On Wed, 14 Aug 2002 22:56:10 EDT, "Christian" <las### [at] hotmailcom>
wrote:

>Hello everybody out there!

Welcome aboard, Christian.


>this news server. So, I need some directions.

Peter Popov here. As Ken, I'm a TAG member, too.

>(Well, since I'm SouthAmerican - actually, peruvian - , excuse my english,
>it may suck!!!!)

It's better than mine when I started visiting this server. You'll see
for yourself that reading and writing hundreds of lines of English
every day does wonders :)

>I'm very hungry for knowledge, but I'd like to go step by step.

Appetite comes with eating they say.

>I've read the whole docs of WinPOVRay 3.5, so I need some more information
>about the following topics:

It's a great step that you've already read the whole manual and one
that not many new users do. Bonus points awarded!

>* Texturing tips: You know, how to make those powerfull procedural textures
>make what I want (skin textures, realistic briks, etc)

Texturing is an art in its own right. Some effects are really hard to
figure out yourself but with a small push in the right direction you
can start experimenting - then all you need is patience. Examples
include skin, wax, polished metal, real wood etc.

The textures already included in the distribution are already
included. There are stones, woods, glasses, metals and general
textures. This server is also a very good resource. If you go to
http://news.povray.org/ (you need cookies enabled), you can search the
archive as far back as 1999, although Ken is usually faster than any
search engine :)

>* Animation help: Basic and no so basic information and tutorials

Some of the sample scenes are animated, see there. 

>* Programing Help: Since I've came with an astonishing idea this afternoon
>to combine powerfully splines manipulation with blob sculpting and
>animation!!!! 

Programming is not easy. You can't just learn the alphabet and become
the Shakespeare of modern times. 

>Where should I go in order to learn about 3d
>programing/WinPOV GUI comunication? 

3D programming? Well, POV-Ray is written in C with some C++ thrown in
for taste. And yes, it does require some knowledge of 3D algorithms to
code a patch. However, and this is most important, it requires great
programming skills, and these are not easy.

I am not saying you shouldn't learn programming - by all means, if
it's interesting to you, go ahead. Just be prepared that you won't be
able to start changing POV-Ray in a couple of weeks.

>And where to post my idea? I think It'd
>be a great idea to make this first dream a grupal project!!!!

You can always discuss your ideas in povray.general. The
povray.programming group is not the right place for such discussions,
just in case you thought so. It is for the source code itself.

>* Other: Where Should i go to suggest a feature for future realeses of POV?

Again in povray.general, although povray.unofficial.patches is also
somewhat appropriate. Be aware though that a feature request needs
some background. You can's just say "Can we have a skin texture in
POV-Ray 4.0?" More precisely, feature requests usually concern things
that are currently not possible to do, or are very limited. 

For example, if you find an interesting resource that explains a way
to speed a certain type of operation without breaking its current
implementation - sure thing, go on and request it. Or if you find a
page that presents and explains a method for doing new, cool things -
this will also be good.

>Well, nothing else to add, but goodbye and goodluck, guys. See you (read
>you?)later!!!

Good luck to you. Have patience and learn.


Peter Popov ICQ : 15002700
Personal e-mail : pet### [at] vipbg
TAG      e-mail : pet### [at] tagpovrayorg

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