blooflame wrote:
> I've known of POV-Ray for years but just getting around to having time to
> use it for anything. Here's the general idea of something I need to do, can
> I do it in POV-Ray?
> 
> I want to create a set of images, each on a virtual "sheet of glass", and
> stack them together so that you see them as though looking straight through
> the glass.
> 
> How would I do this? My (naive?) thought process is to define each sheet as
> a "box" with dimensions proportional to how a sheet of glass is (thin
> front-to-back, rectangular), then create images in the plane of one side of
> the box. Boxes to be placed in space such that each one is exactly next to
> the other.
> 
> 
> 
> Make sense?
> 
> 
> 
Sort of.  The quick answer, in the usual spirit of enterprise around 
here, is try it and see if you get what you want.

In a sense, POV is more articulate than your description of what you 
want to do.  There are quite a few different and subtle possibilities 
along the lines you describe.

You can use a thin box and give it a material definition to simulate 
glass with the pigment definition based on the image.  You can even 
create the effect of stained class complete with caustics, reflections 
refractions and all.

You can also use a box with 0 thickness in one dimension if all you want 
is a surface to carry the image.  You could also use two triangles, a 
bicubic patch or a clipped plane or even disc to get an infinitely thin 
surface.

The image itself can be created in several ways but probably you mean an 
image_map.  An image_map can be used to control any of the texture 
elements but probably you mean the pigment.  Such a pigment could be 
give degrees of transparency overall, or be used with a mask to create 
areas of absolute transparency.  You may also be able to use a image_map 
to color media filling a thin box with the image you want.

You should be aware also that an image_map, as a pattern, extends 
infinitely in the z direction.

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