On Thu, 10 Aug 2000 14:41:12 -0700, Adam <bel### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

>   What kind of people use Povray? I keep hearing about this "certain
>niche," but more specifically... I don't see many female users for
>instance. Also, the program doesn't seem to be well suited for
>Engineering, drafting, or even designing real-life objects. Now, I am
>well aware that the ray tracer is just made to create images, but that's
>the problem. Other programs may offer tension or elasticity analyses, or
>offer  to work with materials with actual physical properties.
>   I haven't heard of any company using POV-ray to design their bikes or
>remote controls, like with Rhino. Povray is too difficult for, say,
>architecture, since walkthroughs are a pain. The features include
>cylinders, not pipes; "clipped_by," not "window." It seems that
>everything you do, has to be done from scratch unless you look for
>include files. Even for graphics, motion picture industries use
>expensive programs like 3D Studio, and others simply use 2D programs
>like Photoshop.
>   So what does that leave us with? Artists who want total control over
>the scene? Computer programmers who simply want to challenge themselves?
>In other words, it seems to me that Povray has few practical
>applications, but is more of a hobby, or even a teaching device for
>understanding higher-level programs.

Why should it have practical applications?  Povray exists.  It has an
enthusiastic following, the people who create the source do it for free, the
people who use it do it because they get pleasure out of it.  No other
justification is necessary. (I will let our female users speak for themselves:-)

I like Povray because it is honest. You get a 3D model that is as good as your
skill with the program allows. The fact that you can view your image from
different viewpoints distinguishes it from programs that use the projection of
images or 2D painting to achieve their 3D effects.  And I like the idea of a
text based modeller.  Of course it's not easy to get what you want out of it,
but you always have that feeling that Povray has the capabilities and it's you
that has the limitations.

Povray is the ideal international co-operative venture.  We have a host of
clever people around the world trying out different ideas, looking at commercial
and academic developments and trying to incorporate all the best ideas, as well
as coming up with innovative solutions. It is truly a worldwide phenomenon -
even though we have different languages we can all appreciate a good Povray
rendered image and the code that has gone to produce it.

We have Povray artists who are extremely talented and their images are getting
better all the time.  Perhaps Povray will be the 21st century's contribution to
pictorial art - who knows :-)
David
dav### [at] hamiltonitecom
http://hamiltonite.com/

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