"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] earthlinknet> wrote in message 
news:web.4bc2e33970f2d07d65f302820@news.povray.org...
> "Dre" <and### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>
>> So much POV to learn, so little time!
>
> Not a day goes by that I don't learn something new as well, some new trick 
> that
> POV-Ray is capable of, or some new 'understanding.' The best way to learn
> is...practice, practice, practice.  ;-) And to read these newsgroups, of
> course--they are a real fountain of knowledge.
>
> I remember the trace command being difficult to fully understand as well, 
> when I
> first tried to use it. (In fact, a newsgroup query may have helped *me* at 
> the
> time.) And that Norm thing had me guessing too--until I finally
> realized that the value (the vector) that's placed there--with #declare 
> norm =
> <0,0,0> --is just to set it up, as a kind of 'place-holder.' (In fact, the
> vector can contain *any* three values.) Then, when trace() is used or 
> called, it
> RETURNS an *actual* vector (a directional vector again!) found at the 
> traced
> point, and loads it into 'norm', replacing the temporary values--which can 
> then
> be used elsewhere in the scene. The documentation describes some of this, 
> but in
> a roundabout way, not completely clear. (Which is unfortunate, because 
> trace is
> an *extremely* valuable and fun tool!) So don't feel bad about your 
> temporary
> lack of understanding.
>
> Ken
>
I totally agree.  There is something very satisfying when you see your scene 
finally trace correctly after working out some new process/technique.

Without these groups I would be stuck a long time ago, not to mention the 
absolutely amazing pictures you see in p.bi.

Cheers Dre

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