On Fri, 3 Sep 1999 08:05:26 +0200, "Gail Shaw" <gsh### [at] monotixcoza>
wrote:

>Yes, I'm using superpatch.
>
>Could you explain more about function patterns and density_file please,
>that or point me at some documentation/tutorials. I haven't run across
>those before.

Every pattern is a function which takes (x,y,z) as a parameter and
returns a float clipped to the range [0.,1.], which is then used to
extract the necessary color / pigment / texture / normal from the
appropriate map. In official POV these functions have names such as
wood and marble. The SuperPatch offers a way to add custom patterns
without the need to recompile POV. You just type in the function of
x,y,z and that is it. The actual syntax is unclear to me since I have
only used the SuperPatch once.

A density_file (.df3) is a sort of a 3D grayscale 8 bits/pixel bitmap.
Think of it as pixel (voxel, actually) layers stacked in the +z
direction. As a pattern, it fits into a box { 0, 1 } and returns the
corresponding x,y,z brightness, interpolated if specified.

To make a density_file you need all the image layers. You can render
an animation, bearing in mind that the images are stacked in the +z
direction. You can then use PoD's tga2df3 utility (posted in p.b.u) if
you're using MS-Dos (or Win) or an emulation thereof.

> Gail


Peter Popov
ICQ: 15002700

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