I've just gotten started with POV-Ray, and I'm sorta getting the hang of it.
Before POV-Ray, I downloaded Blender, immediately got intimidated by the
interface, and quit.  What are some pros/cons between POV-Ray and Blender?
The reason I'm starting to do 3D rendering is that I like photography, but
there are some things that you can't (or aren't allowed) to create/set up in
the real world.  With that in mind, would it be worth my while to learn how
to use Blender?  Of course, it would be expected that the replies to this
might be a little biased, but that's ok :).
BTW, where would I post any feature requests or ideas for POV-Ray that I
might have?
Thanks in advance.

Post a reply to this message

Daniel Lin wrote:
> 
> I've just gotten started with POV-Ray, and I'm sorta getting the hang of it.
> Before POV-Ray, I downloaded Blender, immediately got intimidated by the
> interface, and quit.

I have heard a lot of complaints about Blender's interface but there are
some who get beyond it and produce acceptable results with the program.
Other than that I think POV-Ray is a more mature program. I have personally
never used Blender so I really can't offer any opinions other than what
I have heard from others. I can say that few that visit these groups ever
mention it if that counts for anything...

> BTW, where would I post any feature requests or ideas for POV-Ray that I
> might have?

The best bet is to post a message in .general titled something along the
lines of "Feature Idea - new object" or something similar. If you get
enough people interested, and it is a good idea, someone might take the
time to write the feature into one of the existing patched versions of
POV-Ray. If the feature gains in popularity it might then be added later
to the official version itself (never any guarantee of this however).

--
Ken Tyler

Post a reply to this message

Ken wrote:
> 
> Daniel Lin wrote:
> >
> > I've just gotten started with POV-Ray, and I'm sorta getting the hang of it.
> > Before POV-Ray, I downloaded Blender, immediately got intimidated by the
> > interface, and quit.
> 
> I have heard a lot of complaints about Blender's interface but there are
> some who get beyond it and produce acceptable results with the program.

The Blender interface is somewhat confusing, but what makes it remain
confusing is that while the software is free, you have to pay for the
manual.  Therefore many people will only download the software, give it
a spin and quickly forget about it without shelling out the 70$ or so
required to buy the book.

> Other than that I think POV-Ray is a more mature program. I have personally
> never used Blender so I really can't offer any opinions other than what
> I have heard from others. I can say that few that visit these groups ever
> mention it if that counts for anything...

Well, Blender is a scanline renderer, so most POV-users will instantly
dismiss it.  NaN has also shifted its position and are now touting it as
a game development environment; probably realizing that it couldn't
compete with the other "big boys" of raytracing and scanline rendering.

-- 
Francois Labreque | The surest sign of the existence of extra-
    flabreque     | terrestrial intelligence is that they never
        @         | bothered to come down here and visit us!
  videotron.ca    |                             - Calvin

Post a reply to this message

Daniel Lin wrote:

> I've just gotten started with POV-Ray, and I'm sorta getting the hang of it.
> Before POV-Ray, I downloaded Blender, immediately got intimidated by the
> interface, and quit.

So did I !

>  What are some pros/cons between POV-Ray and Blender?

Pros : Blender has a GUI modeller and can do the kind of animation (IK, bones
etc.) the way it's done in high-end packages. It's working with Python, a
relatively known script language. It does a lot of stuff apparently, provided
that you buy the manual and work hard to understand the interface. Some people
do great things with it (see Shigeto Maeda's gallery here
http://www.oud-japan.co.jp/)

Cons : the company status (and the future of Blender itself) and strategy is
unclear at present time. They almost got bought by another company some weeks
ago. Better check the blender site about this. If you're looking for
photorealistic stuff, Pov is likely to give better results with less work (but
you can export Blender scenes to Pov and use Pov as a renderer).

G.

--

**********************
http://www.oyonale.com
**********************
Graphic experiments
Pov-ray gallery

Post a reply to this message