> The name suggests this is the right group. But is it?

Yup!

> Need some hand-holding from the pros. I've been through most of the
> documentation with POV...where do I look next? How do I go further?

Have you tried the tutorials in the documentation? If you haven't, I would
suggest doing them - and actually following along on your own. When
something interests you, leave the tutorial and experiment with it.

If you really understand most of the documentation, then I'd suggest that
you let your creativity guide you. I'm sure you can find more tutorials
online, but if you haven't already done so, what you should really do is
attempt a small project. Decide what it is that you want to create, and use
the knowledge you've gained over the last couple of weeks to create it.
Along the way you may discover that you don't know how to do something you
want to do; when this happens, you can go back to the documentation and if
that doesn't help, ask for help here.

I make this suggestion because the documentation really contains just about
all there is to know about POV-Ray. Anyone who understands it has all of the
technical knowledge they need to use POV-Ray. The rest is learning how to
use it *well*, and that can really only be achieved through practice.

If you've already made an image - or if not, then when you do so - consider
posting it in povray.binaries.images and asking for comments; you can use
the feedback you get to either improve the image or start a new, better one.
Don't forget to post your own take on the "reflective sphere on a checkered
plane" cliche. =)

> Also, I do not have a programming background...does that restrict me in
> using POV, or can I hope to pick up all that's needed on the way?

A programming background helps when creating complex scenes, but you should
be able to learn all you need to know through the documentation.

In summary: just start making stuff and deal with problems as you come
across them.

 - Slime
 [ http://www.slimeland.com/ ]

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