I've try to find on the net some artworks that portrait an hollow world lanscape, but seems to be that no one do something like that before...

On yesterday I've post a test render on my Renderosity gallery with a first visual solution in order to achive my goal, receiving some interesting suggestions from Renderosity users such as lordgoron, geirla and TheBryster.
After the useful suggestions, I've changed the landscape in background.

In this new artwork have I achived to interpret a realistic lanscape (as "realistic" can it be) of an hollow world?

More suggestions (if there are) are welcome! :)

I think that's a huge improvement, but I haven't had enough coffee to suggest a way forward.

You should also consider the total layout of the image. A paperback or dust jacket wrap around the book. Usually the publisher wants a prominent title on the front cover and spine. The back cover often will have a teaser paragraph or text such as "second in so-and-so's epic adventure of bla-bla-bla. Many artists center what would be the normal focal point of the image within the 2/3rds of the front cover. Places where the publisher will slap text often are painted with a background. In your case, a continuation of the hollow world. This off center style of galley proof is the prefered layout for covers.

Bearing in mind what Electro said, perhaps you could put the whole pic INSIDE a sphere to get the right perspective?

look for pictorial references to "ringworld' it wasn't a hollow sphere but rather a giant ring. I remember some pictures of it and if you find them they will give an idea of the perspective you're  looking for. Also look under Dysen Sphere.  

Dyson Sphere!!!! That's the kiddy! I knew I was missing something.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

However, that's only about a system of satallites, not a hollow planet.
Ringworld images are a better way to go!

misspelled Dyson - oh well ! ! 

Trouble is, when folks say Dyson I think vacuum cleaner....LOL

The original Dyson "sphere" was supposed to be a ring of satelites that absorb a suns energy (DSI). It evolved in fiction to a true sphere(DSII). Most of those whove done the math think that the poles of the sphere might collapse due to a sun's gravity. 

Inorder to do something like that in Bryce you might try texturing a sphere perhaps with a height map pict  and placing your camera on the inside of the sphere using (I think??) surface mapping. Don't remember exactly how to do it but I remember accomplishing a nighttime skyscape that way - gave up on it as there are other simpler ways to trick the eye into  believing it is seeing  stars. Might be more practical for a DysOn Sphere ???         

BM: You are of course quite right!

That helmet looks something from Robotech/Macross. Nice job with it.

For the World is Hollow, and I have touched the Sky...;) some ideas never lose their appeal..;)

Yup, I've done any number of pics inside a primitive. Just need to get the right one, and textures and lighting. Nothin' ya can't handle...;)

(used B5.5)

Pakled: Ah yes!!! The episode where Mc Coy finds himself a lady (or one of them). As I recall they used a hollowed out asteroid, but you never got a feeling for a Dyson(2) effect. Although the Dyson(1)was thought of in 1957 and the episode you mentioned aired between '66 and '68 , perhaps it was before the Dyson(2) was fully thought out ???  

dunno if this fractal i did helps???

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1271780

otherwise maybe do a landscape on the inside of a hollow tube with the sides flowing up to meet an alien sky?

you coudl also make terrains as normal, and rotate the CHARACTER, put him in way up in the air, with camera, to get right effect, of haze/fog, as those are altitude dependant? :)

follow-up from my post: Sun, Feb 3, 2008 8:00 pm:

2 pi is about 6.28 so if your radius is 3000 and you want 20 terrains:

6.28x3000/20 = 942 so in my previous example you'd want your terrains to be 942(length)x942(width)x128(942/5-height). 

I'd say you want at least 4 times that many terrains and probably much greater radius.
(cut the ones you aren't going and in that way you might be able to use Bryce  own sky options. )

I'm going to bed as 6:00am comes pretty early - usually I have to be up earlier.

again, good luck,
-TJ

For the Star Trek Fans in here...

There was a reference to the Dyson's Sphere in an episode on Star Trek: TNG, when Scotty was brought back for a time to work with Geordi. Do you remember? As I recall, the Enterprise was trapped inside the sphere. They even shot a scene inside the sphere and it was HUGE! Don't recall there being a terrain scape there as it was enveloping a star. Not sure if this is what you had in mind but this would be a start.

yup..there was a background of the ground in that episode. I don't remember the name of it (more than 800 episodes of Star Trek out there, y'know...;), but you could see what looked like farmland, and some low-lying clouds. Roland Green has an obsessively-cataloged web site with synopses of every Star Trek episode (also Blakes' 7, and all 40 years of Dr. Who, etc...and they think I'm nuts...;)

Long story short; if you have the episode name, there's other Star Trek sites that have screen caps of every episode. Might find some reference material there.

"Relics"
Scotty is captain of the Jenolen.
Yup. I'm a long time Trekkie

Quote - "Relics"
Scotty is captain of the Jenolen.
Yup. I'm a long time Trekkie

Yeah! That's the name of the episode. So that would be a nice starting place for the rendering, eh?

BTW: I did not find images of the inside landscape (only outside images) of the Dyson Sphere of the Star Trek episode named Relics.
Do you?

I've forgot to say that the novel is "actually" set inside our planet Earth.

Quote -
BTW: I did not find images of the inside landscape (only outside images) of the Dyson Sphere of the Star Trek episode named Relics.
Do you?

Taking out her trusty tricorder/recorder thingymagi, she clicked a few buttons,

Yeah, go to this URL http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/game/startrek/relic/interior.htm. You will find some interior pictures that may give you some idea. 

Thanks a lot for the URL! :)

The POW in Relics episode is from the sky. I think that if the POW was from the ground, the final landscape view is very close to my artwork ;)

Quote -
The POW in Relics episode is from the sky. I think that if the POW was from the ground, the final landscape view is very close to my artwork ;)

Yes, if you imagine yourself on the ground looking up. You must also remember, there is an atmosphere of some sort within the sphere which would account for the clouds as seen in the photos. Also closer to the ground, one would not see the curvature as such as one would when in "space"  closer to the star/sun.

Something to consider.....If you are on the ground of a hollow world, and you look up, if the atmosphere is the same thickness/depth as that of a normal 'earth' then you would see the opposing side of the hollow planet through two layers of atmosphere..........

Quote - Something to consider.....If you are on the ground of a hollow world, and you look up, if the atmosphere is the same thickness/depth as that of a normal 'earth' then you would see the opposing side of the hollow planet through two layers of atmosphere..........

Agree, but in my case the shot is parallel to the ground, and I have also the need to show this hollow world on the artwork, without chasing the realism at all costs... :)
It is a book cover... ;) 
Anyway is a not so easy task!

I already commented your cool hollow world images, the second cames much closer...

The problem with a "Dyson Sphere" is that if it's huge enough you won't be able to see hardly a difference to our real world, that's the reason why some weird persons still believe we actually live in a hollow world ;)

The still from Star Trek shows this right good, you can hardly say the ship just comes out of a hole in the ground..

I'd say your second image is as close as it can get, at least it gives the "look&feel" of a hollow world :)

A ringworld seems indeed be easier to visualize,

Quote - I The problem with a "Dyson Sphere" is that if it's huge enough you won't be able to see hardly a difference to our real world, that's the reason why some weird persons still believe we actually live in a hollow world ;)

True!
If we try to visualize a realistical Dyson Sphere from sea level, I think that we will see almost the same lanscapes of our Earth with a little difference: we will have the feel to be in a huge valley from every point of view of the Sphere.
The view start to change radically if we are on a top of the mountain with a very clear morning sky... ;)

This has been a very thought provoking thread.  Duo, your image is probably about as close to the feel one can effect for your client.  Your project caused me to stay up too late last night trying to achieve the effect.  

I was experimenting with multiple huge terrains, camera settings, and a different twist of placing camera inside and outside glass spheres with varying refraction settings to warp the view.  My 'puter crashed about midnight and I gave up.  I never achieved a satisfactory "feel"

During the thought process, I wondered about the enigmas of the Dyson sphere.  Maybe someone here would like to tackle these questions.

If the sphere was large enough to encompass a light source (mini star),  over geological time time, would the environment become too hot to exist?  Mega greenhouse effect.  Or would the heat be transmitted into space through the shell?  Would drilling a well encounter colder and colder ground temperatures instead of hotter?

Assuming pseudo  gravity could not be assimilated by centrifugal force like a ring world, the thickness of the sphere would have to be enough to have real gravity attraction.  ???

If the world was an artificial construct, shading panels around the sun would have to be used to create night/day cycle.  Without the cycle the atmosphere would be stagnant and no weather patterns from heating/cooling process.  Right???

Back on subject.  I think Duo is correct in assumption that any ground level view would be perceived as flat and a  viewer would have to approach the limits of the atmosphere to see anything unusual.

Does your client require the figure to be in the pic? Or so prominent?
Does the pic need to be realistic?

I was just thinking of many old Sci-Fi covers from 50's-70's.  Many had pictures that were not true to reality.

You could use Ringworld (or Halo) as an example as seen behind a character.  These are completely unreal.  The atmosphere is very thick  and would block out the view of the ring.
But reality  is not important so the ring and it's day night squares can be seen even for several million miles away.
If you spread the Ringworld in the background across the whole pic, it would not be clear that it is inside a hollow planet. 

From the POV you have now I don't think it is possible to get the point across that it is inside a hollow planet.  A view with the figure looking out over a scene that is fisheye distorted might work.  Take a look at the original cover for Rendesvous with Rama for an idea of inside a cylinder.  Also look at Star Trek II in the Genesis cave.    

Sorry for the ramble, late Friday night and tired.

Here's a funky Sci-fi cover site.  http://www.krazydad.com/visco/

Quote - Does your client require the figure to be in the pic? Or so prominent?
Does the pic need to be realistic?

No, the artwork is for a book cover and there is no need of realism, but there is the need to give the idea of an hollow world, and bisides realism is diffucult task.
The difficult is to avoid to have a "poster like" background, giving the idea of a depth of field in this unusual landscape.

Quote - I was just thinking of many old Sci-Fi covers from 50's-70's.  Many had pictures that were not true to reality.

Agree! :)
Thanks for the suggestions! :)

skiwillgee,

your thoughts about such a Dyson sphere are very well thought, most of the problems you describe lead ultimately to the conclusion that such constructions can't exist even the most optimistic futurists are mostly sure about that,  just thinking about the need of material!

Let me quote from one of my favourite books, 'Entering space - Creating a spacefaring Civilization' from Dr. Robert Zubrin what he tells about Dyson spheres:

For example, if such a "Dyson sphere" were built in our solar system the shell radius would be about 1 AU (astronomical unit, 150 mio km, earth-sun distance) and the inner surface would therefore have an area of 283 billion square kilometers. This is about 553 million times the surface of the  Earth. If such spheres existed, they would radiate strongly in the infrared. Ergo, the search fpr advanced extraterrestial civilizations might be conducted by looking for such spheres. To date, no Dyson spheres have been observed - I'm not suprised. Dyson spheres are impractical. The 1-AU sphere described in the previos paragraph, if given a shell just 1meter thick, would require the mass from 260 disassembled Earths to build (and 1 meter is much too thin for it to hold together).
[...]
Moreover, while advertising a trmendous nominal surface area, most of the inner surface would really be useless for habitation because, except near the equator, where the rotation of the sphere could suplly outward-pointing centrifugal force, the gravity vector almost everywhere on its surface would point in rather invonvenient directions. As a result, there could be no air any significant distance from the equator. Terraforming the rest of the sphere would be impossible, since no matter how many air you made, it would all either flow to the equator or flow to the sun.

End of quote

:) Hope this helped a bit...

However, it's still a nice element of scifi stories ;)

Benny / lordgoron

I guess to make this work right, you would need to decide how big the hollow space is?  If it is 1000 miles across it will be very difficult to show it.   

Does the character have to take up most of the cover?  It will be difficult to have this big person in front of a space that is supposed to be vast, especially with no sky and horzon to show vastness. 

If it is smaller you can llok at several of the old spherical space habitat ideas for the past. 
There wasa  Star Trek Next Generation epsiode about an undergound city that was in a pretty big space.

I can think of so many ways to show a hollow world both big and small.   

One of the problems with Bryce textures, skies, etc. is they are built on an X,Y,Z axis. Your fog plane in skylab will go straight even if the ground curves up. The easiest way to get around this is just model a flat landscape then use a fisheye filter in a photo editor and layer the image as a background.

If you want to model a curve then you should turn off haze and fog and use color perspective instead. You can add or subtract Red Green and Blue to the image with distance from the camera. For example 5 red 5 green and 5 blue make the scene go white with distance. This is great for snowscapes or rain but should also work for your situation as well.