Just out of curiosity why is it that the majority of Pov
users appear to be the male half of the human race ? 
There certainly is no lack of female paint program users
and I would think that this approach to graphics production
would be a natural extention to their creativity. Contrary
to that belief though the absence of females posting their
work in these groups and asking questions about the use of
the program would indicate otherwise. Is it perhaps the
nature of men to get into the nuts and bolts of "things"
while women really don't care what makes it work as long as
they can use it ? Pov-Ray certainly falls into the class of
a nuts and bolts program.

-- 
Ken Tyler

tyl### [at] pacbellnet

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It could also be that the majority of postings include some 'space' theme
and I only knew of one female in all my life that was interested
in Star Trek.  I'm guessing this could be a turn off to some.....

Mike


Ken wrote in message <36879A7B.22BA9E40@pacbell.net>...
>Just out of curiosity why is it that the majority of Pov
>users appear to be the male half of the human race ?
>There certainly is no lack of female paint program users
>and I would think that this approach to graphics production
>would be a natural extention to their creativity. Contrary
>to that belief though the absence of females posting their
>work in these groups and asking questions about the use of
>the program would indicate otherwise. Is it perhaps the
>nature of men to get into the nuts and bolts of "things"
>while women really don't care what makes it work as long as
>they can use it ? Pov-Ray certainly falls into the class of
>a nuts and bolts program.
>
>--
>Ken Tyler
>
>tyl### [at] pacbellnet

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There was a program on TV a few weeks ago that talked about differences
between male and female brain functions... (yeah, interesting eh? ;)... but
one thing it did appear to show (from medical and experimental data) was
that the majority of women find it considerably harder to visualise 3D
images/objects/space than men.

Perhaps a little "theoretical", but it could still put women off the 3D
world of raytracing (especially POVs "text-only" interface, and even Moray's
visual approach to some extent) if they find it harder to visualise what
they're creating - they might not think it was worth the effort..

Another interesting point the program mentioned was how this is reflected in
their driving skills (such as parking)... but that's a different story ;)


Matt

Ken wrote in message <36879A7B.22BA9E40@pacbell.net>...
>Just out of curiosity why is it that the majority of Pov
>users appear to be the male half of the human race ?
>There certainly is no lack of female paint program users
>and I would think that this approach to graphics production
>would be a natural extention to their creativity. Contrary
>to that belief though the absence of females posting their
>work in these groups and asking questions about the use of
>the program would indicate otherwise. Is it perhaps the
>nature of men to get into the nuts and bolts of "things"
>while women really don't care what makes it work as long as
>they can use it ? Pov-Ray certainly falls into the class of
>a nuts and bolts program.
>
>--
>Ken Tyler
>
>tyl### [at] pacbellnet

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Women, in general are not linear thinkers by nature, men are usually the
programmers and women the literature writers.  Of course there are many
points to the contrary.  I am trying to learn POVray, but with no
programming in my past, (just PaintShop Pro) there is a very different
learning curve that I must face.  Though, I figure if I can learn
JavaScript and Perl, I certinally can do raytracing =D

Debi

Ken wrote:

> Just out of curiosity why is it that the majority of Pov
> users appear to be the male half of the human race ?
> There certainly is no lack of female paint program users
> and I would think that this approach to graphics production
> would be a natural extention to their creativity. Contrary
> to that belief though the absence of females posting their
> work in these groups and asking questions about the use of
> the program would indicate otherwise. Is it perhaps the
> nature of men to get into the nuts and bolts of "things"
> while women really don't care what makes it work as long as
> they can use it ? Pov-Ray certainly falls into the class of
> a nuts and bolts program.
>
> --
> Ken Tyler
>
> tyl### [at] pacbellnet

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Debi Hodges wrote in message <368A418A.3EAFB81F@emrys.com>...
>Women, in general are not linear thinkers by nature, men are usually the
>programmers and women the literature writers.  Of course there are many
>points to the contrary.  I am trying to learn POVray, but with no
>programming in my past, (just PaintShop Pro) there is a very different
>learning curve that I must face.  Though, I figure if I can learn
>JavaScript and Perl, I certinally can do raytracing =D
>
>Debi


I used to use the "raw" POV language to create my scenes, until I came
across Moray.  Now, I've got so used to it's almost totally visual
modelling, I'd probably have to re-learn how to actually write POV files "by
hand" (even though I regularly program in C++ ;).

Check out http://www.stmuc.com/moray/ and download Moray 3.1 - it should
save time having to learn the language and, for me at least, the visual
approach allows me to make much more detailed and realistic images than I
otherwise would have been able to.


Matt

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I find myself constantly struggling with JavaScript!!!  C++ would be a
dream!  I'm a lowly old VB developer ;-)

--
Lance.


---
For the latest MAX plug-ins, images and much more, go to:
The Zone - http://come.to/the.zone

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In case it wasn't already mentioned, and I'm not about to read this
massive outpouring of posts (due to "female" in the subject line?), the
female is well-known for being typists (hope that isn't a sexist
remark-- but then, gee, this whole thread probably is) too, so I don't
have a clue to the mystery.
Contrary to Ken's statement about females not getting into the "nuts and
bolts", I have a sister who uses a computer a great deal and has the
remnants of one and has done drive installs, etc. on her working one.
She even fixed her VCR once (although it was simply a drive belt
problem). And she's a beautician, or hair dresser, by trade. You
wouldn't guess any of it by looking at her, perhaps she's one of the
rare few. Come to think of it, her husband cooks the meals and works at
a woodshop. They're just plain strange I guess.

Ken wrote:
> 
> Just out of curiosity why is it that the majority of Pov
> users appear to be the male half of the human race ?
> There certainly is no lack of female paint program users
> and I would think that this approach to graphics production
> would be a natural extention to their creativity. Contrary
> to that belief though the absence of females posting their
> work in these groups and asking questions about the use of
> the program would indicate otherwise. Is it perhaps the
> nature of men to get into the nuts and bolts of "things"
> while women really don't care what makes it work as long as
> they can use it ? Pov-Ray certainly falls into the class of
> a nuts and bolts program.
> 
> --
> Ken Tyler
> 
> tyl### [at] pacbellnet

-- 
 omniVERSE: beyond the universe
  http://members.aol.com/inversez/POVring.htm
=Bob

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Yes, there are a few exceptions to the "rule" as they say...

Actually, interestingly enough, I'm male, and I'm the fastest typer in my
year level at school (not that it's much to brag about ;-)

A friend of mine (female friend, just to set the context) is very interested
in POV-Ray.  She picked the language up in about a week and started making
really good images with it!!!  I couldn't believe how fast she'd learnt it!
She's also is doing IPT (Information Processing and Technology) next year,
it is a programing course.  Her subject list is:  Extenstion English,
Physics, Math B, Math C, Chemestry and IPT...  Math B and C are the higher
math levels.  She's very scientifically minded.  So there we are, just
thought I'd share that with you all :-)  Oh, and she also got Dux of the
year level this year...

--
Lance.


---
For the latest MAX plug-ins, images and much more, go to:
The Zone - http://come.to/the.zone

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Thanks to all who took the time to respond to this thread. I must
say the answers were somewhat predictable with a couple of
surprises but since it has digressed to discussions on 3DS Max
and moray registration numbers it IS time to end it.

I guess it boils down to this -
If asked what I really understand about the female half of our race
in general I would say " Sure I have one extra minute to fill you in.
What do you want to know". From a males point of view females
must be considered an alien race and that's that. If there are more
male Pov-Ray users it is because that is simply the way things are.
There are no hidden factors involved, no secret agendas, no sinister
plots, it's just a contemporary fact of life.
  I for one am not going to let it bother me anymore. It would be
nice to see more female users get invloved with the art, as it's been
mentioned they have a certain sensitivity and creative talent that few
males can match, and hopefully they will be better represented in
the Pov-Ray community in the future.

--
Ken Tyler

tyl### [at] pacbellnet

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I guess what you're trying to say is "Please shut up Lance" ;-)

--
Lance.


---
For the latest MAX plug-ins, images and much more, go to:
The Zone - http://come.to/the.zone

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