Gilles Tran wrote:
> 
> Here are the 3 basic options (which could be mixed/nested of course):
> 
> 1. Keep POV-Ray as it is, with a relatively accessible SDL, with a few 
> additional bells and whistles (better mesh support, better integration of 
> 3rd party objects, more complete shading language...) and an improved 
> rendering engine.
> 
> 2. Turn POV-Ray into a "pure" rendering library, that could be controlled 
> through different programming languages and used by external packages.
> 
> 3. Turn POV-Ray into a standalone modelling+rendering package (using Moray 
> as a starting point for the GUI, for instance), with a deep integration 
> between the modeller and the script.
>


FWIW, I think Gilles has nailed it down nicely.  May I add my 2 cents?

1.  I think this is the approach that would be the most useful to the 
greatest number of end users.  Three things occur to me that are in the 
nature of "First, do no harm":  (a) Backwards compatibility.  Please 
don't break my old stuff.  (I wouldn't mind if things like media or 
lighting got "tweaked" a bit, but I'd really hate to rebuild a 1500-line 
hunk of CSG to use it again.)  (b) After having spent around a decade 
learning SDL and POV in general, please don't make me relearn it.  I'm 
not getting any younger.  (c) For the love of God, don't make me buy a 
new computer.  I'm not getting any richer, either.

2.  I'm not a CompSci type, just a poor stupid applications programmer, 
but isn't (2) basically compatible with (1)?  Couldn't POV-Ray (the app 
seen by the end user) use POV-Ray (the pure rendering library), which 
would also be available to other languages/packages?  Please don't hurt me.

3.  How about a new, improved Moray (or whatever) as a *separate* 
POV-Ray application from "classic" POV-Ray?  Let the coders code, and 
let the modellers model.  Plus, it is my personal conviction that small 
programs run better than large ones--less to get broken, easier to 
maintain, easier to keep Tab A compatible with Slot B, so to speak.

Going to duck out of the line of fire now...

--Sherry Shaw


-- 
#macro T(E,N)sphere{x,.4rotate z*E*60translate y*N pigment{wrinkles scale
.3}finish{ambient 1}}#end#local I=0;#while(I<5)T(I,1)T(1-I,-1)#local I=I+
1;#end camera{location-5*z}plane{z,37 pigment{granite color_map{[.7rgb 0]
[1rgb 1]}}finish{ambient 2}}//                                   TenMoons

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