Texture

Texture may refer to:

Science and technology

Arts

Music

See also

Texture (painting)

Texture in painting is the look and feel of the canvas. It is based on the paint, and its application, or the addition of materials such as ribbon, metal, wood, lace, leather and sand. The concept of 'painterliness' also has bearing on texture. The texture stimulates two different senses; sight and touch. There are four types of texture in art: actual texture, simulated texture, abstract texture, and invented texture.

Actual texture

This is a combination of how the painting looks, and how it feels to the touch. It is associated both with the heavy buildup of paint, such as an impasto effect, or the addition of materials.

Simulated texture

Creating the visual effect of texture without actually adding texture. For instance, a texture created to look like something other than paint on a flat surface. An example is Cataract 3, painted in 1967 by Bridget Riley, which creates the illusion of ripples in the paper through the repetition of lines.

Implied texture

Texture that does not directly represent the object it is connected with but the concept of the object is translated in textural patterns.

Texture mapping

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture (a bitmap or raster image), or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Edwin Catmull in 1974.

Originally a method that simply wrapped and mapped pixels from a texture to a 3D surface - now more technically called diffuse mapping to distinguish it from more complex mappings - in recent decades the advent of multi-pass rendering and complex mapping such as height mapping, bump mapping, normal mapping, displacement mapping, reflection mapping, mipmaps, occlusion mapping, and many other complex variations on the technique have made it possible to simulate near-photorealism in real time, by vastly reducing the number of polygons and lighting calculations needed to construct a realistic and functional 3D scene.

Air cycle machine

An air cycle machine (ACM) is the refrigeration unit of the environmental control system (ECS) used in pressurized gas turbine-powered aircraft. Normally an aircraft has two or three of these ACM. Each ACM and its components are often referred as an air conditioning pack. The air cycle cooling process uses air instead of a phase changing material such as Freon in the gas cycle. No condensation or evaporation of a refrigerant is involved, and the cooled air output from the process is used directly for cabin ventilation or for cooling electronic equipment.

History

Air cycle machines were first developed in the 19th century for providing chilling on ships. The technique is a reverse Brayton cycle (the thermodynamic cycle of a gas turbine engine) and is also known as a Bell Coleman cycle or "Air-Standard Refrigeration Cycle".

Technical details

The usual compression, cooling and expansion seen in any refrigeration cycle is accomplished in the ACM by a centrifugal compressor, two air-to-air heat exchangers and an expansion turbine.

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games. Playing cards are typically palm-sized for convenient handling.

A complete set of cards is called a pack (UK English), deck (US English), or set (Universal), and the subset of cards held at one time by a player during a game is commonly called a hand. A pack of cards may be used for playing a variety of card games, with varying elements of skill and chance, some of which are played for money (e.g., poker and blackjack games at a casino). Playing cards are also used for illusions, cardistry, building card structures, cartomancy and memory sport.

The front (or "face") of each card carries markings that distinguish it from the other cards in the pack and determine its use under the rules of the game being played. The back of each card is identical for all cards in any particular pack to create an imperfect information scenario. Usually every card will be smooth; however, some packs have braille to allow blind people to read the card number and suit.

List of Gargoyles characters

In the animated television series Gargoyles and the spinoff comic books Gargoyles (SLG comic) and Gargoyles: Bad Guys, Gargoyles are a species of winged humanoid creatures that are the focus of the show.

Gargoyles

Several clans of gargoyles exist worldwide (although until recently, they were unaware of each other's existence), and each clan has distinct cultural and morphological characteristics. All gargoyle clans are alike in that each has a particular item, area, or concept that they strive to protect. They are fierce warriors and are incredibly powerful and resilient; their appearance and ferocity (along with the fact that they are nocturnal creatures) often means that humans vilify them as demons and monsters. Most of the world's gargoyle clans do not peacefully co-exist with humans.

Gargoyles are particularly notable for entering a sort of stone hibernation, called "stone sleep", during the day, during which they resemble Gothic statues. During daylight, they can quickly heal from injury and illness, and are protected from most natural threats. However, this state makes them easy targets for destruction by their enemies and humans who hate them. The character Anton Sevarius postulated that, in this hibernation, they absorb solar radiation that allows them to store energy; otherwise, he concluded, the strenuous activity of gliding would require a nutritional intake equivalent to eating three cows a day. Damage during stone sleep can be fatal to a gargoyle. If a gargoyle dies during its hibernation, its body will remain stone.