St. wrote:
[snip]

>  As it happens, from a non-programmers point of 
> view, I think this thread has been a frenzy of what everyone *wants*, 


What I get from the thread so far is that:
- syntax of the declarative part (objects, textures, transformations, 
...) should stay the same.
- the control structures with # (#if, #macro, ...) should stay (at least 
for now)
- there should be a new set of control structures. Especially to replace 
the #declare and #macro. This should be closer to a conventional 
programming language
- it should be possible to create new objects with the same syntax as 
current ones (box, sphere, etc.)
- More of the internals should be exposed. The representation of e.g. a 
mesh should be known and modifiable at user level to create a 
subdivision, to convert an isosurface of the fly into a mesh, to write 
new import routines, etc.
- At many points it should be possible to call user functions in stead 
of predefined choices. And those functions should be able to call many 
internal functions. This is needed for new shaders and such.
- binary input and output should be supported from within new style 
functions.

 > and in the end, I think nothing will happen directly resulting from
 > this thread imo.

I expect all of these things to be in POV4.


Anyone dare to answer the question on whether POV4 should be a scene 
description language or a scriptable ray tracer?

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