Mueen Nawaz wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 	I've used POV-Ray off and on for 10 years, but only got a bit serious
> in the last two (serious=trying something 2-3 times a year).
> 
> 	Right now I'm just trying to create shapes accurately and model their
> texture well for practice - not with any artistic goal in mind, but just
> to learn how to use POV-Ray to get stuff done creatively.
> 
> 	My real question is, "Should I learn how to use any external software
> like JPatch to assist me in drawing my objects?". I've always assumed
> that this was a bad idea for beginners, but is it really?
> 
> 	Just want the opinions of those who learned POV-Ray well - did they put
> off using such utilities till they felt they were good enough with the SDL?
> 
> 	Thanks.
> 
I understand what you are asking and there may be something to the idea 
that learning to use script would somehow provide fundamentals of 
insight that would be beneficial when learning a modeller that rides on 
top of the script.  But honestly, my experience was that I used what was 
the most facile for me use at any given point in time.  Sometimes a gui 
modeller adds clarity, sometimes scripting does.  My personal tendency 
was always toward scripting. I found the learning curve was always 
easier because script syntax follows a certain pattern or "logic", if 
you will, while gui interfaces always seem more opague and arbitrary to 
me.  But certainly in some situations, especially those that involve 
manual object placement, gui is obviously superior.

In terms of other elements like texturing and lighting I have always 
found the sort of metaphors that modellers often employ to structure 
that to be just added baggage.  But I can totally understand how for 
another person, who perhaps works with a vision of a more integrated 
scene from the outset, being able to get integrated feedback on the look 
of lighting/texturing as they model would be a valuable thing.  And I 
know some people favor modellers because of the facility they offer for 
object heirarchies etc.  So someone who learns on a modeller would 
probably be ahead of someone learning through scripting, when it comes 
to integrating all the elements of a scene from the outset or when 
conceiving and organizing scenes with large numbers of elements.

But I tend to view learning in a open-ended way. The "fundamentals up" 
makes sense of course but I think it is overrated.

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