Hello,

my name is Tony Stecca.  I work for an online private school in Ontario, Canada.
 We create 3D molecular models using software called Avogadro.  It exports 3D
models as POV-ray files.  I've had good success animating the models in the
POV-ray editor and exporting pngs to make a video.  However, our video producer
would like to import these models into Adobe AfterEffects, likely via Cinema4D,
as .obj files.

We've been able to do test imports of POV-ray's that are based on mesh objects.
That works.  However, the models from Avogadro aren't mesh(?).  The are
mathematical objects like cylinders and spheres.  Can I convert my models to
mesh objects?

How should can we use POV-rays in After Effects? Thanks.

If this isn't the right forum for this, please direct me to the right one.

TS

Post a reply to this message

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Hash: SHA256

Le 30/05/2015 04:29, Tony Stecca a écrit :
> Hello,
> 

Hello,

> my name is Tony Stecca.  I work for an online private school in
> Ontario, Canada. We create 3D molecular models using software
> called Avogadro.  It exports 3D models as POV-ray files.  I've had
> good success animating the models in the POV-ray editor and
> exporting pngs to make a video.  However, our video producer would
> like to import these models into Adobe AfterEffects, likely via
> Cinema4D, as .obj files.
> 
> We've been able to do test imports of POV-ray's that are based on
> mesh objects. That works.  However, the models from Avogadro aren't
> mesh(?).  The are mathematical objects like cylinders and spheres.
> Can I convert my models to mesh objects?

I guess you mean "automatically", right ?

you can try to have a look at the capability of crossroads (Windows 95
to Windows 2000)

http://animatricity.com/pages/downloads/3d_apps/crossroads.htm

The homepage for the developper is lost in limbo, but the provided url
provide a downloadable zip. Assumes your own risk about it (I do not
have windows)

The syntax of povray for sphere and cylinder is stable enough that it
might be supported, even on current output of avogadro.

Short of that, and unless someone provide a different answer, I would
refer you to the knowledge base

http://wiki.povray.org/content/Knowledgebase:Files_and_formats#Topic_2

There is echo of 3D23D program, but I have no link for it (seems lost
too).

A request on Avogradro (#248) is opened since 2012 for export in
obj/mtl, maybe you can contribute to it.

> 
> How should can we use POV-rays in After Effects? Thanks.

The irony of it: After Effects is a "software as a service" license, I
could suggest to ask an evolution to Adobe (might not be free).

On the other side, there is derivative of povray which might export as
gts (Gnu Triangulated Surface library) or STL (STereoLithography)
format, from imperfectly meshified finite 3D objects.
Then it would be another story to find a converter to obj for one of the
m.



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Post a reply to this message

Le_Forgeron <jgr### [at] freefr> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA256
>
> Le 30/05/2015 04:29, Tony Stecca a écrit :
> > Hello,
> >
>
> Hello,
>
> > my name is Tony Stecca.  I work for an online private school in
> > Ontario, Canada. We create 3D molecular models using software
> > called Avogadro.  It exports 3D models as POV-ray files.  I've had
> > good success animating the models in the POV-ray editor and
> > exporting pngs to make a video.  However, our video producer would
> > like to import these models into Adobe AfterEffects, likely via
> > Cinema4D, as .obj files.
> >
> > We've been able to do test imports of POV-ray's that are based on
> > mesh objects. That works.  However, the models from Avogadro aren't
> > mesh(?).  The are mathematical objects like cylinders and spheres.
> > Can I convert my models to mesh objects?
>
> I guess you mean "automatically", right ?
>
> you can try to have a look at the capability of crossroads (Windows 95
> to Windows 2000)
>
> http://animatricity.com/pages/downloads/3d_apps/crossroads.htm
>
> The homepage for the developper is lost in limbo, but the provided url
> provide a downloadable zip. Assumes your own risk about it (I do not
> have windows)
>
> The syntax of povray for sphere and cylinder is stable enough that it
> might be supported, even on current output of avogadro.
>
> Short of that, and unless someone provide a different answer, I would
> refer you to the knowledge base
>
> http://wiki.povray.org/content/Knowledgebase:Files_and_formats#Topic_2
>
> There is echo of 3D23D program, but I have no link for it (seems lost
> too).
>
> A request on Avogradro (#248) is opened since 2012 for export in
> obj/mtl, maybe you can contribute to it.
>
> >
> > How should can we use POV-rays in After Effects? Thanks.
>
> The irony of it: After Effects is a "software as a service" license, I
> could suggest to ask an evolution to Adobe (might not be free).
>
> On the other side, there is derivative of povray which might export as
> gts (Gnu Triangulated Surface library) or STL (STereoLithography)
> format, from imperfectly meshified finite 3D objects.
> Then it would be another story to find a converter to obj for one of the
> m.
>
>
>
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> iJwEAQEIAAYFAlVp3fQACgkQhKAm8mTpkW3l/QP/f+oYS3exCCADPzkpVySrzPZj
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> ltHfQMDuyzYKe0Y8vXAdgRsKuKZPJ+R7ctgQbiHvuhjyrhKCD+IOCadUfBErxbjE
> r/dPoM1SmFoLruIYWVs=
> =XWql
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Le_Forgeron,

thanks for the detailed reply.  My solution doesn't have to be automatic.  After
a few days of research on this topic there doesn't seem to be an automatic
approach.

The solutions I'm pursuing is this: use a macro to convert the spheres and
cylinders in my scenes to meshes.  Then, there's a program called Poseray with
will read my .pov files and convert them to objs.  But the .pov scenes have to
be built from mesh objects.

Where I'm stuck now is converting my scenes to meshes.  Could you recommend a
macro to convert spheres and cylinders to meshes?

I've reached out to the Avogadro community, but no luck there yet?  Is there a
mesh forum or a macro forum on this board?

Thanks again!

TS

Post a reply to this message

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Le 31/05/2015 05:26, Tony Stecca a écrit :

> The solutions I'm pursuing is this: use a macro to convert the 
> spheres and cylinders in my scenes to meshes.  Then, there's a 
> program called Poseray with will read my .pov files and convert 
> them to objs.  But the .pov scenes have to be built from mesh 
> objects.
> 
> Where I'm stuck now is converting my scenes to meshes.  Could you 
> recommend a macro to convert spheres and cylinders to meshes?
> 

You need to make a mesh for a sphere at origin (<0,0,0>) of radius 1.
With whatever precision you want.
Then add a scale using the actual radius of the sphere you want to
replace.
And finally use the center of the sphere for an additional translate.

> I've reached out to the Avogadro community, but no luck there yet? 
> Is there a mesh forum or a macro forum on this board?

Not specialized, but you might try povray.general where there is more
people.
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Post a reply to this message

On 31-5-2015 5:26, Tony Stecca wrote:
> Le_Forgeron <jgr### [at] freefr> wrote:
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA256
>>
>> Le 30/05/2015 04:29, Tony Stecca a écrit :
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>>> my name is Tony Stecca.  I work for an online private school in
>>> Ontario, Canada. We create 3D molecular models using software
>>> called Avogadro.  It exports 3D models as POV-ray files.  I've had
>>> good success animating the models in the POV-ray editor and
>>> exporting pngs to make a video.  However, our video producer would
>>> like to import these models into Adobe AfterEffects, likely via
>>> Cinema4D, as .obj files.
>>>
>>> We've been able to do test imports of POV-ray's that are based on
>>> mesh objects. That works.  However, the models from Avogadro aren't
>>> mesh(?).  The are mathematical objects like cylinders and spheres.
>>> Can I convert my models to mesh objects?
>>
>> I guess you mean "automatically", right ?
>>
>> you can try to have a look at the capability of crossroads (Windows 95
>> to Windows 2000)
>>
>> http://animatricity.com/pages/downloads/3d_apps/crossroads.htm
>>
>> The homepage for the developper is lost in limbo, but the provided url
>> provide a downloadable zip. Assumes your own risk about it (I do not
>> have windows)
>>
>> The syntax of povray for sphere and cylinder is stable enough that it
>> might be supported, even on current output of avogadro.
>>
>> Short of that, and unless someone provide a different answer, I would
>> refer you to the knowledge base
>>
>> http://wiki.povray.org/content/Knowledgebase:Files_and_formats#Topic_2
>>
>> There is echo of 3D23D program, but I have no link for it (seems lost
>> too).
>>
>> A request on Avogradro (#248) is opened since 2012 for export in
>> obj/mtl, maybe you can contribute to it.
>>
>>>
>>> How should can we use POV-rays in After Effects? Thanks.
>>
>> The irony of it: After Effects is a "software as a service" license, I
>> could suggest to ask an evolution to Adobe (might not be free).
>>
>> On the other side, there is derivative of povray which might export as
>> gts (Gnu Triangulated Surface library) or STL (STereoLithography)
>> format, from imperfectly meshified finite 3D objects.
>> Then it would be another story to find a converter to obj for one of the
>> m.
>>
>>
>>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>> Version: GnuPG v2
>>
>> iJwEAQEIAAYFAlVp3fQACgkQhKAm8mTpkW3l/QP/f+oYS3exCCADPzkpVySrzPZj
>> AaHDN0k5LIG/AvMPA91C+Rrja5rcXWUysmDQnJga+4/0tNtVuo4d9Ik8fBLKgmSf
>> ltHfQMDuyzYKe0Y8vXAdgRsKuKZPJ+R7ctgQbiHvuhjyrhKCD+IOCadUfBErxbjE
>> r/dPoM1SmFoLruIYWVs=
>> =XWql
>> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
> Le_Forgeron,
>
> thanks for the detailed reply.  My solution doesn't have to be automatic.  After
> a few days of research on this topic there doesn't seem to be an automatic
> approach.
>
> The solutions I'm pursuing is this: use a macro to convert the spheres and
> cylinders in my scenes to meshes.  Then, there's a program called Poseray with
> will read my .pov files and convert them to objs.  But the .pov scenes have to
> be built from mesh objects.
>
> Where I'm stuck now is converting my scenes to meshes.  Could you recommend a
> macro to convert spheres and cylinders to meshes?
>

There are a couple of macros you could try.

- Charles Fusner's triscan macro: 
http://203.29.75.35/povray.binaries.scene-files/thread/%3C38CB12D0.732F7F15@enter.net%3E/?ttop=321382&toff=950

I was designed originally for Megapov (trace function) but with some 
adaptations it should work for version 3.7. I never used it thoroughly 
myself. Possible somebody else knows more.

- More promising maybe is Stephen Shonfield/Ingo Janssen's makemesh 
macro. As this is difficult now to find on the web, I attach a zip file 
with Ingo's stuff.


-- 
Thomas

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Attachments:
Download 'mmgm.zip' (110 KB)

On 05/30/2015 11:26 PM, Tony Stecca wrote:
> Le_Forgeron <jgr### [at] freefr> wrote:
> Le_Forgeron,
>
> thanks for the detailed reply.  My solution doesn't have to be automatic.  After
> a few days of research on this topic there doesn't seem to be an automatic
> approach.
>
> The solutions I'm pursuing is this: use a macro to convert the spheres and
> cylinders in my scenes to meshes.  Then, there's a program called Poseray with
> will read my .pov files and convert them to objs.  But the .pov scenes have to
> be built from mesh objects.
>
> Where I'm stuck now is converting my scenes to meshes.  Could you recommend a
> macro to convert spheres and cylinders to meshes?
>
> I've reached out to the Avogadro community, but no luck there yet?  Is there a
> mesh forum or a macro forum on this board?
>
> Thanks again!
>
> TS
>

Tony,

If simple shapes like spheres and cones, with a little work you might be 
able to use POV-Ray's built in HF_<shape> macros.  These macros take a 
function as input because they were originally intended to create meshes 
after some displacement was applied, but you can fool them into doing no 
displacement by setting up a function that does none as follows:

//----------------- example.pov ---  Run with : povray example.pov -D -P
#include "shapes.inc"
#declare MyFunction = function(x,y,z){0}

HF_Sphere(MyFunction,off,off,<30,30>,on,"ThisSphere.inc",<0.0,0.6,0.0>,0.3,0.3)
HF_Cylinder(MyFunction,off,off,<30,30>,on,"ThisCylinder.inc",<0.5,0.0,0.5>,<0.5,1.0,0.5>,0.4,0.3)
//-----------------

These commands create include files for each sphere or cylinder so you'd 
need to call the appropriate one for each shape with unique file names 
for each. Once created, to pull all these back into povray you'd need 
set up includes for each shape with something like:

#declare Sphere00 = object { #include "Sphere00.inc" texture {...} }
#declare Sphere01 = object { #include "Sphere01.inc" texture {...} }
...
#declare Cylinder00 = object { #include "Cylinder00.inc" texture {...} }
#declare Cylinder01 = object { #include "Cylinder01.inc" texture {...} }

There are too options I've not used in the HF_* macros to set up UV 
texture mapping. If large sets of spheres or cylinders the same texture 
creating unions once textured cleaner.

Bill P.

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> The solutions I'm pursuing is this: use a macro to convert the spheres and
> cylinders in my scenes to meshes.  Then, there's a program called Poseray with
> will read my .pov files and convert them to objs.  But the .pov scenes have to
> be built from mesh objects.

The obj file format is very simple, if your spheres are cylinders are 
simple (ie there is no complex POV code/macro to generate the alignment) 
then it would almost be better to just write the obj file directly 
rather than creating the mesh in POV and the using Poseray.

> Where I'm stuck now is converting my scenes to meshes.  Could you recommend a
> macro to convert spheres and cylinders to meshes?

Others can help here, I usually "roll my own" for these type of things. 
It depends how much experience you have of 3D graphics, coding, etc, but 
it's not a huge task.

Another angle to attack from might be to use something like OpenSCAD. 
You can create spheres and cylinders with a similar syntax to POV, but 
in the end it will let you export the scene as a mesh (STL file in this 
case). Depending on how complex your POV scene is, it might just be an 
exerice with find/replace in notepad to get the scene to work in 
OpenSCAD and export a mesh.

Or does After Effects have an in-built scripting language you could use 
to generate the spheres and cylinders? Ditto above, you might be able to 
just use notepad to get the syntax correct for After Effects to use.

Do you also want different materials (colours) to be applied to each object?

Post a reply to this message

....
>
> - More promising maybe is Stephen Shonfield/Ingo Janssen's makemesh
> macro. As this is difficult now to find on the web, I attach a zip file
> with Ingo's stuff.
>
>
> --
> Thomas

I only tried to add Moray UDO format to the output. I can no longer remember if
it's complete.

Stephen S

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