyone... working on a few angles here.

Think about it this way, stairs usually have a six inch riser, so make it eight (anything higher would scrape yur shins on the way down). One would need at least four inches of stair sticking out beyond the next stair on the way down also, and that's really pushing it. So, five hundred feet, divided by eight inch risers equals seven hundred fifty stairs, multiplied by the minimum four inch stair overhang, you get a 'lean-out' of two hundred fifty feet.

My math could be wrong, or my measurements...but either way, a vertical like depicted is physically impossible, however romantic. Even if you go steeper with the measurements, you'd still need hand-holds, which I think the Giants in their ever-thoughtfulness would have engraved in the stairs.

Freaking beautiful and awe-inspiring work, Blackhawk. Tx.

Did the Giants build the Watch?

The second picture sure looks like its pointing outwards to *me*

Blackhawk wrote:Thanks Again everyone... working on a few angles here.

Blackhawk fantastic work , it looks so real I nearly had vertigo looking at it .

Thanks Cleburne


Wayfriend...

Im working on giving the Watch a little more lean so its more noticeable but not too much... I dont want it to look like TC could stand on it like an escalator. also im doing a couple shots from the watches platform itself. just got to get TC to appear on the watch and Lena climbing up it. already have TC... and working on Lena,