Ron Parker wrote:

> On Thu, 04 Oct 2001 17:06:30 +0200, Disnel wrote:

> But then we come back to the problem of requiring anyone who wants to use
> POV to have access to a compiler of some sort, or of creating our own compiler
> for plugins.  The first is, IMHO, an unfair expectation given the nature of
> most POV users.


OK this is true. I have slightly different point of view, because I'am 
using only linux and there I have always compiler.

> The second is a lot of work.  That's not to say it will never
> happen, because we are moving in that direction slowly with things like the 
> new function evaluation engine in POV 3.5 (here I'm thinking of features of 
> the function engine that haven't been made public yet, so you'll have to take
> my word for it) but it's not going to happen overnight.


I think, that this is nearly impossible to create "unviersal compiler" 
for all processors and systems.

> 
> In any case, it turns out that there aren't that many primitives that are
> just begging to be added.  Most of the patches collected in MegaPOV fall 
> into three categories: 
>  - general, widespread changes to the rendering engine (photons, dispersion, 
>    light groups, UV mapping) 
>  - parser-only changes (most of mine: #ifdef(A[i]), trace, min/max_extent)
>  - new textures or variations on old textures (object pattern, crackle)
> 
> The only really new primitives are the isosurface and the parametric 
> object, and I can't envision trying to implement either of them as a
> plugin even if the mechanism for doing so existed.  I certainly can't see
> being able to make the changes necessary to make pigment functions if
> isosurfaces *were* implemented as a plugin.

> 
> Recently, the most-requested features have been more texture-oriented 
> things (lighting models, subsurface scattering, blurred reflection) and
> more widespread changes (tesselation).  I haven't heard a lot of people
> asking for new primitives.


This all is true, again, but plugins may be used not only for new 
primitives..

But maybe sufficient solution will be new C++ design of POV4 with 
possibility to add new things as childrens of some POV classes, I only 
like idea of plugins, which I can download and add to my local copy of 
POV without recompilation of whole package....

> 
>

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