povray.animations message digest

[jr] Re: Bullet physics engine test [1 day 9 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:35:00 GMT

hi,

"Cossack " <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> just a small demonstration .;]

very nice.  (and yes, (many) questions :-) like Leroy's, was it rendered on the
phone ?)

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Very cool!
>
> I have always wanted to play with this 'bullet physics' code in POV-ray, but I
> have no idea how to get it to run in MS Windows, or if it is even available in a
> 'Windows friendly' form. (I am not a C/C++ programmer.)
>
> Has anyone in the POV-ray community ever built a version that will run? I seem
> to vaguely remember *someone* doing that in the past...or maybe it was just for
> Linux/Unix?

I found the attached 2003 code by Alain Ducharme in TdG's (extensive) archives,
a "Povray rigid ball dynamics simulator", not quite "bullet physics" but...  all
in SDL, no other languages needed; I'm sure that there will be other code, 30+
years is a long time.  there is no explicit mention of licensing, but the author
writes "in the meantime, you may wish to collapse the required macros into your
main SimBall .pov files" -- sounds "permissive".  two (quickly rendered :-))
animations AD wrote:
<drive.google.com/file/d/1YASVkhbwLadwsHq3tuSlJZWRklMttItK/view?usp=sharing>
<drive.google.com/file/d/1vjarr_s4miZQqaDZQY6ztNMxMsdVAloH/view?usp=sharing>

regards, jr.

[Kenneth] Re: Bullet physics engine test [1 day 11 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:30:00 GMT

Very cool!

I have always wanted to play with this 'bullet physics' code in POV-ray, but I
have no idea how to get it to run in MS Windows, or if it is even available in a
'Windows friendly' form. (I am not a C/C++ programmer.)

Has anyone in the POV-ray community ever built a version that will run? I seem
to vaguely remember *someone* doing that in the past...or maybe it was just for
Linux/Unix?

[Leroy] Re: Bullet physics engine test [2 days 5 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 18:25:00 GMT

"Cossack " <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> just a small demonstration .;]

Cool! Wondering how long to parse & render it?

Have Fun!

[Cossack ] Bullet physics engine test [2 days 9 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:35:01 GMT

just a small demonstration .;]

[Clarence1898] Re: can you help with how to best save the simul... [17 days 21 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sat, 4 Apr 2026 02:05:00 GMT

"Cossack " <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> I just have a project in python where cubes fall, and I have options: 1. save
> each frame in .txt as a list. 2. (not very good) create a .pov file for each
> frame.
> which one to use?

The process I use to generate animations is similar to option 2.  I create a pov
file for each frame like this: file0000.pov, file0001.pov, file0002.pov etc.
Then I generate a list of commands: povray +Ifile0000.pov +Ofile0000.png <povray
options>; povray +Ifile0001.pov +Ofile0001.png <options>; etc. Then run that
file as a script.  I automatically generate the commands and the script so it
takes minimal effort to do.  The scripts run on either linux or windows wsl.
You could do it on just windows, but the commands will be a little different.
If you have multiple pcs you can distribute the commands across them.

[ingo] Re: can you help with how to best save the simul... [23 days 15 hours and 1 minute ago]

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 08:45:00 GMT

"Cossack " <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> I just have a project in python where cubes fall, and I have options: 1. save
> each frame in .txt as a list. 2. (not very good) create a .pov file for each
> frame.
> which one to use?

What I generally (try to) do:

create a base scene plus an .inc file,

have the program create .inc file content with only the variable data, loop
enrolled.

have the program call POV-Ray per frame.

if there is for example collision logic that you use `trace` for, have POV-Ray
write the data your program can uses. In this case that could be a .py with a
list you import in your python program.

ingo

[jr] Re: can you help with how to best save the simul... [24 days 3 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 19:55:00 GMT

hi,

"Cossack " <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> I just have a project in python where cubes fall, and I have options: 1. save
> each frame in .txt as a list. 2. (not very good) create a .pov file for each
> frame.
> which one to use?

for option (1) there'd be "supporting code" in form of my 'Filed()' macro; it
comes with documentation and animation examples.
<wiki.povray.org/content/User:Jr#SDL_code>

regards, jr.

[Cossack ] can you help with how to best save the simulatio... [24 days 4 hours and 1 minute ago]

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 19:45:00 GMT

I just have a project in python where cubes fall, and I have options: 1. save
each frame in .txt as a list. 2. (not very good) create a .pov file for each
frame.
which one to use?

[William F Pokorny] Re: Drawing with Fourier series -> published [174 days 12 hours and 45 minutes ago]

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:00:42 GMT

On 10/28/25 05:16, kurtz le pirate wrote:
> On 23/10/2025 12:36, Bald Eagle wrote:
> 
>>
>> Excellent work!Â  :)
>> And I just HAVE to ask:Â Â  Will you be sharing the code?
>>
>> -BW
>>
> 
> 
> I just posted my page on this topic online.
> <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene046.shtml>
> 
> Enjoy !
> 

Cool! :-)

Bill P.

[kurtz le pirate] Re: Drawing with Fourier series -> published [175 days 14 hours and 30 minutes ago]

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 09:16:03 GMT

On 23/10/2025 12:36, Bald Eagle wrote:

> 
> Excellent work!  :)
> And I just HAVE to ask:   Will you be sharing the code?
> 
> -BW
> 


I just posted my page on this topic online.
<http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene046.shtml>

Enjoy !






-- 
kurtz le pirate
compagnie de la banquise

[Jörg "Yadgar" Bleimann] Re: Drawing with Fourier series [180 days 10 hours and 10 minutes ago]

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:36:08 GMT

Hi(gh)!

On 10/23/25 11:08, kurtz le pirate wrote:
> On 23/10/2025 01:13, JÃ¶rg "Yadgar" Bleimann wrote:
>>
>> That incomplete yellow(!) outline looks eerily familiar...
>>
> 
> Yes, I also chose (Ï€) as the shape, but it works with any path. Didn't 
> you watch the whole animation?

Meanwhile, yes. So it's just the Greek letter pi... but when incomplete, 
it looks like a caricature of The Stable Genius!

See you in Khyberspace!

Yadgar

-- 
VBI BENE, IBI BACTRIA!

[kurtz le pirate] Re: Drawing with Fourier series [180 days 10 hours and 17 minutes ago]

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:28:50 GMT

On 23/10/2025 12:36, Bald Eagle wrote:
> 
> I love it.
  Thanks


> And am envious because you beat me to doing it!
LOL


> I'm sure at this point that I have watched nearly every 3Blue1Brown video.
Yes, yes, there are tons of videos on this topic.



> Can I ask how many coefficients are needed to store that shape?
The shape is a simple array of <x,y> vectors.
On my site, the firest PI shape is defined with only 120 points.
On the second one, the shape has 320 points.

For shapes, I use an SVG image that contains the path.
I found this website that allows you to convert a path into points
	<https://shinao.github.io/PathToPoints/>.
We provide the SVG file, set the interval between two points, and the 
page generates the points ! It's magic for me.

The SVG format, and more specifically the object path, is easy to 
read... but creating a converter with/for POV is really tricky.
Yet another new feature for v4 ? ;)




> I was pondering using that format to make a new type of interpolation spline,
> and as a method of storing shape outlines in a compact manner.
> 
> I can't recall: Is there a 3D version?

I watched two videos in 3D :
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXyX2DSUGX8>
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5rVya8nuyk>
... but not really 3D.



> Excellent work!  :)
> And I just HAVE to ask:   Will you be sharing the code?
Sure. I still have some refinement work to do and need to clean up my 
code to make it presentable. I will publish everything on my website 
with explanations.




-- 
kurtz le pirate
compagnie de la banquise

[Bald Eagle] Re: Drawing with Fourier series [180 days 13 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 10:40:00 GMT

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] freefr> wrote:

> You can see the complete animation on my website at this address:
> <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene046.shtml>
> I hope you like it.

I love it.
And am envious because you beat me to doing it!
I'm sure at this point that I have watched nearly every 3Blue1Brown video.

Can I ask how many coefficients are needed to store that shape?

I was pondering using that format to make a new type of interpolation spline,
and as a method of storing shape outlines in a compact manner.

I can't recall: Is there a 3D version?

Excellent work!  :)
And I just HAVE to ask:   Will you be sharing the code?

-BW

[kurtz le pirate] Re: Drawing with Fourier series [180 days 14 hours and 37 minutes ago]

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 09:08:44 GMT

On 23/10/2025 01:13, JÃ¶rg "Yadgar" Bleimann wrote:
> 
> That incomplete yellow(!) outline looks eerily familiar...
> 

Yes, I also chose (Ï€) as the shape, but it works with any path. Didn't 
you watch the whole animation?



-- 
kurtz le pirate
compagnie de la banquise

[Jörg "Yadgar" Bleimann] Re: Drawing with Fourier series [181 days and 32 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 23:13:32 GMT

Hi(gh)!

On 10/22/25 12:04, kurtz le pirate wrote:

> My POC on this subject is finished.
> I finally have something to show.
> Below is an image taken from the animation.
> 
> You can see the complete animation on my website at this address:
> <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene046.shtml>
> I hope you like it.

That incomplete yellow(!) outline looks eerily familiar...

See you in Khyberspace!

Yadgar

Now playing: Tarkus, live 10th February 1974 Anaheim Convention Centre, 
Anaheim, California (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)

-- 
VBI BENE, IBI BACTRIA!

[kurtz le pirate] Drawing with Fourier series [181 days 13 hours and 42 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 10:04:14 GMT

Hello,

My POC on this subject is finished.
I finally have something to show.
Below is an image taken from the animation.

You can see the complete animation on my website at this address:
<http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene046.shtml>
I hope you like it.




... yes, http only, my web hosting provider is working on setting up SSL.






-- 
kurtz le pirate
compagnie de la banquise

[Maetes] Re: POV Storyboards [360 days 1 hour and 31 minutes ago]

Sat, 26 Apr 2025 22:15:00 GMT

Maybe you give my script a try?

https://www.maetes.com/en/povray-os/ma_screenplay

Martin

[William F Pokorny] Re: First animation [420 days 13 hours and 44 minutes ago]

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 10:02:04 GMT

On 2/24/25 14:51, SWG wrote:
> Hello, im new to this community, but i would like to present you all my first
> ever animation! Made with Windows Movie Maker and 13 different scenes to form
> frames.
> Name: Fall.mp4

Reflective sphere on checkered plane? Check. :-)

POV-Ray's inbuilt animation capabilities are worth a look.

//--- this.pov
sphere {  // Explicit movement of 1.0 in x for 9 frames
     <-0.5+(frame_number-1)/8,0.2,2>, 0.2
     pigment { rgb <1,0,0> }
     finish { emission 1 }
}
sphere {  // Generic movement of 1.0 in x for n frames
     <-0.5+(clock*1.0),-0.2,2>, 0.2
     pigment { rgb <0,1,0> }
     finish { emission 1 }
}
// Try the following two commands:
//
//   povray this.pov +w400 +h300 -p +kff9
//   povray this.pov +w400 +h300 -p +kff18
//
// The 1st command creates files this1.png  through this9.png.
// The 2nd command creates files this01.png through this18.png.
//
// +kff specifies the 'final frame' count - which less other
// options is the total frame count - and it triggers the
// rendering of frames for an animation.
//---

Bill P.

[Bald Eagle] Re: First animation [420 days 21 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 02:10:00 GMT

"SWG" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Hello, im new to this community, but i would like to present you all my first
> ever animation! Made with Windows Movie Maker and 13 different scenes to form
> frames.
> Name: Fall.mp4

Use a lot more frames to get a smoother animation.

If it's a falling ball, then it should accelerate as it falls.

See if you can make it bounce with a cyclic animation.

It should slow down as it reaches the top of it's travel, and then accelerate
back down.

Good job making your first animation!
That's pretty much how I started  :)

- BE

[SWG] Re: First animation [420 days 21 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 02:05:00 GMT

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> "SWG" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > Hello, im new to this community, but i would like to present you all my first
> > ever animation! Made with Windows Movie Maker and 13 different scenes to form
> > frames.
> > Name: Fall.mp4
>
> Not bad for your first time! Looking forward to seeing what you else can do with
> POV.
>
> Have Fun!

Thanks for the compliment, im looking forward to doing more!

[Leroy] Re: First animation [420 days 22 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 01:10:00 GMT

"SWG" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Hello, im new to this community, but i would like to present you all my first
> ever animation! Made with Windows Movie Maker and 13 different scenes to form
> frames.
> Name: Fall.mp4

Not bad for your first time! Looking forward to seeing what you else can do with
POV.

Have Fun!

[SWG] First animation [421 days 3 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 19:55:00 GMT

Hello, im new to this community, but i would like to present you all my first
ever animation! Made with Windows Movie Maker and 13 different scenes to form
frames.
Name: Fall.mp4

[Maetes] Screenplay - Macro-Collection to create complex ... [477 days 16 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 07:20:00 GMT

Hi Ladies,

I love it to create animations with Povray.
Since these became more and more complex, a macro collection has come together
over time, which helps me a lot.
I published the whole package few hours ago, documented and equipped with two
tutorials.
Maybe it will help one of you, then the hundreds of hours of work would be worth
twice as much.

Download and documentation:
https://www.maetes.com/en/povray-os/ma_screenplay

Example:
https://youtu.be/UM6cbI983nc

Ciao,
Martin

[Jonathan Bush] Lazo board game replay [672 days 2 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 21:00:00 GMT

A game against the Zillions of Games engine many years ago is animated. Lazo is
a board game I invented.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=064OXZgpDgs

I posted this a few hours ago and it didn't show up. My apologies if it is
posted twice.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [678 days 4 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 18:50:00 GMT

MichaelJF <fri### [at] t-onlinede> wrote:
> I have little experience with animations, but I noticed a merge in your
> code where a union would have been sufficient. So I rendered frames
> 7001-7100 with your original code in 83 minutes (1920*1080, 14 work
> threads, i9### [at] 36GHz). After exchanging 4 merge statements (2 in
> L01tiles.inc, 1 in L01box.inc and 1 in Zillionstrapboard.inc) by unions
> the same frames took 15 minutes 33 seconds to render.
>
> I had expected a faster calculation, but a factor of more than five
> really surprised me.
>
> Best regards
> Michael

WOWZA what a huge amount of time and trouble you have saved me.
THANK YOU!

I attach the third version of my code, without the bug I added to version 2.
My 8-thread machine rendered 76 animated frames in the first hour.

[William F Pokorny] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [679 days 8 hours and 1 minute ago]

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 15:44:38 GMT

On 6/11/24 10:01, MichaelJF wrote:
> I had expected a faster calculation, but a factor of more than five 
> really surprised me.

Reminds me I have a "todo" item to look at removing some merge bounding 
related code I ran across one day which looks like it dump the objects 
in a merge into the infinite / not bounded bucket once the bounding box 
gets above a certain size.

It triggered at a size that was not that big - and I couldn't figure out 
why it would ever be a good idea(*). If you have bounding for the merge 
of objects, why wouldn't one always use it? How can it be, effectively, 
worse than tossing all the objects into the infinite bucket?

Anyhow, someday I'll dig more into it.

Bill P.

(*) - Maybe there was some pre-auto bounding reason for it? Or it might 
be there is some detail about how the bounding works I don't yet 
understand... :-)

[MichaelJF] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [679 days 9 hours and 44 minutes ago]

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 14:01:29 GMT

I have little experience with animations, but I noticed a merge in your 
code where a union would have been sufficient. So I rendered frames 
7001-7100 with your original code in 83 minutes (1920*1080, 14 work 
threads, i9### [at] 36GHz). After exchanging 4 merge statements (2 in 
L01tiles.inc, 1 in L01box.inc and 1 in Zillionstrapboard.inc) by unions 
the same frames took 15 minutes 33 seconds to render.

I had expected a faster calculation, but a factor of more than five 
really surprised me.

Best regards
Michael

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [680 days 16 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 07:35:03 GMT

On 09/06/2024 14:42, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> I am grateful to Yesbird and everyone else for their help.
...
> Thanks again for providing this amazing resource.

Sorry for the late answer - had no time even to look at newsgroups.
I really want to assist you, but I need to solve some non-IT problems.
Please give me one-two days and I will email you.

Happy POVing :)
--
YB.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [681 days 11 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sun, 9 Jun 2024 11:55:00 GMT

I may have made some unwarranted assumptions here.

I am grateful to Yesbird and everyone else for their help. What I am asking for
would not only take a lot of processing time, but a huge chunk of memory. Every
frame from 421 to 10681 is close to 8 MB, in lossless png format. I estimate the
total might be about 80 GB. I haven't even asked about how I would download
that. Maybe you have access to some cloud hosting service.

None of this is free for Yesbird. If this works out, I may ask for help with
more videos in the future. Maybe we could talk about this? My email is
twixtfanatic atsymbol gmail period com

Thanks again for providing this amazing resource.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [682 days 6 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sat, 8 Jun 2024 17:15:00 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
>
> > I ran my earlier code under 3.8 beta, and there were no errors but all the text
> > objects were white.
>
> In version 3.8 there has been a Change to the pigment default setting. The
> default setting is now rgb <1,1,1> as opposed to the rgb <0,0,0> value used in
> previous versions. Requires #version 3.8; or equivalent INI setting or
> command-line option. See also: Version Directive.
>
> https://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Pigment

OK thank you.

BTW I neglected to update the version in my povray.ini file, so here is just
that file, to replace the one in the POVray folder.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [682 days 6 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sat, 8 Jun 2024 17:00:00 GMT

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:

> I ran my earlier code under 3.8 beta, and there were no errors but all the text
> objects were white.

In version 3.8 there has been a Change to the pigment default setting. The
default setting is now rgb <1,1,1> as opposed to the rgb <0,0,0> value used in
previous versions. Requires #version 3.8; or equivalent INI setting or
command-line option. See also: Version Directive.

https://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Pigment

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [682 days 12 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sat, 8 Jun 2024 11:35:00 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,

Hi back.

>
> > I have a question about the error message Yesbird encountered. ...
> >
> > OK I found the bug; apparently the color of text objects must be specified.
> > I modified L01text.inc and upgraded the #version directive to 3.8 in
> > L01game.pov.
>
> should not be the cause.  POV-Ray supplies a default texture when there's none.
> <https://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Default_Directive>
>
> I tried and ran your code to 1K frames, using 3.8.0-alpha.9945627, with
> "all_file = on", and nothing.  no errors, no warnings.  hth.
>
>
> regards, jr.

No FRAMES? Please tell me you generated some frames. :-)

I ran my earlier code under 3.8 beta, and there were no errors but all the text
objects were white.

[jr] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [682 days 12 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Sat, 8 Jun 2024 11:20:00 GMT

hi,

> > I had a very quick look at the archive, and fwiw, the naming is .. strange.  >
> That's the convention I have been following. Every distinct povray project I do
> has its own folder which contains a povray.ini file. I just always edit
> povray.ini when I want to change resolution or framerate. Is this wrong? Wrong,
> I am concerned about. Strange, not so much.

conventions, yes, I too have "bad habits" </grin>.  but it works (for you), so
wrong isn't the word, it's more like "additional cognitive hurdle".

those "habits" can lead to "wrong" though, from your 'povray.ini':
; Aspect ratio is expected to be 9:16
Height=2160
Width=3840

correct, for you, as the height is listed first.  however, anyone else reading
this would expect the ratio / aspect to be 16:9, ie the "width:height" thing is
fixed, preferences notwithstanding ;-).


> I have a question about the error message Yesbird encountered. ...
>
> OK I found the bug; apparently the color of text objects must be specified.
> I modified L01text.inc and upgraded the #version directive to 3.8 in
> L01game.pov.

should not be the cause.  POV-Ray supplies a default texture when there's none.
<https://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Default_Directive>

I tried and ran your code to 1K frames, using 3.8.0-alpha.9945627, with
"all_file = on", and nothing.  no errors, no warnings.  hth.


regards, jr.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [682 days 21 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sat, 8 Jun 2024 02:05:00 GMT

OK I found the bug; apparently the color of text objects must be specified.
I modified L01text.inc and upgraded the #version directive to 3.8 in
L01game.pov.

If you still have the frames from your first run, you could move the first 420
of them into the /frames4K/animated/ folder here. They are all the same pure
text screen. Then run the command

povray +SF421 L01game.pov

to save yourself a few minutes.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [682 days 22 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sat, 8 Jun 2024 01:05:00 GMT

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:

> I have a question about the error message Yesbird encountered. It says "possible
> parse error" but I don't find any difference in the 3.8 user manual in its
> description of a text object. I also do not see the error message say that the
> render halted. Was the render halted? If not, why not let it run and see what
> happens?

See here:

https://news.povray.org/povray.general/message/%3C60cb7ab5%241%40news.povray.org%3E/#%3C60cb7ab5%241%40news.povray.org%
3E

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 1 hour and 21 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 22:25:00 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> > ...
> > Okay I will try to build 3.8 on my machine. This may take a day or so.
>
> rename your existing to 'povray37' or something first, else the installation
> will overwrite the existing.
>
>
> > I will then modify my source for L01game and get back to you.
>
> you should not have to modify anything; it is fine to have scenes with a lower
> '#version'.  let us know what trouble, if any, you encounter with that 'text{}'.
>
> I had a very quick look at the archive, and fwiw, the naming is .. strange.  the
> 'povray.{conf,ini}' files, whether system-wide or personal, are meant to be
> "static".  your "povray.ini" ought to be called 'L01game.ini', really.  is there
> a particular reason for not using that ?
>
>
> regards, jr.

That's the convention I have been following. Every distinct povray project I do
has its own folder which contains a povray.ini file. I just always edit
povray.ini when I want to change resolution or framerate. Is this wrong? Wrong,
I am concerned about. Strange, not so much.

Meanwhile there is only one povray.conf file which now sits in
/usr/local/etc/povray/3.8 and requires superuser access to edit. And I have in
fact edited it already, to allow my post-frame command to work.

I have a question about the error message Yesbird encountered. It says "possible
parse error" but I don't find any difference in the 3.8 user manual in its
description of a text object. I also do not see the error message say that the
render halted. Was the render halted? If not, why not let it run and see what
happens?

[jr] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 5 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 17:50:00 GMT

hi,

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> ...
> Okay I will try to build 3.8 on my machine. This may take a day or so.

rename your existing to 'povray37' or something first, else the installation
will overwrite the existing.

> I will then modify my source for L01game and get back to you.

you should not have to modify anything; it is fine to have scenes with a lower
'#version'.  let us know what trouble, if any, you encounter with that 'text{}'.

I had a very quick look at the archive, and fwiw, the naming is .. strange.  the
'povray.{conf,ini}' files, whether system-wide or personal, are meant to be
"static".  your "povray.ini" ought to be called 'L01game.ini', really.  is there
a particular reason for not using that ?

regards, jr.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 7 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 16:40:00 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> > ...
> > I never heard of 3.8 existing before now. The download page at
> > {...} only mentions 3.7
> > Where do I get this 3.8??
>
> <https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/tags>
>
>
> regards, jr.

Okay I will try to build 3.8 on my machine. This may take a day or so. I will
then modify my source for L01game and get back to you.

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 7 hours and 22 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 16:23:53 GMT

On 07/06/2024 19:19, Jonathan Bush wrote:
>...
> Thank you for your patience.

Always welcome !
That's all I was able to do for you.
--
YB

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 7 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 16:20:00 GMT

In my original post to this thread, I requested a render farm compatible with
3.7. Do I need to install this "LeForgeron" 3.8 in order to use povlab? What do
the original developers have to say about this fork? Do they approve? Is there
discord among the developers?

I can't even find the 3.8 manual on github. What's wrong with my text objects?
What other surprises can I expect?

I don't necessarily need to see your output of the first 450 frames. The first
420 of them should all be the same, just a text screen talking about "Lazo game
1- human versus Zillions engine- music by Schemawound." Frames 421 to 600 should
also be identical to each other, all a static overhead image of a game board and
two boxes of light versus black tiles. If you see coordinate labels on the top
and left, then my text objects worked okay.

And I would like to reiterate that the very first line of my code is

#version 3.7;

So why would your povray 3.8 run my code?
Thank you for your patience.

[jr] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 7 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 16:10:00 GMT

hi,

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> ...
> I never heard of 3.8 existing before now. The download page at
> {...} only mentions 3.7
> Where do I get this 3.8??

<https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/tags>


regards, jr.

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 7 hours and 37 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 16:08:47 GMT

On 07/06/2024 18:51, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> The very first executable line in L01game.pov is
> #version 3.7;
> So I don't know why your POVray code would run my code in the first place.
> I never heard of 3.8 existing before now. The download page at
> https://www.povray.org/download/
> only mentions 3.7
> Where do I get this 3.8??
Here: https://github.com/LeForgeron/povray
I've built it from sources, as I need stereo camera, that exists only
there. More info:
https://wiki.povray.org/content/User:Le_Forgeron/HgPovray38

> 
> Also the line in question is a text object which follows the syntax of 3.7 as
> far as I know:
>        text { ttf "crystal.ttf" substr(ColumnLabels, cidx, 1) 1,0 }
> Is this now wrong?
Sorry, I don't know - not expert in 'text' function.
--
YB.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 7 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 15:55:00 GMT

yesbird <sya### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> On 07/06/2024 17:49, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> ...
>
> Got following error, looks like version issue, I am using 3.8 from here:
> https://github.com/LeForgeron/povray.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Rendering frame 606 of 10681 (#606)
> Parser Options
>    Input file: ./L01game.pov (compatible to version 3.70)
>    Remove bounds........On
>    Split unions.........Off
>    Library paths:
>      /home/s/syanenzc/povlab.online/public_html/povray/share/povray-3.8
>
> /home/s/syanenzc/povlab.online/public_html/povray/share/povray-3.8/include
> Animation Options
>    Initial Frame:        1  Final Frame:    10681
>    Frame Step:           1
>    Initial Clock:    0.000  Final Clock:    0.000
>    Cyclic Animation.....Off  Field render.........Off  Odd
> lines/frames.....Off
> Image Output Options
>    Image resolution.....3840 by 2160 (rows 1 to 2160, columns 1 to 3840).
>    Output file............/frames4K/animated/L01game00606.png, 24 bpp PNG
>    Dithering............Off
>    Graphic display......On  (gamma: sRGB transfer function)
>    Mosaic preview.......Off
>    Continued trace......Off
> Information Output Options
>    All Streams to console..........On
>    Debug Stream to console.........On
>    Fatal Stream to console.........On
>    Render Stream to console........On
>    Statistics Stream to console....On
>    Warning Stream to console.......On
> ==== [Parsing...] ==========================================================
> ************** This is an animated frame. **************
> Row  1 is on layer  0
> Row  2 is on layer  2
> Row  3 is on layer  1
> Row  4 is on layer  0
> Row  5 is on layer  2
> Row  6 is on layer  1
....
> File 'L01text.inc' line 10: Possible Parse Error: Text may not be
> displayed as
>   expected. Please refer to the user manual regarding changes in POV-Ray
> v3.8 and
>   later.
> File 'L01text.inc' line 10: Possible Parse Error: Text may not be
> displayed as
>   expected. Please refer to the user manual regarding changes in POV-Ray
> v3.8 and
>   later.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> YB

The very first executable line in L01game.pov is
#version 3.7;
So I don't know why your POVray code would run my code in the first place.
I never heard of 3.8 existing before now. The download page at
https://www.povray.org/download/
only mentions 3.7
Where do I get this 3.8??

Also the line in question is a text object which follows the syntax of 3.7 as
far as I know:
      text { ttf "crystal.ttf" substr(ColumnLabels, cidx, 1) 1,0 }
Is this now wrong?

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 7 hours and 58 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 15:47:33 GMT

On 07/06/2024 18:38, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> I cannot access that. When I try https://povlab.online/data I am FORBIDDEN
> 

Take from here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16N6pZFAFCuQcSg4FGDS73gNhNmvB-1wz/view?usp=sharing
--
YB

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 8 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 15:40:00 GMT

yesbird <sya### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> On 07/06/2024 17:49, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> > The first 420 frames are static, to be replaced by a file exported from
> > Inkscape. Then there are 180 static frames which POVray needs to generate only
> > once.
> > Then come 9300 animated frames.
> > Finally the last 780 frames are static, which POVray generates only once.
> > So it may be challenging to make an accurate estimate how long it will all take.
> >
>
> Tricky, but you can check first 456 frames just for control here:
> https://povlab.online/data/animated.zip
> --
> YB

I cannot access that. When I try https://povlab.online/data I am FORBIDDEN

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 8 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 15:34:35 GMT

On 07/06/2024 17:49, Jonathan Bush wrote:
...

Got following error, looks like version issue, I am using 3.8 from here:
https://github.com/LeForgeron/povray.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rendering frame 606 of 10681 (#606)
Parser Options
   Input file: ./L01game.pov (compatible to version 3.70)
   Remove bounds........On
   Split unions.........Off
   Library paths:
     /home/s/syanenzc/povlab.online/public_html/povray/share/povray-3.8
 
/home/s/syanenzc/povlab.online/public_html/povray/share/povray-3.8/include
Animation Options
   Initial Frame:        1  Final Frame:    10681
   Frame Step:           1
   Initial Clock:    0.000  Final Clock:    0.000
   Cyclic Animation.....Off  Field render.........Off  Odd 
lines/frames.....Off
Image Output Options
   Image resolution.....3840 by 2160 (rows 1 to 2160, columns 1 to 3840).
   Output file............/frames4K/animated/L01game00606.png, 24 bpp PNG
   Dithering............Off
   Graphic display......On  (gamma: sRGB transfer function)
   Mosaic preview.......Off
   Continued trace......Off
Information Output Options
   All Streams to console..........On
   Debug Stream to console.........On
   Fatal Stream to console.........On
   Render Stream to console........On
   Statistics Stream to console....On
   Warning Stream to console.......On
==== [Parsing...] ==========================================================
************** This is an animated frame. **************
Row  1 is on layer  0
Row  2 is on layer  2
Row  3 is on layer  1
Row  4 is on layer  0
Row  5 is on layer  2
Row  6 is on layer  1
Row  7 is on layer  0
Row  8 is on layer  2
Row  9 is on layer  1
Row 10 is on layer  0
Row 11 is on layer  2
Row 12 is on layer  1
Row 13 is on layer  0
Row 14 is on layer  2
Row 15 is on layer  1
Row 16 is on layer  0
Move  1 is E16
Move  2 is SWP
Move  3 is L07
light tile on layer  0
Move  4 is K04
dark tile on layer  0
Move  5 is O04
light tile on layer  0
Move  6 is M04
dark tile on layer  0
Move  7 is L01
light tile on layer  0
Move  8 is L03
dark tile on layer  1
Move  9 is i04
light tile on layer  0
Move 10 is H01
dark tile on layer  0
Move 11 is i10
light tile on layer  0
Move 12 is H07
dark tile on layer  0
Move 13 is F07
light tile on layer  0
Move 14 is G04
dark tile on layer  0
Move 15 is G06
light tile on layer  1
Move 16 is H03
dark tile on layer  1
Move 17 is N01
light tile on layer  0
Move 18 is J01
dark tile on layer  0
Move 19 is J07
light tile on layer  0
Move 20 is i06
dark tile on layer  1
Move 21 is K06
light tile on layer  1
Move 22 is K10
dark tile on layer  0
Move 23 is J09
light tile on layer  1
Move 24 is H05
dark tile on layer  2
Move 25 is L13
light tile on layer  0
Move 26 is N03
dark tile on layer  1
Move 27 is M10
light tile on layer  0
Move 28 is L09
dark tile on layer  1
Move 29 is J13
light tile on layer  0
centerX=    -0.51962ViewAngleH =     15.62025
centerZ=     1.90000
row  1 cell  1 xloc -3.1177 zloc  4.5000
row  1 cell  2 xloc -2.0785 zloc  4.5000
row  1 cell  3 xloc -1.0392 zloc  4.5000
row  1 cell  4 xloc  0.0000 zloc  4.5000
row  1 cell  5 xloc  1.0392 zloc  4.5000
row  1 cell  6 xloc  2.0785 zloc  4.5000
row  1 cell  7 xloc  3.1177 zloc  4.5000
row  2 cell  1 xloc -3.6373 zloc  3.6000
row  2 cell  2 xloc -2.5981 zloc  3.6000
row  2 cell  3 xloc -1.5588 zloc  3.6000
row  2 cell  4 xloc -0.5196 zloc  3.6000
row  2 cell  5 xloc  0.5196 zloc  3.6000
row  2 cell  6 xloc  1.5588 zloc  3.6000
row  2 cell  7 xloc  2.5981 zloc  3.6000
row  2 cell  8 xloc  3.6373 zloc  3.6000
row  3 cell  1 xloc -4.1569 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  2 xloc -3.1177 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  3 xloc -2.0785 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  4 xloc -1.0392 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  5 xloc  0.0000 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  6 xloc  1.0392 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  7 xloc  2.0785 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  8 xloc  3.1177 zloc  2.7000
row  3 cell  9 xloc  4.1569 zloc  2.7000
row  4 cell  1 xloc -4.6765 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  2 xloc -3.6373 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  3 xloc -2.5981 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  4 xloc -1.5588 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  5 xloc -0.5196 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  6 xloc  0.5196 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  7 xloc  1.5588 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  8 xloc  2.5981 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell  9 xloc  3.6373 zloc  1.8000
row  4 cell 10 xloc  4.6765 zloc  1.8000
row  5 cell  1 xloc -5.1962 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  2 xloc -4.1569 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  3 xloc -3.1177 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  4 xloc -2.0785 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  5 xloc -1.0392 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  6 xloc  0.0000 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  7 xloc  1.0392 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  8 xloc  2.0785 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell  9 xloc  3.1177 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell 10 xloc  4.1569 zloc  0.9000
row  5 cell 11 xloc  5.1962 zloc  0.9000
row  6 cell  1 xloc -5.7158 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  2 xloc -4.6765 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  3 xloc -3.6373 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  4 xloc -2.5981 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  5 xloc -1.5588 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  6 xloc -0.5196 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  7 xloc  0.5196 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  8 xloc  1.5588 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell  9 xloc  2.5981 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell 10 xloc  3.6373 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell 11 xloc  4.6765 zloc  0.0000
row  6 cell 12 xloc  5.7158 zloc  0.0000
File 'L01text.inc' line 10: Possible Parse Error: Text may not be 
displayed as
  expected. Please refer to the user manual regarding changes in POV-Ray 
v3.8 and
  later.
File 'L01text.inc' line 10: Possible Parse Error: Text may not be 
displayed as
  expected. Please refer to the user manual regarding changes in POV-Ray 
v3.8 and
  later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
YB

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 8 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 15:10:02 GMT

On 07/06/2024 17:49, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> The first 420 frames are static, to be replaced by a file exported from
> Inkscape. Then there are 180 static frames which POVray needs to generate only
> once.
> Then come 9300 animated frames.
> Finally the last 780 frames are static, which POVray generates only once.
> So it may be challenging to make an accurate estimate how long it will all take.
> 

Tricky, but you can check first 456 frames just for control here:
https://povlab.online/data/animated.zip
--
YB

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 8 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 14:55:00 GMT

yesbird <sya### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> On 07/06/2024 16:42, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> > This is great! Thank you for providing this service. ...
>
> Welcome :).
> I've just started the rendering (yes, server under Ubuntu) and it
> see how black frames are filling  <...>\frames4K\animated directory with
> speed about ~100 frames per 6 minutes.
> Are you animating "Black square" of Kazimir Malevich? :)
>
> > Yes, I suppose not many people have a 4K monitor. I don't. But that's a feature
> > of YouTube right? I upload a 3840x2160 video and they generate lower resolution
> > options such as 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, all with the same 16:9 aspect ratio. Am
> > I correct?
> Yes, absolutely, but you can save a rendering time if will prepare 1440p
> only.
> --
> YB

The first 420 frames are static, to be replaced by a file exported from
Inkscape. Then there are 180 static frames which POVray needs to generate only
once.
Then come 9300 animated frames.
Finally the last 780 frames are static, which POVray generates only once.
So it may be challenging to make an accurate estimate how long it will all take.

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 9 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 14:34:55 GMT

On 07/06/2024 16:42, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> This is great! Thank you for providing this service. ...

Welcome :).
I've just started the rendering (yes, server under Ubuntu) and it
see how black frames are filling  <...>\frames4K\animated directory with
speed about ~100 frames per 6 minutes.
Are you animating "Black square" of Kazimir Malevich? :)

> Yes, I suppose not many people have a 4K monitor. I don't. But that's a feature
> of YouTube right? I upload a 3840x2160 video and they generate lower resolution
> options such as 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, all with the same 16:9 aspect ratio. Am
> I correct?
Yes, absolutely, but you can save a rendering time if will prepare 1440p
only.
--
YB

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 9 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 13:50:00 GMT

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> yesbird <sya### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > On 07/06/2024 09:21, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> > > Can anyone recommend a render farm which works with POVray 3.7 and offers high
> > > quality and a good deal for the money?
> >
> > I have the free experimental service for POV-Ray rendering:
> > https://povlab.online
> > powered with Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2690 v2 @ 3.00GHz (40 cores).
> > Present UI does not allow to render animations, but if you will send
> > me a scene, ini and script I can render a few frames and we will have
> > estimation time for the whole movie, at least.
> >
> > > I intend to upload a video to You Tube. I'm not sure precisely what format they
> > > prefer.
> > Look here:
> > https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en
> >
> > I have some experience of uploading videos, having this channel:
> > https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_L-Rlt-OWoJm6HN9t-hxXRk-b6SONXbJ
> >
> > Are you sure that you really want 4K ? Not so many people now have real
> > 4K equipment and network for accepting it smoothly, may be 1440p (2K)
> > will be optimal ?
> > --
> > YB
>
> This is great! Thank you for providing this service. I understand we are
> initiating a conversation, nothing is agreed so far. Attached is a tar.gz file.
> See the included README file.

OOPS there is a typo in that readme file. it should say L01game.pov not
L0game.pov

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 10 hours and 1 minute ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 13:45:00 GMT

yesbird <sya### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> On 07/06/2024 09:21, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> > Can anyone recommend a render farm which works with POVray 3.7 and offers high
> > quality and a good deal for the money?
>
> I have the free experimental service for POV-Ray rendering:
> https://povlab.online
> powered with Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2690 v2 @ 3.00GHz (40 cores).
> Present UI does not allow to render animations, but if you will send
> me a scene, ini and script I can render a few frames and we will have
> estimation time for the whole movie, at least.
>
> > I intend to upload a video to You Tube. I'm not sure precisely what format they
> > prefer.
> Look here:
> https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en
>
> I have some experience of uploading videos, having this channel:
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_L-Rlt-OWoJm6HN9t-hxXRk-b6SONXbJ
>
> Are you sure that you really want 4K ? Not so many people now have real
> 4K equipment and network for accepting it smoothly, may be 1440p (2K)
> will be optimal ?
> --
> YB

This is great! Thank you for providing this service. I understand we are
initiating a conversation, nothing is agreed so far. Attached is a tar.gz file.
See the included README file. My code is for Linux. Some surgery may be required
for Windows. You might also have to edit your povray.conf file so that my
post-frame command will work. There is a recent thread in this newsgroup about
that.

Yes, I suppose not many people have a 4K monitor. I don't. But that's a feature
of YouTube right? I upload a 3840x2160 video and they generate lower resolution
options such as 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, all with the same 16:9 aspect ratio. Am
I correct?

[yesbird] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 15 hours and 14 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 08:31:33 GMT

On 07/06/2024 09:21, Jonathan Bush wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a render farm which works with POVray 3.7 and offers high
> quality and a good deal for the money?

I have the free experimental service for POV-Ray rendering:
https://povlab.online
powered with Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2690 v2 @ 3.00GHz (40 cores).
Present UI does not allow to render animations, but if you will send
me a scene, ini and script I can render a few frames and we will have
estimation time for the whole movie, at least.

> I intend to upload a video to You Tube. I'm not sure precisely what format they
> prefer.
Look here:
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en

I have some experience of uploading videos, having this channel:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_L-Rlt-OWoJm6HN9t-hxXRk-b6SONXbJ

Are you sure that you really want 4K ? Not so many people now have real 
4K equipment and network for accepting it smoothly, may be 1440p (2K) 
will be optimal ?
--
YB

[jr] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 15 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 08:25:00 GMT

hi,

"ingo" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Maybe this thread has some useful info for you:
>
https://news.povray.org/povray.general/thread/%3Cweb.5d447e9f819e6d1a8bed1fa0%40news.povray.org%3E/
>
> ingo
>
> "Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> > I generated the frames for a 3-minute video at 720x405 resolution and 12 fps,
> > which took just under 8 hours on my machine. I estimate the same video frames at
> > 4k and 60 fps would take me more than a month of execution time.


another option might be Yesbird's "povlab.online" site.  aiui, he's inviting
such use.


regards, jr.

[ingo] Re: Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advic... [683 days 16 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 07:05:00 GMT

Maybe this thread has some useful info for you:
https://news.povray.org/povray.general/thread/%3Cweb.5d447e9f819e6d1a8bed1fa0%40news.povray.org%3E/

ingo

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> I generated the frames for a 3-minute video at 720x405 resolution and 12 fps,
> which took just under 8 hours on my machine. I estimate the same video frames at
> 4k and 60 fps would take me more than a month of execution time.

[Jonathan Bush] Best render farm? Also You Tube upload advice so... [683 days 17 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Fri, 7 Jun 2024 06:25:00 GMT

I generated the frames for a 3-minute video at 720x405 resolution and 12 fps,
which took just under 8 hours on my machine. I estimate the same video frames at
4k and 60 fps would take me more than a month of execution time.

Can anyone recommend a render farm which works with POVray 3.7 and offers high
quality and a good deal for the money? I don't think a subscription service is
what I want. I just want to process this one video, and I will consider a
subscription later.

I intend to upload a video to You Tube. I'm not sure precisely what format they
prefer. I assume that I just send them the 4k version and the system will
generate lower resolution options. All my still frames are in png format. The
video will include a free music file which just happens to be 3 minutes long.

Thanks for any clue.

[Kenneth] Re: Animated png on Linux [831 days 21 hours and 1 minute ago]

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 02:45:00 GMT

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> Thank you all for your feedback!
>
> Here is a high resolution version, 1320x990, 600 frames at 60 fps. I put it on
> my Google Drive.
>
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rt9OUUljyQhDRS72sNfAxC7JAAvrkvSW/view?usp=sharing
>
> I can view it but it is a little slow, perhaps because my hardware is limited.

That's a large file-- 504MB. The download took about 4 minutes for me, with my
*supposedly* hi-speed internet connection. :-[

The animation plays OK on my fast Windows 10 system, and lasts about 10 seconds.
I guess it's playing back at the proper 60 fps speed. What surprised me is that
the file has a .png file suffix, rather than a more standard MPEG; I didn't know
such a file could be used for animation. Apparently, it is an .apng file-- an
'animated portable graphics' file format. I had to look it up!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APNG

From what I see there, such a format may not play back (as animation) in some
apps. I happened to use SMPlayer for Windows, which does recognize it.

I like the animation...but I'm not so sure it really needs a 60fps playback
speed, as the movements are rather slow. Nicely done though.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Animated png on Linux [832 days and 51 minutes ago]

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 22:55:00 GMT

Thank you all for your feedback!

Here is a high resolution version, 1320x990, 600 frames at 60 fps. I put it on
my Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rt9OUUljyQhDRS72sNfAxC7JAAvrkvSW/view?usp=sharing

I can view it but it is a little slow, perhaps because my hardware is limited.

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Animated png on Linux [832 days 7 hours and 45 minutes ago]

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 16:00:54 GMT

Op 10-1-2024 om 12:48 schreef Jonathan Bush:
> 

> The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

Works OK om Windows 11 / Thunderbird by clicking on the attached png.

-- 
Thomas

[Cousin Ricky] Re: Animated png on Linux [832 days 10 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 13:20:00 GMT

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
>
> The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

It works for me in Firefox on GNU/Linux.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Animated png on Linux [832 days 10 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 13:15:00 GMT

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:

> The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

Seems to work fine, just by clicking the link in my Brave browser.

- BW

[jr] Re: Animated png on Linux [832 days 11 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 12:15:00 GMT

hi,

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> ...
> the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
> clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

yes, clicking on the image in a Chrome browser window shows the animation.


regards, jr.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Animated png on Linux [832 days 11 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 11:50:00 GMT

> Maybe there are settings that have to be set to get a smooth, faster view.
> Any particular reason you're choosing that format?
> I think ImageMagick or even ffmpeg can convert the png files to any other on the
> fly, and a lot of people have had great success with those.
> I've managed to make pretty decent animations, and even remove whatever bloat is
> inherent in the files to make the file _size_ smaller, but keeping the same
> apparent resolution and image quality.
>
> > I am currently generating the frames for the same clip at 60 fps, 600 frames
> > total, 990x1320. It should be finished on Saturday morning.
>
> Also search for 'animated png' here on the forums - I got a good number of hits.
>
> - BW

Thanks for your help! The resolution 1320x990 was originally just for two
images, before and after, to demonstrate a concept from a board game. I wanted
to see the whole thing on my 1920x1080 screen within its own image viewer
window, and keep the aspect ratio of 4 to 3.

The 600 frames at this high resolution are complete, but first I want to test
the low res version, which I made with apngasm. It's supposed to be a 6 second
clip at 10 fps. Can anyone view it as a video?

[Bald Eagle] Re: Animated png on Linux [839 days 7 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Wed, 3 Jan 2024 16:15:00 GMT

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:

> What is the best (preferably free) software for turning png frames into an
> animated png file? Are there different codecs?

ImageMagick
https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/bionic/man1/apngasm.1.html
others popped in my search

> I intend to upload my apng to Imgur. Are there upper limits on framerate,
> resolution, file size? Do viewers need specific browsers?

No idea, but I would imagine it would have more to do with file size than any
other specs.  I'm sure there are animated png (apng) files that you can search
for to determine what browsers support them, or just search "animated png
support [browser]"

> I made a 10-second clip at 6 fps, 198Hx264W pixels, using apngasm. I tried
> viewing it with tacentview but it was super slow, several seconds per frame.

Maybe there are settings that have to be set to get a smooth, faster view.
Any particular reason you're choosing that format?
I think ImageMagick or even ffmpeg can convert the png files to any other on the
fly, and a lot of people have had great success with those.
I've managed to make pretty decent animations, and even remove whatever bloat is
inherent in the files to make the file _size_ smaller, but keeping the same
apparent resolution and image quality.

> I am currently generating the frames for the same clip at 60 fps, 600 frames
> total, 990x1320. It should be finished on Saturday morning.

Also search for 'animated png' here on the forums - I got a good number of hits.

- BW

[Jonathan Bush] Animated png on Linux [839 days 10 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Wed, 3 Jan 2024 13:35:00 GMT

I am new to this form of animation. My system is Linux:

System:
  Host: XPS Kernel: 5.15.0-91-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce 4.18.1
    Distro: Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria
CPU:
  Info: quad core Intel Core i7-6700 [MT MCP] speed (MHz): avg: 3700
    min/max: 800/4000
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK208B [GeForce GT 730] driver: nvidia v: 470.223.02
  Device-3: Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam type: USB
    driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915
    resolution: 1: 1920x1080~60Hz 2: 1680x1050~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730/PCIe/SSE2
    v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.223.02

What is the best (preferably free) software for turning png frames into an
animated png file? Are there different codecs?

I intend to upload my apng to Imgur. Are there upper limits on framerate,
resolution, file size? Do viewers need specific browsers?

I made a 10-second clip at 6 fps, 198Hx264W pixels, using apngasm. I tried
viewing it with tacentview but it was super slow, several seconds per frame.

I am currently generating the frames for the same clip at 60 fps, 600 frames
total, 990x1320. It should be finished on Saturday morning.

I would be grateful for your advice!

[jr] Re: Post-frame: Execution of shellout bash prohi... [841 days 12 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Mon, 1 Jan 2024 11:25:00 GMT

hi,

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> ...
> Thank you! I found and edited the povray.conf file and now bash is working.
> I don't see a way to add SOLVED to the subject, sorry.

yes, "just" newsgroups.  thanks for feeding back, enjoy "povving" :-).


regards, jr.

[Jonathan Bush] Re: Post-frame: Execution of shellout bash prohi... [842 days 6 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 16:50:00 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> > ...
>
> > Since the povray.ini file cannot be told which copy command to execute, I use
> > the post-frame command
> >
> > bash ./fix.sh
>
> BASH is my shell too, in the .ini file though I write, eg
>   post_frame_command = sh postframe.sh
>
> usually with one or more arguments.
>
>
> > ...
> > Execution of shellout 'bash' prohibited
>
> that could be due to the system-wide (named "povray.conf") settings.
>
> to test, try running 'sleep 10' as your post frame command.  that should tell
> you which "situation" you're facing.
>
>
> regards, jr.

Thank you! I found and edited the povray.conf file and now bash is working.

I don't see a way to add SOLVED to the subject, sorry.

[jr] Re: Post-frame: Execution of shellout bash prohi... [842 days 7 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 16:00:00 GMT

hi,

"Jonathan Bush" <djb### [at] gmxcom> wrote:
> ...

> Since the povray.ini file cannot be told which copy command to execute, I use
> the post-frame command
>
> bash ./fix.sh

BASH is my shell too, in the .ini file though I write, eg
  post_frame_command = sh postframe.sh

usually with one or more arguments.

> ...
> Execution of shellout 'bash' prohibited

that could be due to the system-wide (named "povray.conf") settings.

to test, try running 'sleep 10' as your post frame command.  that should tell
you which "situation" you're facing.

regards, jr.

[Jonathan Bush] Post-frame: Execution of shellout bash prohibited [842 days 8 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 14:55:00 GMT

A large portion of my animation is static. To avoid generating the same image
repeatedly, I want to use a post-frame command. When the first frame of a static
interval is made, I want the post frame command to copy the generated image to a
/static subdirectory. For the remaining frames of the static interval, the
POVray code will produce a black frame, and then the post-frame command will
copy the previously generated static frame into the black frame.

Since the povray.ini file cannot be told which copy command to execute, I use
the post-frame command

bash ./fix.sh

where fix.sh is a text file that was written to by the POVray code.

When I try this, I get the error

Execution of shellout 'bash' prohibited

My OS is Linux Mint and my POVray build 3.7.0.10 is an unofficial version
compiled by Andreas Beckmann.

Is there any way I can get my bash command to execute?

Should I contact Mr. Beckmann?

Thank you.

[Mike Miller] Re: Desert [874 days 11 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:20:00 GMT

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> Just doodling: <https://youtu.be/jbKjfg7O3Ps>
>
> (Right-click video & set to loop)
>
> m@


Cool concept - a bit on strange side, which I like. The arm and body movement
looks natural. Well done.
Mike.

[m@b] Desert [874 days 22 hours and 35 minutes ago]

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 01:10:56 GMT

Just doodling: <https://youtu.be/jbKjfg7O3Ps>

(Right-click video & set to loop)

m@

[Dick Balaska] Re: How to enquiry [1272 days 2 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 21:10:22 GMT

On 10/27/2022 11:11, Le_Forgeron wrote:
> Le 19/10/2022 Ã  18:38, santividal a Ã©critÂ :
>> Him I am trying to replicate this water droplets all around the tap 
>> -see the
>> image attached-, so maybe a series of droplets every 12 or 24 degrees 
>> around z
>> axis. How should I do that? I know it is a beginner trick, but I am 
>> trying
>> different #while sentences and it doesn't seem to work out. Could 
>> somebody help
>> me? Here is the code I am using to achieve the droplets look like a 
>> trajectory.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any help,
>>
>>
> 
> #for( kk, 0, 359, 12)
> 
>> // FUENTE SUPERIOR
>>
>> #declare posX = 0.02;
>> #declare posY = 0.82;
>> #declare dy = 0.055;
>> #declare posZ=0;
>> #declare posZ= <0,0,posZ+12>;
>>
>>
>> Â Â Â Â  #while (posX < 0.3)
>> Â Â Â Â  sphere {
	posX*x, 0.01
// >> Â Â Â Â  <posX,posY,0>, 0.01
> 
> 	rotate kk*vertical_axis
	translate posZ*z
> 
>> Â Â Â Â  material { agua }Â  }
>> Â Â Â Â  #declare dy = dy - 0.01;
>> Â Â Â Â  #declare posX = posX + 0.02;
>> Â Â Â Â  #declare posY = (posY + dy);
>> Â Â Â Â  #end
>>
> 
> #end
> 

You want to work with your object at the origin (<0,0,0>), manipulate 
it, then translate it to it's final position. I think you are assuming 
that the fountain stem is at <0,0,0>. What if you move it?  SO here, 
what you really want to do is define a max radius for your circle sweep.

#local maxRad = 0.3;
#declare FountainSpray=
union {
     #local dy = 0.055;
     #local YY = 0.82;
     #for (MR, 0.02, maxRad, 0.02)
         #for (KK, 0, 359, 12)
             sphere {
                 MR*x, 0.01
                 rotate KK*y
                 translate YY*y
             }
         #end
         #local dy = dy-0.01;
         #local YY = (YY+dy);
     #end
//    material {agua}
     material{ texture { Glass3  } // end of texture
               interior{ I_Glass } // end of interior
             } // end of material -------------------

}

#declare FountainPos = <0,0,0>;
object {FountainSpray translate FountainPos}

[Le Forgeron] Re: How to enquiry [1272 days 8 hours and 34 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 15:11:56 GMT

Le 19/10/2022 Ã  18:38, santividal a Ã©critÂ :
> Him I am trying to replicate this water droplets all around the tap -see the
> image attached-, so maybe a series of droplets every 12 or 24 degrees around z
> axis. How should I do that? I know it is a beginner trick, but I am trying
> different #while sentences and it doesn't seem to work out. Could somebody help
> me? Here is the code I am using to achieve the droplets look like a trajectory.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help,
> 
> 

#for( kk, 0, 359, 12)

> // FUENTE SUPERIOR
> 
> #declare posX = 0.02;
> #declare posY = 0.82;
> #declare dy = 0.055;
> #declare posZ=0;
> #declare posZ= <0,0,posZ+12>;
> 
> 
>      #while (posX < 0.3)
>      sphere {
>      <posX,posY,0>, 0.01

rotate kk*vertical_axis

>      material { agua }  }
>      #declare dy = dy - 0.01;
>      #declare posX = posX + 0.02;
>      #declare posY = (posY + dy);
>      #end
> 

#end

[santividal] How to enquiry [1280 days 7 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 16:40:00 GMT

Him I am trying to replicate this water droplets all around the tap -see the
image attached-, so maybe a series of droplets every 12 or 24 degrees around z
axis. How should I do that? I know it is a beginner trick, but I am trying
different #while sentences and it doesn't seem to work out. Could somebody help
me? Here is the code I am using to achieve the droplets look like a trajectory.

Thanks in advance for any help,


// FUENTE SUPERIOR

#declare posX = 0.02;
#declare posY = 0.82;
#declare dy = 0.055;
#declare posZ=0;
#declare posZ= <0,0,posZ+12>;


    #while (posX < 0.3)
    sphere {
    <posX,posY,0>, 0.01
    material { agua }  }
    #declare dy = dy - 0.01;
    #declare posX = posX + 0.02;
    #declare posY = (posY + dy);
    #end

[jr] Re: 3d animation? [1395 days 7 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sun, 26 Jun 2022 16:05:00 GMT

hi,

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Does any body do 3d animation? The red\blue anaglyph kind.

no, however

> ...
> So thanks for any feed back!

I think "system 2" has at least the advantage that it could be useful to
non-Windows users, if the shell script can be adapted.  $0.02.  :-)

regards, jr.

[Leroy] 3d animation? [1395 days 8 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sun, 26 Jun 2022 15:35:00 GMT

Does any body do 3d animation? The red\blue anaglyph kind.

I wrote a windows program to combine the two 2d images into the 3d anaglyph.
Really rewrote my old 'RB_3d' program at <http://leroyw.byethost15.com/>
by adding a batch run that can do animation files.

When I was about to upgrade my web site, I thought about upgrading the POV files
that comes with 'RB_3d'. While going through them I need to know just what did
I want to do.
 If I had POV make both left and right 2d images one after the other using
animation in the ini file, I have to either rewrite the batch to skip files or
use POV shells to rename the 2d image files. So I started on how POV shells
work.
I wrote a shell program to do renaming. But I wasn't satisfied, I still had a
lot of disk space being use. A 800 frame animation would have 2400 images on
disk.
I could get rid of 2/3 of those files, if I use POV to make the 3d image from
the two 2d image already on the disk then delete the 2d images.

Now I have TWO systems to make animated Anaglyphs.

system 1 : POV makes all the left images for an animation
           POV makes all the Right images for an animation
           use RB_3d to combine images
           make animation using your favorite tools
system 2 : using animation in POV ini with my shell program
           POV makes the 3d images for an animation
           make animation using your favorite tools

Now I really have a choice. Do I?

 1:put both on my web site

 2:put system 1 only on my web site

 3:put system 2 only on my web site

 4: don't do any thing

So thanks for any feed back!

Have fun!

[Kenneth] Re: Stevenson's Rocket [1432 days 3 hours and 1 minute ago]

Fri, 20 May 2022 20:45:00 GMT

That is really nicely-done. So many parts! I can guess that this animation took
a lot of pre-planning. I like your smooth camera decelerations too, a detail
which is often overlooked in POV-ray animations.

As the parts come together, I at first thought that they were all scaling
larger-- but it is the camera that is moving closer.

This is inspiring; thanks for the post and the hard work.

[jr] Re: Stevenson's Rocket [1433 days 5 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Thu, 19 May 2022 18:30:00 GMT

hi,

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> My latest animation:

lovely to watch, thanks.


regards, jr.

[Ton] Re: Stevenson's Rocket [1434 days and 11 minutes ago]

Wed, 18 May 2022 23:35:00 GMT

Well done. I know this must have been a lot of work. I did a Rocket three years
ago, without a movie, and that was hard enough.

Cheers
Ton.

[m@b] Stevenson's Rocket [1435 days 4 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Tue, 17 May 2022 18:54:56 GMT

My latest animation:

<https://youtu.be/tJ02jEhmijk>

m@

[Kenneth] Re: Animation macros [1473 days 22 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Sat, 9 Apr 2022 01:25:00 GMT

The macro appears to run OK as-is in v3.8.0 beta 1 (in Windows), at least no
fatal errors-- if I'm testing it correctly. I used these arbitrary values when
calling the macro, without any other code...

Soft_Transition(8,3,4,6,5,.1)

... although I have no idea what the result of those values is, since I didn't
actually use the macro for anything ;-)

[Cousin Ricky] Re: Animation macros [1474 days 9 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Fri, 8 Apr 2022 13:50:00 GMT

"Shadowbeast007" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>
> How can i let a part of code run as a macro and then define a return value?

When in doubt, wrap the macro in parentheses.  See if this works:

#macro Soft_Transition(time,t1,t2,V1,V2,theta)
(
    #local a=(V2-V1)/(2*(t2-t1)*(t2-t1)*(theta-theta*theta));
    #local b=2*a*theta*(t2-t1);
    #switch(time)
        #range(t1,t1+theta*(t2-t1))//soft transition at beginning
            V1-a*(time-t1)*(time-t1)
        #break
        #range(t1+theta*(t2-t1)+0.001,t2-theta*(t2-t1))//linear center range
            V1-a*theta*theta*(t2-t1)*(t2-t1)-b*(time-t1-theta*(t2-t1))
        #break
        #range(t2-theta*(t2-t1)+0.001,t2)//soft transition at end
            V2+a*(t2-time)*(t2-time)
        #break
    #end
)
#end

P.S.  The word 'time' shows up in a different color in my editor, which means
that someone, somewhere, used 'time' as a keyword in a well-known unofficial
patch.  I would change it to 'Time' in case the POV development team decides to
make it official.  It is recommended that all identifiers contain at least one
capital letter.

[jr] Re: Animation macros [1474 days 13 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Fri, 8 Apr 2022 10:25:00 GMT

hi,

"Shadowbeast007" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> to get smooth transitions in animations i thought about writing a macro that
> changes values depending on the time in three ranges. However, I can't get a
> switch statement in a macro running.
> How can i let a part of code run as a macro and then define a return value?
> My macro code looks like that:
>
> #macro Soft_Transition(time,t1,t2,V1,V2,theta)
>     #local a=(V2-V1)/(2*(t2-t1)*(t2-t1)*(theta-theta*theta));
>     #local b=2*a*theta*(t2-t1);
>     #switch(time)
>         #range(t1,t1+theta*(t2-t1))//soft transition at beginning
>             V1-a*(time-t1)*(time-t1)
>         #break
>         #range(t1+theta*(t2-t1)+0.001,t2-theta*(t2-t1))//linear center range
>             V1-a*theta*theta*(t2-t1)*(t2-t1)-b*(time-t1-theta*(t2-t1))
>         #break
>         #range(t2-theta*(t2-t1)+0.001,t2)//soft transition at end
>             V2+a*(t2-time)*(t2-time)
>         #break
>     #end
> #end
>
> Any help would really be appreciated

you have two options I think.  either supply another parameter and use that to
return the value in, or, having calculated the return value 'r_', return that
directly, ie

#macro x()
  #local r_ = ... ;
  ...
  r_
#end


regards, jr.

[Shadowbeast007] Animation macros [1474 days 14 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Fri, 8 Apr 2022 09:35:00 GMT

Hi,

to get smooth transitions in animations i thought about writing a macro that
changes values depending on the time in three ranges. However, I can't get a
switch statement in a macro running.
How can i let a part of code run as a macro and then define a return value?
My macro code looks like that:

#macro Soft_Transition(time,t1,t2,V1,V2,theta)
    #local a=(V2-V1)/(2*(t2-t1)*(t2-t1)*(theta-theta*theta));
    #local b=2*a*theta*(t2-t1);
    #switch(time)
        #range(t1,t1+theta*(t2-t1))//soft transition at beginning
            V1-a*(time-t1)*(time-t1)
        #break
        #range(t1+theta*(t2-t1)+0.001,t2-theta*(t2-t1))//linear center range
            V1-a*theta*theta*(t2-t1)*(t2-t1)-b*(time-t1-theta*(t2-t1))
        #break
        #range(t2-theta*(t2-t1)+0.001,t2)//soft transition at end
            V2+a*(t2-time)*(t2-time)
        #break
    #end
#end

Any help would really be appreciated

[Cousin Ricky] Re: Capitol [1520 days 5 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 18:14:48 GMT

On 2022-02-21 00:32 (-4), m@b wrote:
> On 20/02/2022 7:54 pm, Kenneth wrote:
>> That is really impressive-- the animation, the very complex model, and
>> even the
>> jaunty and fun music choice. That statue on top of the dome is a
>> beauty; I guess
>> that's a pre-made model that you found somewhere?
> 
> Yes - from here:
>
<https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa2s1R3JmektqZWVJUkJncnhsaDE5SXBtRFhnZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttQjdOa0hFMFhiMGthY280a3RRUGxPNEpPc2h0bzgyVlB2TUItSE5rRDBNbHJCTTBqS21Rem5RVkdlR20zTllQMHJXcWhENnJVYlYzZ21xYXVqR085WHBxVFV6bFJYb2lMeEhUdVRCMlNQUXJvTlF3VQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thingiverse.com%2Fthing%3A656337%2Ffiles&v=msDLJ0bQoF4>

"Statue of Freedom - US Capitol by ckharrison10 is licensed under the
Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike license.
By downloading this thing, you agree to abide by the license: Creative
Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - No Derivatives"

So which is it, ckharrison10?  Is it Attribution Share-Alike or is it
Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives?  Those are two very different
licenses!

[Bald Eagle] Re: Capitol [1520 days 12 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 11:30:00 GMT

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:

> Brilliant.
>
> And scene description language is a good way to distribute plans
> covertly :-)

SHHHHHH!   Inner Circle ONLY!

[m@b] Re: Capitol [1520 days 19 hours and 12 minutes ago]

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 04:34:26 GMT

On 20/02/2022 11:48 pm, Bald Eagle wrote:
> "m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
>> <https://youtu.be/msDLJ0bQoF4>
>>
>> My rendition of the Capitol Building, USA
>>
>> m@
> 
> Careful,
> 
> 
> The FBI seized a "fully constructed" Lego set of the U.S. Capitol from the home
> of an alleged insurrectionist.
> 
> Itâ€™s unclear why he had the Lego set.
> 
> 
> We might soon be reading about how the goon squad conducted a pre-dawn raid on
> your house, and recovered models, files, computer equipment, and a
> fully-detailed digital model of the Capitol Building....   Authorities couldn't
> comment on Matthew's intent, but stated, "It's unclear why he made the CAD-like
> detailed model.... " A pseudonymous member of the online forum focused on the
> software package Matthew used to render the model commented, "... but the
> textures were amazing.  The lighting achieved a great balance of shadows and
> highlights, and the camera positioning throughout the animation was beautifully
> executed."  Digital pictures ("renders") of Matthew were posted to the forum,
> where he was wearing a mask, and the images were cleverly obscured via a
> sophisticated computer algorithm, presumably to obscure his identity and thwart
> facial recognition software.
> 
> 
> Of course, on the other hand, Joe Biden might pardon you like Slick Willy did
> for Susan Rosenberg.
> 
> Rosenberg was charged with a role in bombings at the U.S. Capitol, the U.S.
> National War College and the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association
> building, but these charges were dropped as part of a plea deal by other members
> of her group.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Rosenberg
> 
> Now she's the vice-chair of Thousand Currents that fiscally sponsors Mostly
> Peaceful protests.
> 
> https://www.influencewatch.org/person/susan-rosenberg/
> 
> 
> It's a funny world we live in, and the rabbit hole goes _DEEP_
> 
> 

Brilliant.

And scene description language is a good way to distribute plans 
covertly :-)

m@

[m@b] Re: Capitol [1520 days 19 hours and 13 minutes ago]

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 04:32:49 GMT

On 20/02/2022 7:54 pm, Kenneth wrote:
> That is really impressive-- the animation, the very complex model, and even the
> jaunty and fun music choice. That statue on top of the dome is a beauty; I guess
> that's a pre-made model that you found somewhere?

Yes - from here: 
<https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa2s1R3JmektqZWVJUkJncnhsaDE5SXBtRFhnZ3xBQ3Jtc0ttQjdOa0hFMFhiMGthY280a3RRUGxPNEpPc2h0bzgyVlB2TUItSE5rRDBNbHJCTTBqS21Rem5RVkdlR20zTllQMHJXcWhENnJVYlYzZ21xYXVqR085WHBxVFV6bFJYb2lMeEhUdVRCMlNQUXJvTlF3VQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thingiverse.com%2Fthing%3A656337%2Ffiles&v=msDLJ0bQoF4>

> 
> For the beginning of the animation, I was wondering if you chose to substitute a
> much-less complex Capitol model, just to cut down on scene parsing time. Not
> that it *looks like* a simpler one, of course.

For the overhead shot I did not render anything below roof height.

There is a low-fi version of the statue for the for the more distant 
shots. (the full version is 1 000 000 vertices, so slow to load)

[Kenneth] Re: Capitol [1521 days 1 hour and 21 minutes ago]

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 22:25:00 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> > <https://youtu.be/msDLJ0bQoF4>
> >
> > My rendition of the Capitol Building, USA
> >
> > m@
>
> Careful,
>
> The FBI seized a "fully constructed" Lego set of the U.S. Capitol from
> the home of an alleged insurrectionist.
>

FUNNY! If not true.
Funny and SCARY! If true.

"President Of Lego International Company Arrested For Sedition!"
"FBI Seizes Assets Of Lego Company In Pre-Dawn Raid!"

Legos! Of course! So *that's* how the insurrectionists developed their
perfectly-executed plan (????) of taking over the Capitol. Of course, these
geniuses first had to learn how to build with Legos: "Hmm, I put one brick
here...then another brick there..." After 8 years and 27 failed attempts, they
finally had their Capitol  model. With a precision of one Lego brick.

Personally, I use Meccano toys and Erector Sets to build *my* insurrectionist
model of the Capitol. That way, I can add fun stuff like working elevators, and
the tram in the basement. It's all about the details :-P

[Bald Eagle] Re: Capitol [1521 days 7 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 15:50:00 GMT

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> <https://youtu.be/msDLJ0bQoF4>
>
> My rendition of the Capitol Building, USA
>
> m@

Careful,

The FBI seized a "fully constructed" Lego set of the U.S. Capitol from the home
of an alleged insurrectionist.

It’s unclear why he had the Lego set.

We might soon be reading about how the goon squad conducted a pre-dawn raid on
your house, and recovered models, files, computer equipment, and a
fully-detailed digital model of the Capitol Building....   Authorities couldn't
comment on Matthew's intent, but stated, "It's unclear why he made the CAD-like
detailed model.... " A pseudonymous member of the online forum focused on the
software package Matthew used to render the model commented, "... but the
textures were amazing.  The lighting achieved a great balance of shadows and
highlights, and the camera positioning throughout the animation was beautifully
executed."  Digital pictures ("renders") of Matthew were posted to the forum,
where he was wearing a mask, and the images were cleverly obscured via a
sophisticated computer algorithm, presumably to obscure his identity and thwart
facial recognition software.

Of course, on the other hand, Joe Biden might pardon you like Slick Willy did
for Susan Rosenberg.

Rosenberg was charged with a role in bombings at the U.S. Capitol, the U.S.
National War College and the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association
building, but these charges were dropped as part of a plea deal by other members
of her group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Rosenberg

Now she's the vice-chair of Thousand Currents that fiscally sponsors Mostly
Peaceful protests.

https://www.influencewatch.org/person/susan-rosenberg/

It's a funny world we live in, and the rabbit hole goes _DEEP_

[Kenneth] Re: Capitol [1521 days 11 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 11:55:00 GMT

That is really impressive-- the animation, the very complex model, and even the
jaunty and fun music choice. That statue on top of the dome is a beauty; I guess
that's a pre-made model that you found somewhere?

For the beginning of the animation, I was wondering if you chose to substitute a
much-less complex Capitol model, just to cut down on scene parsing time. Not
that it *looks like* a simpler one, of course.

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Capitol [1521 days 16 hours and 27 minutes ago]

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 07:19:27 GMT

Op 20/02/2022 om 04:27 schreef m@b:
> <https://youtu.be/msDLJ0bQoF4>
> 
> My rendition of the Capitol Building, USA
> 
> m@

Wow! Excellent work. A tour inside next? :-)

-- 
Thomas

[m@b] Capitol [1521 days 20 hours and 19 minutes ago]

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 03:27:04 GMT

<https://youtu.be/msDLJ0bQoF4>

My rendition of the Capitol Building, USA

m@

[Bald Eagle] Re: Animating dirt [1556 days 1 hour and 51 minutes ago]

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 21:55:00 GMT

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> I made some construction equipment Dump Tuck, Back Hoe, Bulldozer and was
> thinking that I should put them to work digging and dumping dirt. And I was
> wondering whats the fastest and easiest way to do it. The digging is not the
> hard part. Its the dumping.
>  I guess using spheres or blobs with a particle system could be used. They could
> be slow. And Blobs are ..... just well, Blobs.
>  Thought of using morphing one mesh2 into another but I need better software for
> that.
>  I though I ask here just What you would do?
>
> Tanks for any replies.

Well, the only thing I can think of besides a particle system and discrete
objects, would be media, isosurface, or a texture of some sort.   The kind of
thing where all of the dirt would be encoded already, and you'd just animate the
translation / rotation / turbulence to give it a moving "look".

[Leroy] Animating dirt [1556 days 4 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 19:10:00 GMT

I made some construction equipment Dump Tuck, Back Hoe, Bulldozer and was
thinking that I should put them to work digging and dumping dirt. And I was
wondering whats the fastest and easiest way to do it. The digging is not the
hard part. Its the dumping.
 I guess using spheres or blobs with a particle system could be used. They could
be slow. And Blobs are ..... just well, Blobs.
 Thought of using morphing one mesh2 into another but I need better software for
that.
 I though I ask here just What you would do?

Tanks for any replies.

[koppi] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [1581 days 11 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 12:40:00 GMT

"Steve Anger" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Before I get too far I thought I'd check if someone else has set something like
> this up already.

Hi Steve, sorry for my late reply, but perhaps it is of any interest for you:

I'm running POV-Ray with the help of the Slurm Workload manager on Linux
machines (Google- or Amazon-cloud), see the two YouTube videos:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lligATtAWs ,
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI8EPsuRrsU ,

and a bit of documentation on GitHub, Inc.:

* https://github.com/bullet-physics-playground/demo-povay-slurm#readme

Hth. Kind regards, Koppi

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Lute [1635 days 10 hours and 29 minutes ago]

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 13:16:59 GMT

Op 29-10-2021 om 12:45 schreef m@b:
> Fa diddly la.
> 
> <https://youtu.be/54PTS2CnI-A>
> 
> m@

That begs for some Dowland!

-- 
Thomas

[m@b] Lute [1635 days 13 hours ago]

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 10:45:41 GMT

Fa diddly la.

<https://youtu.be/54PTS2CnI-A>

m@

[Thomas de Groot] Re: =3D?UTF-8?Q?Re=3D3a_Agostino_Ramelli=3De2=3D... [1637 days 16 hours and 57 minutes ago]

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 06:49:24 GMT

Op 26/10/2021 om 12:53 schreef Tor Olav Kristensen:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> Maybe the Voynich Ms might find a place on the wheel... :-)
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
> 
> It seems that the Voynich manuscript has now been decoded:
> https://sivbuggevatne.com/portfolio/cracking-the-voynich-cipher/
> 
> Siv Bugge Vatne is a Norwegian visual artist.
> 

Interesting stuff. Plants seem indeed to provide the key to decoding. 
Siv Bugge Vatne did a smart job here. She did not go deeper into the 
text itself it seems.

-- 
Thomas

[Tor Olav Kristensen] Re: =3D?UTF-8?Q?Re=3D3a_Agostino_Ramelli=3De2=3D... [1638 days 12 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 10:55:00 GMT

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> Maybe the Voynich Ms might find a place on the wheel... :-)
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

It seems that the Voynich manuscript has now been decoded:
https://sivbuggevatne.com/portfolio/cracking-the-voynich-cipher/

Siv Bugge Vatne is a Norwegian visual artist.

--
Tor Olav
http://subcube.com
https://github.com/t-o-k

[Bald Eagle] Re: =3D?UTF-8?Q?Re=3D3a_Agostino_Ramelli=3De2=3D... [1655 days 9 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sat, 9 Oct 2021 14:00:00 GMT

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> On 06/10/2021 2:50 pm, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> > Maybe the Voynich Ms might find a place on the wheel... :-)
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
> >
> >
>
> Thanks - a fascinating document, worth some more reading.

If you look, you can find PDF copies of the whole thing.

Lots of amazing stuff out there.  I even found a copy of
R. Gordon Wasson's  _Musrooms, Russia, and History_  :O

Another amazing animation, as always - there's a LOT going on with the
animation, changing camera, visual effects, and music.  That must take quite
some time to set up!

Also the perfect setting for a few well-placed POV-Ray 'Easter eggs'.  ;)

[m@b] --- [1655 days 22 hours and 43 minutes ago]

Sat, 9 Oct 2021 01:03:09 GMT

On 06/10/2021 2:50 pm, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> Maybe the Voynich Ms might find a place on the wheel... :-)
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript
> 
> 

Thanks - a fascinating document, worth some more reading.

[Leroy] Re: Quantum Robots [1657 days 7 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Thu, 7 Oct 2021 16:15:00 GMT

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Does any one use this old robot system made for POV?
> I thinking of either Taking It Off my Web Site or updating it with the 15 years
> of things I've done.
> It is at http://leroyw.byethost15.com/
> for those who don't know about it.
> Have Fun!

Do to the over whelming response Quatum Robot is now GONE!

[Thomas de Groot] --- [1658 days 16 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Wed, 6 Oct 2021 06:50:18 GMT

Maybe the Voynich Ms might find a place on the wheel... :-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript


-- 
Thomas

[Ton] Re: =3D?UTF-8?Q?Agostino_Ramelli=3De2=3D80=3D99s... [1659 days and 11 minutes ago]

Tue, 5 Oct 2021 23:35:00 GMT

A nice room to spend a couple of hours in...

Also thanks for the public domain review link. Interesting website.

Cheers
Ton.

[Thomas de Groot] --- [1660 days 17 hours and 14 minutes ago]

Mon, 4 Oct 2021 06:31:33 GMT

Op 04/10/2021 om 03:36 schreef m@b:
>
<https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/persian-demons-from-a-book-of-magic-and-astrology-1921>

> 
> 
> The Public Domain Review is an excellent source of the weird and wonderful.
> 
> https://polyhaven.com/a/sunflowers
> 

Perfect! Thank you very much indeed.

-- 
Thomas

[m@b] --- [1660 days 22 hours and 9 minutes ago]

Mon, 4 Oct 2021 01:36:29 GMT

On 03/10/2021 7:41 pm, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> Op 3-10-2021 om 09:56 schreef m@b:
>> My latest animation:
>>
>> <https://youtu.be/M5VC_oSY8xs>
>>
>> m@
> Brilliant!
> 
> (I wondered what the /Arabian/ book was? with the monsters? 

<https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/persian-demons-from-a-book-of-magic-and-astrology-1921>

The Public Domain Review is an excellent source of the weird and wonderful.


And I wanted
> to go outside... a glimpse of landscape through the windows...)
> 

https://polyhaven.com/a/sunflowers

[William F Pokorny] --- [1661 days 11 hours and 38 minutes ago]

Sun, 3 Oct 2021 12:07:29 GMT

On 10/3/21 3:56 AM, m@b wrote:
> My latest animation:
> 
> <https://youtu.be/M5VC_oSY8xs>
> 
> m@

Terrific! Egg and all.

Bill P.

[Thomas de Groot] --- [1661 days 12 hours and 5 minutes ago]

Sun, 3 Oct 2021 11:41:14 GMT

Op 3-10-2021 om 09:56 schreef m@b:
> My latest animation:
> 
> <https://youtu.be/M5VC_oSY8xs>
> 
> m@
Brilliant!

(I wondered what the /Arabian/ book was? with the monsters? And I wanted 
to go outside... a glimpse of landscape through the windows...)

-- 
Thomas

[m@b] --- [1661 days 15 hours and 50 minutes ago]

Sun, 3 Oct 2021 07:56:16 GMT

My latest animation:

<https://youtu.be/M5VC_oSY8xs>

m@

[Dick Balaska] Re: Recursion [1669 days 21 hours and 33 minutes ago]

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 02:12:35 GMT

On 6/6/2021 8:10 AM, m@b wrote:
> An experiment in recursion inspired by "Three Spheres II", a lithograph 
> print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher
> 
> <https://youtu.be/gUzp0Bc6u1I>

I love the golf ball!

-- 
dik
Rendered 50,081,587,200 of 50,081,587,200 pixels (100%)

[Leroy] POV Storyboards [1720 days 5 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Aug 2021 17:50:00 GMT

I was going over my old pov files and I got to wondering if anyone has made a
storyboard system with POV. You see I've made a couple of pov files (Credits &
Fader) that I haven't use to their full potential. And I thought that maybe a
storyboard made with pov would help. I haven't ever found a storyboard on the
net that I fell in love with.
Just wondering Have fun!

[clipka] Re: Multithreading an animation with a post-fram... [1726 days 5 hours and 4 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 18:41:50 GMT

Am 30.07.2021 um 19:00 schrieb Jonathan Bush:
> When generating the frames of an animation with more than one thread, does an
> entire frame finish, including any post frame command, before the next frame
> begins? Thank you.

Yes.

[Jonathan Bush] Multithreading an animation with a post-frame co... [1726 days 6 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 17:05:00 GMT

When generating the frames of an animation with more than one thread, does an
entire frame finish, including any post frame command, before the next frame
begins? Thank you.

[Leroy] Quantum Robots [1727 days 5 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 18:05:00 GMT

Does any one use this old robot system made for POV?
I thinking of either Taking It Off my Web Site or updating it with the 15 years
of things I've done.
It is at http://leroyw.byethost15.com/
for those who don't know about it.
Have Fun!

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Recursion [1777 days 12 hours and 37 minutes ago]

Wed, 9 Jun 2021 11:08:56 GMT

Op 6-6-2021 om 14:10 schreef m@b:
> An experiment in recursion inspired by "Three Spheres II", a lithograph 
> print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher
> 
> <https://youtu.be/gUzp0Bc6u1I>

Very nice indeed.

-- 
Thomas

[BayashiPascal] Re: Recursion [1777 days 14 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Wed, 9 Jun 2021 09:05:00 GMT

Nice trick :-)



"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> On 09/06/2021 12:02 pm, BayashiPascal wrote:
> > Nice. Can you explain how you've done the recursion ?
> >
> > Pascal
> >
> > "m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> >> An experiment in recursion inspired by "Three Spheres II", a lithograph
> >> print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher
> >>
> >> <https://youtu.be/gUzp0Bc6u1I>
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> The image on the table is the previous frame of the animation:
> (frame_number-1)
>
>
> #declare File_name = concat("D:\\Files\\POV-Ray\\ANI0\\PovRay",
> str(frame_number-1,-4,0), ".png")
>
> box{<0,0,0>,<1,1,0.01> pigment{image_map{png File_name}}
> translate<-0.5,-0.5,0> scale<0.854,0.480,1>*15 rotate<90,1,0>}

[m@b] Re: Recursion [1777 days 15 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 9 Jun 2021 08:10:24 GMT

On 09/06/2021 12:02 pm, BayashiPascal wrote:
> Nice. Can you explain how you've done the recursion ?
> 
> Pascal
> 
> "m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
>> An experiment in recursion inspired by "Three Spheres II", a lithograph
>> print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher
>>
>> <https://youtu.be/gUzp0Bc6u1I>
> 
> 
> 



The image on the table is the previous frame of the animation: 
(frame_number-1)


#declare File_name = concat("D:\\Files\\POV-Ray\\ANI0\\PovRay", 
str(frame_number-1,-4,0), ".png")

box{<0,0,0>,<1,1,0.01> pigment{image_map{png File_name}} 
translate<-0.5,-0.5,0> scale<0.854,0.480,1>*15 rotate<90,1,0>}

[BayashiPascal] Re: Recursion [1777 days 19 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Wed, 9 Jun 2021 04:05:00 GMT

Nice. Can you explain how you've done the recursion ?

Pascal

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> An experiment in recursion inspired by "Three Spheres II", a lithograph
> print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher
>
> <https://youtu.be/gUzp0Bc6u1I>

[m@b] Recursion [1780 days 11 hours and 35 minutes ago]

Sun, 6 Jun 2021 12:10:31 GMT

An experiment in recursion inspired by "Three Spheres II", a lithograph 
print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher

<https://youtu.be/gUzp0Bc6u1I>

[Mr] Re: Bring animations into Povray from a separate... [1823 days 17 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sat, 24 Apr 2021 06:30:00 GMT

"PossibleTaco" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> "Mr" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> > > "PossibleTaco" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > > but I haven't had any luck with that. It's probably a small
> > > > detail I'm overlooking.
> > >
> > > What version of Blender, how are you trying to convert it, what example/test
> > > scene are you using, what is the povray output file, and what errors/lack of
> > > results are you seeing?
> >
> >
> > Hi, sorry for the late response, I missed the question. As title got abridged
> > from most meaningful terms in my viewer ! Anyway first thing to know is what OS
> > you're using, is it a Mac? Second is the error message in terminal ? (On windows
> > go first to the menu Window > Toggle System Console)
> >
> > I suspect something but I would really need the feedback to see how things work
> > out of the box and so that I can
> > improve the add-on. you could right click select, copy, and paste this content.
> > If its seems too long to put here try on such a site: https://pastebin.com/ or
> > even just send it to me via any means you see fit.
> >
> > What I suspect is that you didn't point the binary in user preferences, but
> > there is supposed to be automatic setup on some platform, before you get into
> > fixing, can you let me know more?
> >
> > Thanks, Maurice.
>
> I think you're right about the Binary thing, what am I supposed to link that to?
> I'm pretty new to this, sorry for any dumb question.
>
> Okay so I'm using Windows 10
> The scene I'm using is the default scene, I don't change anything, I just switch
> the engine. (I've tried adding in the povray primitives, and using materials and
> stuff with no luck).
> Here's the error I get:
> https://pastebin.com/6M4ffv2U
>
> Hope this helps!

Did you install pov from the official stable 3.7 installer ? normally the
following step would not be necessary if you did (even if you then add an
unofficial version to use in the same directory), but consider your last message
a bug report.

Such simple feedback does help a lot, sorry for the inconvenience, meanwhile,
just provide the first two fields of user paths (Blender main Menu Edit >
Preferences, addons tab button is the window from this picture in the wiki:
https://wiki.povray.org/content/File:Pov_start01.png ). The first two fields
respectively to be filled with the complete
path to 64 bits executable binary name, for instance pvengine64.exe ; and
complete path of "include" folder in second field.
You can also reach me @neopover on facebook or direct email.

[PossibleTaco] Re: Bring animations into Povray from a separate... [1823 days 22 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sat, 24 Apr 2021 01:30:00 GMT

"Mr" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> > "PossibleTaco" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > but I haven't had any luck with that. It's probably a small
> > > detail I'm overlooking.
> >
> > What version of Blender, how are you trying to convert it, what example/test
> > scene are you using, what is the povray output file, and what errors/lack of
> > results are you seeing?
>
>
> Hi, sorry for the late response, I missed the question. As title got abridged
> from most meaningful terms in my viewer ! Anyway first thing to know is what OS
> you're using, is it a Mac? Second is the error message in terminal ? (On windows
> go first to the menu Window > Toggle System Console)
>
> I suspect something but I would really need the feedback to see how things work
> out of the box and so that I can
> improve the add-on. you could right click select, copy, and paste this content.
> If its seems too long to put here try on such a site: https://pastebin.com/ or
> even just send it to me via any means you see fit.
>
> What I suspect is that you didn't point the binary in user preferences, but
> there is supposed to be automatic setup on some platform, before you get into
> fixing, can you let me know more?
>
> Thanks, Maurice.

I think you're right about the Binary thing, what am I supposed to link that to?
I'm pretty new to this, sorry for any dumb question.

Okay so I'm using Windows 10
The scene I'm using is the default scene, I don't change anything, I just switch
the engine. (I've tried adding in the povray primitives, and using materials and
stuff with no luck).
Here's the error I get:
https://pastebin.com/6M4ffv2U

Hope this helps!

[Mr] Re: Bring animations into Povray from a separate... [1824 days 10 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 13:20:00 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "PossibleTaco" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> but I haven't had any luck with that. It's probably a small
> > detail I'm overlooking.
>
> What version of Blender, how are you trying to convert it, what example/test
> scene are you using, what is the povray output file, and what errors/lack of
> results are you seeing?

Hi, sorry for the late response, I missed the question. As title got abridged
from most meaningful terms in my viewer ! Anyway first thing to know is what OS
you're using, is it a Mac? Second is the error message in terminal ? (On windows
go first to the menu Window > Toggle System Console)

I suspect something but I would really need the feedback to see how things work
out of the box and so that I can
improve the add-on. you could right click select, copy, and paste this content.
If its seems too long to put here try on such a site: https://pastebin.com/ or
even just send it to me via any means you see fit.

What I suspect is that you didn't point the binary in user preferences, but
there is supposed to be automatic setup on some platform, before you get into
fixing, can you let me know more?

Thanks, Maurice.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Bring animations into Povray from a separate... [1824 days 12 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 11:20:00 GMT

"PossibleTaco" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
but I haven't had any luck with that. It's probably a small
> detail I'm overlooking.

What version of Blender, how are you trying to convert it, what example/test
scene are you using, what is the povray output file, and what errors/lack of
results are you seeing?

[PossibleTaco] Re: Bring animations into Povray from a separate... [1824 days 21 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 02:00:00 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "PossibleTaco" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > Hi there! I'm brand new to povray and I've had fun messing around with it! I
> > have a couple of questions though;
> > Any way to do an animation in another program like Blender, export it as an FBX,
> > and bring it into povray?
> >
> > Or alternatively, does anyone have any tips for getting povray to work in
> > blender? Does it just not work in 2.9? I can't even get the default scene to
> > render.
>
> Likely Maurice will chime with his expert opinion.
>
> But until then:
>
> https://wiki.povray.org/content/HowTo:Use_POV-Ray_with_Blender
>
> http://mmyllyma.mbnet.fi/combine_blender_pov.html
>
> Other than that, your search engine is your friend.

I've done some research on it, and everything says I should be able to render
the default scene but I haven't had any luck with that. It's probably a small
detail I'm overlooking.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Bring animations into Povray from a separate... [1827 days and 26 minutes ago]

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 23:20:00 GMT

"PossibleTaco" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Hi there! I'm brand new to povray and I've had fun messing around with it! I
> have a couple of questions though;
> Any way to do an animation in another program like Blender, export it as an FBX,
> and bring it into povray?
>
> Or alternatively, does anyone have any tips for getting povray to work in
> blender? Does it just not work in 2.9? I can't even get the default scene to
> render.

Likely Maurice will chime with his expert opinion.

But until then:

https://wiki.povray.org/content/HowTo:Use_POV-Ray_with_Blender

http://mmyllyma.mbnet.fi/combine_blender_pov.html

Other than that, your search engine is your friend.

[PossibleTaco] Bring animations into Povray from a separate pro... [1827 days 1 hour and 26 minutes ago]

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 22:20:00 GMT

Hi there! I'm brand new to povray and I've had fun messing around with it! I
have a couple of questions though;
Any way to do an animation in another program like Blender, export it as an FBX,
and bring it into povray?

Or alternatively, does anyone have any tips for getting povray to work in
blender? Does it just not work in 2.9? I can't even get the default scene to
render.

[m@b] TokTik [1893 days 21 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Sat, 13 Feb 2021 02:09:30 GMT

Things are getting weird:


<https://www.tiktok.com/@matthew.bradwell/video/6892250653024898306>

<https://www.tiktok.com/@matthew.bradwell/video/6928189344071060738>

m@

[jr] Re: bones.inc [1959 days 14 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 9 Dec 2020 09:10:01 GMT

hi,

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> ...I've tried writing a few *basic* inverse-kinematics scenes, and even those
> get complicated; this system looks like a real time-saver. ...

in case you missed it, ingo published an inverse- kinematics "system" (FABRIK)
end of 2018.  did a quick search but all I found was this (somewhat) related
thread:
<http://news.povray.org/povray.general/thread/%3Cweb.5d5ae787adbcedc33936914a0%40news.povray.org%3E/>

regards,jr.

[Kenneth] Re: bones.inc [1959 days 16 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Wed, 9 Dec 2020 07:25:00 GMT

Thanks for re-posting this, I didn't know about it. Looks like a really useful
tool! I've tried writing a few *basic* inverse-kinematics scenes, and even those
get complicated; this system looks like a real time-saver. I hope to play with
it soon.

[Leroy] Re: bones.inc [1959 days 22 hours and 1 minute ago]

Wed, 9 Dec 2020 01:45:01 GMT

"robot guy" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> I had posted a link to my bones.inc forward kinematics include file here about
> ten years ago.  The link is of course old and broken though, so I just uploaded
> it to GitHub:
>
> https://github.com/edrobotguy/bones
>
> bones.inc allows you to create complex skeletons and attach POVray objects to
> them.  Included on the git are a huge readme file and two sample POVray files
> that use bones.inc, one for animating a bipedal robot and another with a snake.
> For the robot, the skeleton is defined right down to the finger bones.
>
> Animation is accomplished by establishing a Pose for a skeleton, where each
> joint angle is specified, and then interpolating between Poses according to the
> clock value.  Chains of these interpolations can create some very complex
> skeleton movements with very little code.

I was going through the old e-mails here and I found this.  I didn't know if I
had downloaded this bone thing or not. I did!, in 2012. I've been playing with
robots for that long?! I had decided to make androids only. I set it up a system
that'll let you adjust bone length. But soon just stuck with one set of bone
lengths. I'm really into animation so I created another system that will take
poses files and with a little effort make animated robots. I'm Now working on a
windows program that will take some of that effort out of making that animation.

Have Fun!!

[William F Pokorny] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1986 days 5 hours and 13 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 18:33:06 GMT

On 11/11/20 4:08 PM, Mï¿½tes wrote:
>> Sorry for my use of terms. I am aware of "Local Group" representing
>> galaxies indeed. Fortunately, Kenneth rightly interpreted my thoughts :-)
> 
> No problem :)
> 
> I added 4 new videos, two different in 2D and 3D.
> All of them test-creations from 1999 as the two previously published.
> But maybe with nice 3D-effects inside.
> 
> Please check the playlist:
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqRFFB9kitzoaILwoMInxo7bd5LY7WEG
> 
> Adios,
> Martin

These are cool - wish I could find my 3D glasses... :-)

Bill P.

[William F Pokorny] Re: Joseph Wright's Orrery [1986 days 5 hours and 24 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 18:21:35 GMT

On 11/11/20 5:55 AM, m@b wrote:
> Another animation:
> 
> <https://youtu.be/GyqQolOK_qI>
> 
> Comments welcome.
> 
> m@

Very well done!

Bill P.

[] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1987 days 2 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 21:10:01 GMT

> Sorry for my use of terms. I am aware of "Local Group" representing
> galaxies indeed. Fortunately, Kenneth rightly interpreted my thoughts :-)

No problem :)

I added 4 new videos, two different in 2D and 3D.
All of them test-creations from 1999 as the two previously published.
But maybe with nice 3D-effects inside.

Please check the playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqRFFB9kitzoaILwoMInxo7bd5LY7WEG

Adios,
Martin

[jr] Re: Joseph Wright's Orrery [1987 days 7 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 16:10:01 GMT

hi,

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> Another animation:
> <https://youtu.be/GyqQolOK_qI>
>
> Comments welcome.

what can one say, except *wow* and/or stunning?!  :-)  beautiful.


regards, jr.

[m@b] Joseph Wright's Orrery [1987 days 12 hours and 50 minutes ago]

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 10:55:48 GMT

Another animation:

<https://youtu.be/GyqQolOK_qI>

Comments welcome.

m@

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1989 days 16 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 9 Nov 2020 07:30:19 GMT

Op 08/11/2020 om 10:50 schreef Mï¿½tes:
>> The Sun is centered in your animation, but is that also the case for its
>> position in the Local Group? Probably not. Does that not introduce a
>> "deformation" in the way the group is viewed from the outside?
> 
> Dont exactly understand what do you mean with that.
> "Local Group" most of the time is used when talking about galaxies.
> And yes, the sun ist centered only in my animation. Beside of that she is the
> center of virtually nothing. Not the Local Cloud, the Local Bubble or anything
> else.
> 
> Here the english Wikipedia-Site of the Local Bubble.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Bubble
> 
> Also you can check out the german site.
> It has a few nice drawings of our surrounding.
> https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokale_Blase
> 

Sorry for my use of terms. I am aware of "Local Group" representing 
galaxies indeed. Fortunately, Kenneth rightly interpreted my thoughts :-)

-- 
Thomas

[] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1990 days 2 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sun, 8 Nov 2020 21:35:01 GMT

Okay, I understand.

I have to make clear, the animation was a first try, not trimmed to be
scientific realistic.

The positions and the distances of the stars are real, I used the 150 NEAREST
Stars in the Database.
The size of the spheres represents more or less the brighness of the stars, but
as you can see only in 2 steps, big and small spheres.
So, for example, a big sphere here can be a 2.9 mag bright star and a small
sphere a 3.0 (the smaller mag = the brighter the star!).
The animation is from 2019 or even 2018, so I dont know the exact parameters.

So yes, it is an optical illusion, that there are groups and brighter on one
side of the sun.

But its interresting to hear that someone things about it and not only wants to
"see" this but also likes to know more details. Maybe I can relive the scripts
in the next weeks and create a more realistic one. And also write about the
exact parameters I used. But I cant promise it, much to do at the moment.

Otherwise I remember, that it was really hard to create an eye-friendly version
and a realistic one at the same time. I tried many different parameters and most
of them didnt look well. The difference of the brightness is so big that most of
the stars disappeared, so I have choosen only big and small spheres.

Mätes

[Kenneth] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1990 days 4 hours and 1 minute ago]

Sun, 8 Nov 2020 19:45:05 GMT

"Mätes" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > The Sun is centered in your animation, but is that also the case for its
> > position in the Local Group? Probably not. Does that not introduce a
> > "deformation" in the way the group is viewed from the outside?
>

> ...And yes, the sun ist centered only in my animation. Beside of that she is the
> center of virtually nothing. Not the Local Cloud, the Local Bubble or anything
> else.
>

Thomas means that if the animation rotates not around the Sun but around star
268 G. Ce instead (for example), ALL of the stars *in your animation* will
appear to be on one side of 268 G. Ce -- with a big empty space on the other
side, creating a different 'visual' deformation of the group. (Star 268 G. Ce is
at the extreme left, when the animation is at the halfway point.)

Yes, I see now that the the apparent 'deformation' of the group of LARGE stars
in the animation is a kind of optical illusion.

Question: Are the 'large' stars actually larger in real size? Or are they just
made larger for the animation because they have the labels?

There are many smaller stars in the animation, and they do appear to be
uniformly distributed in a sphere, more or less. Unfortunately, my red/green
anaglyph glasses make them very dark and hard to see.

Thanks for creating this animation, especially in 3-D.

[] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1990 days 13 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sun, 8 Nov 2020 09:55:00 GMT

> The Sun is centered in your animation, but is that also the case for its
> position in the Local Group? Probably not. Does that not introduce a
> "deformation" in the way the group is viewed from the outside?

Dont exactly understand what do you mean with that.
"Local Group" most of the time is used when talking about galaxies.
And yes, the sun ist centered only in my animation. Beside of that she is the
center of virtually nothing. Not the Local Cloud, the Local Bubble or anything
else.

Here the english Wikipedia-Site of the Local Bubble.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Bubble

Also you can check out the german site.
It has a few nice drawings of our surrounding.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokale_Blase

Mätes

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1990 days 16 hours and 12 minutes ago]

Sun, 8 Nov 2020 07:34:02 GMT

Op 07/11/2020 om 14:09 schreef Mï¿½tes:
>> I like the 3d version, nice level of detail for anaglyph.
>>
>> Same here. It's interesting to see that the stars in our 'local bubble' do not
>> uniformly fill the space.
> 
> Thats why I have done it. I wanted to know where the stars are, what it would
> look like to see the stars from a few lightyears away.
> 
> MÃ¤tes
> 
> 

The Sun is centered in your animation, but is that also the case for its 
position in the Local Group? Probably not. Does that not introduce a 
"deformation" in the way the group is viewed from the outside?

Nice work btw.

-- 
Thomas

[] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1991 days 10 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Nov 2020 13:10:01 GMT

> I like the 3d version, nice level of detail for anaglyph.
>
> Same here. It's interesting to see that the stars in our 'local bubble' do not
> uniformly fill the space.

Thats why I have done it. I wanted to know where the stars are, what it would
look like to see the stars from a few lightyears away.

Mätes

[Kenneth] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1992 days 20 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Fri, 6 Nov 2020 03:20:01 GMT

"StephenS" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

>
> I like the 3d version, nice level of detail for anaglyph.
>

Same here. It's interesting to see that the stars in our 'local bubble' do not
uniformly fill the space, but are sort of bunched-up in one hemisphere, more or
less. (Or maybe that's just a visual effect of some of the stars being larger
than others?)

Nice 3-D effect!

[StephenS] Re: Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1993 days 1 hour and 36 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:10:00 GMT

"Mätes" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> some months/years ago I created an animation that shows the sun and the nearest
> stars around. The Sun is centered, Vega about 25 lightyears away.
> Rendered on a Raspberry Pi 3B.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlhDgHcHHM
>
> Also there is a 3D-anaglyph-version of this video:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BzW-8AcHDY
>
> At the moment I reorder my youtube-account, more of this will be published
> later.
>
> Hope it looks nice,
>
> Mätes

I like the 3d version, nice level of detail for anaglyph.

Stephen S

[] Stars in the suns neighborhood - 3D-Anaglyph [1993 days 5 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Nov 2020 18:20:01 GMT

Hi everyone,

some months/years ago I created an animation that shows the sun and the nearest
stars around. The Sun is centered, Vega about 25 lightyears away.
Rendered on a Raspberry Pi 3B.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlhDgHcHHM

Also there is a 3D-anaglyph-version of this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BzW-8AcHDY

At the moment I reorder my youtube-account, more of this will be published
later.

Hope it looks nice,

Mätes

[Mr] Re: Stonehenge... [2017 days 2 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 20:55:07 GMT

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> ... an archaeologist's dream.
>
> Thanks for the kind words about my "Life gets Tee-Jus" animation.
>
> Here is another one:
>
> https://youtu.be/HDzuLrZB39Q
>
> m@

prettycool :-)

[m@b] Stonehenge... [2017 days 22 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 01:29:30 GMT

... an archaeologist's dream.

Thanks for the kind words about my "Life gets Tee-Jus" animation.

Here is another one:

https://youtu.be/HDzuLrZB39Q

m@

[m@b] Re: Drawing lines... [2024 days 20 hours and 37 minutes ago]

Mon, 5 Oct 2020 03:09:00 GMT

On 12/10/2019 23:15, kurtz le pirate wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have a really stupid question.
> 
> I want to draw a line (a cylinder in fact), between two points in a 
> "gradual way". Let us take two points A and B separated by a distance 
> DIST and trying to do :
> 
> delta = 0
> while (delta < DIST)
>  Â  draw cylinder from A to A+delta
>  Â  increment delta
> end
> 
> And the 'last' cylinder is draw from A to B.
> 
> 
> I'm lost between 'vnormalize', 'vtransform' and 'reorient' :(
> Probably very easy, but I'm ditching.
> 
> 

#declare A = <-2,1,-0.5>;
#declare B = < 3,3, 0.5>;
#declare C = B*clock + A*(1-clock) + <0,0,0.00001>; // Or declare a 
sub-clock

sphere{A,0.2 pigment{rgb<1,0,0>}}
sphere{B,0.2 pigment{rgb<0,0,1>}}

cylinder{A,C,0.1 pigment{rgb<0,1,0>}}

[SafePit] Re: Life gets tee-jus don't it? [2025 days 6 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sun, 4 Oct 2020 16:55:00 GMT

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> I am just getting back into Pov Ray after a break of about 20 years.
>
> Check out my animation: https://youtu.be/djJGXZB6yRE
>
> m@

Nice animation! I like the concept. I thought just the camera that moved until I
realized there was other animations. Had to watch again to see what I missed. :)

[jr] Re: Life gets tee-jus don't it? [2025 days 14 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sun, 4 Oct 2020 08:50:01 GMT

"m@b" <sai### [at] googlemailcom> wrote:
> I am just getting back into Pov Ray after a break of about 20 years.
>
> Check out my animation: https://youtu.be/djJGXZB6yRE
>
> m@

really nice.  (loved the tree rise and "lay down".  :-))


regards, jr.

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Life gets tee-jus don't it? [2025 days 16 hours and 47 minutes ago]

Sun, 4 Oct 2020 06:58:55 GMT

Op 03/10/2020 om 13:50 schreef m@b:
> I am just getting back into Pov Ray after a break of about 20 years.
> 
> Check out my animation: https://youtu.be/djJGXZB6yRE
> 
> m@

THAT was nice, sir! Well done. Not tee-jus at all as far as I am 
concerned ;-)

-- 
Thomas

[Kenneth] Re: Life gets tee-jus don't it? [2025 days 17 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sun, 4 Oct 2020 06:30:00 GMT

That is REALLY enjoyable and fun to watch, with a continuing series of
surprises-- especially the fractal-landscale view at the end; a clever use of
fractals! It is obvious that you put a LOT of work into this scene, and it
shows. You picked a great visual theme and its details. Congratulations, and
well-done.

I happened to have my computer speakers turned off until the end of the video--
and realized that there was music too!

Welcome back to POV'ing. More please. :-)

[Uncle Josh] Re: Pellet Power 2020 [2026 days 6 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Sat, 3 Oct 2020 17:25:00 GMT

"Mr" <mauriceraybaud [at] hotmail dot fr>> wrote:

>
> Nice! The time allowed for reading the sign is slightly short maybe?

Hmmm... You could be right. My wife suggested more time to watch the draping
motion work. It should be easy to fix.


Uncle Josh
Pontificating on the web since 1995

[m@b] Life gets tee-jus don't it? [2026 days 11 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sat, 3 Oct 2020 11:50:11 GMT

I am just getting back into Pov Ray after a break of about 20 years.

Check out my animation: https://youtu.be/djJGXZB6yRE

m@

[Mr] Re: Pellet Power 2020 [2047 days 16 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sat, 12 Sep 2020 06:55:00 GMT

"Uncle Josh" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Long time non-raytracer coming back after, oh, I dunno, 15 years?
>
> I decided to pick up POV-Ray again and updated my 2001 IRTC entry called Pellet
> Power.
>
> I cleaned up the code, adjusted timings, and the whole thing rendered in 5 hours
> 13 minutes.
>
> I've uploaded it to YouTube.
>
> https://youtu.be/AUlLQhpU9D4
>
> Along the way I had to update and improve my animator.inc file and the utility
> to seamlessly connect bicubic patches.
>
> I may be back to ray-tracing more often.

Nice! The time allowed for reading the sign is slightly short maybe?

[jr] Re: Pellet Power 2020 [2054 days 11 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sat, 5 Sep 2020 12:15:00 GMT

hi,

"Uncle Josh" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> ...
> I cleaned up the code, adjusted timings, and the whole thing rendered in 5 hours
> 13 minutes.

nice.  a couple of kW/h well spent.  :-)


regards, jr.

[Uncle Josh] Pellet Power 2020 [2054 days 19 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sat, 5 Sep 2020 03:50:00 GMT

Long time non-raytracer coming back after, oh, I dunno, 15 years?

I decided to pick up POV-Ray again and updated my 2001 IRTC entry called Pellet
Power.

I cleaned up the code, adjusted timings, and the whole thing rendered in 5 hours
13 minutes.

I've uploaded it to YouTube.

https://youtu.be/AUlLQhpU9D4

Along the way I had to update and improve my animator.inc file and the utility
to seamlessly connect bicubic patches.

I may be back to ray-tracing more often.

[Bald Eagle] Re: What are best-practice options for animation? [2071 days 23 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 23:50:00 GMT

"Kima" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

> Although they perfectly work on a single image, I think they create
> visible noises in animation when the background of frames should be identical
> for a smooth transition.

Correct - all images should be generated in a reproducible way - no crand or any
of the other jitter-type effects.

> Do you have any advice for adjusting the command parameters to eliminate noises
> as a result of the difference between frame pixels?

I myself have only ever used pretty simple settings.   height, width, and
antialiasing.

> Or generally, any trick for FFmpeg video generation of POV-RAY images?

I haven't done one in a while, but I posted my command line options here:

http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.animations/message/%3Cweb.5b5540daa3d27573458c7afe0%40news.povray.org%3E/#%3Cweb
.5b5540daa3d27573458c7afe0%40news.povray.org%3E

[Kima] What are best-practice options for animation? [2072 days and 21 minutes ago]

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 23:25:00 GMT

Many options like +J and +TH randomly create noise to improve the visual
appearance. Although they perfectly work on a single image, I think they create
visible noises in animation when the background of frames should be identical
for a smooth transition.

Do you have any advice for adjusting the command parameters to eliminate noises
as a result of the difference between frame pixels?

Or generally, any trick for FFmpeg video generation of POV-RAY images?

[robot guy] bones.inc [2102 days 18 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sun, 19 Jul 2020 05:15:00 GMT

I had posted a link to my bones.inc forward kinematics include file here about
ten years ago.  The link is of course old and broken though, so I just uploaded
it to GitHub:

https://github.com/edrobotguy/bones

bones.inc allows you to create complex skeletons and attach POVray objects to
them.  Included on the git are a huge readme file and two sample POVray files
that use bones.inc, one for animating a bipedal robot and another with a snake.
For the robot, the skeleton is defined right down to the finger bones.

Animation is accomplished by establishing a Pose for a skeleton, where each
joint angle is specified, and then interpolating between Poses according to the
clock value.  Chains of these interpolations can create some very complex
skeleton movements with very little code.

[Dick Balaska] tteoac - Penultimate Edition [2108 days 17 hours and 27 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 06:18:45 GMT

tteoac - Penultimate Edition

http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/

I have released another Through the Eyes of a Child.
Progress stalled in February so I thought I'd put this out.
It's *almost* done, but I just can't work on it, for now.
You might even think it looks done :) but there's 4 things left:

1) Toothbrush bit
2) decorate the bedroom. I need some furniture to help the viewer 
understand the camera rotations better.
3) The kid looks at the non-existant blanket in bed and should pull it 
up.  I wanted to play with macrame simulations for that.
4) The dog should be in the bedroom and jump up and lay down on the bed.


-- 
dik
Rendered 50,081,587,200 of 50,081,587,200 pixels (100%)

[Constantin] Re: Convert POVray animation output to actual vi... [2162 days 12 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Wed, 20 May 2020 11:00:01 GMT

Is there a simple piece of software that accepts frame images, fps and an audio
track as input and produces video files as
> > output?
>
> ffmpeg?
> <https://ffmpeg.org/>
>
>
> regards, jr.


Thanks, problem solved
C.

[Bill Pragnell] Re: Convert POVray animation output to actual vi... [2163 days and 41 minutes ago]

Tue, 19 May 2020 23:05:00 GMT

"Constantin" <con### [at] mcgillca> wrote:
> My understanding is that POV outputs individual frame images but no video files.
> How to convert those to video? Is there a simple piece of software that accepts
> frame images, fps and an audio track as input and produces video files as
> output?

I second ffmpeg!

For a list of frames of the form image0001.png, for example:

ffmpeg -i image%04d.png -c:v libx264 -preset medium -crf 20 output.mp4

should produce a decent H.264 video. There are a huge range of options,
including fps and adding audio, but I'm not an expert. Best to see the
documentation at https://ffmpeg.org/documentation.html, or google for guides
that suit your needs!

Bill

[Bald Eagle] Re: Convert POVray animation output to actual vi... [2163 days 6 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Tue, 19 May 2020 17:35:00 GMT

"Constantin" <con### [at] mcgillca> wrote:
> My understanding is that POV outputs individual frame images but no video files.
> How to convert those to video? Is there a simple piece of software that accepts
> frame images, fps and an audio track as input and produces video files as
> output?

Many people use ffmpeg

When I ran windows, I used some other pieces of software.
VideoMach is super easy.

http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.animations/thread/%3Cweb.5d019356fb906fe54eec112d0%40news.povray.org%3E/

for sound, I used Audacity

It's been a while since I've done one, so I can't really recall the details on
adding in the sound - but if _I_ could do it...    ;)

[jr] Re: Convert POVray animation output to actual vi... [2163 days 10 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Tue, 19 May 2020 13:25:01 GMT

hi,

"Constantin" <con### [at] mcgillca> wrote:
> My understanding is that POV outputs individual frame images but no video files.
> How to convert those to video? Is there a simple piece of software that accepts
> frame images, fps and an audio track as input and produces video files as
> output?

ffmpeg?
<https://ffmpeg.org/>


regards, jr.

[Constantin] Convert POVray animation output to actual video [2163 days 11 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Tue, 19 May 2020 12:15:00 GMT

My understanding is that POV outputs individual frame images but no video files.
How to convert those to video? Is there a simple piece of software that accepts
frame images, fps and an audio track as input and produces video files as
output?

[Constantin] Re: HELP! problem with CSG syntax [2164 days 22 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Mon, 18 May 2020 00:50:01 GMT

"Cousin Ricky" <rickysttATyahooDOTcom> wrote:
> "Constantin" <con### [at] mcgillca> wrote:
> > I consider myself an advanced POV user but this one is mystifies me. I am trying
> > a simple model of a butterfly wing movement in a sort (12 frames, 3/4 sec)
> > animation. This is my code:
>
> You are missing the 'object' keyword:

You were absolutely right, that's all I needed to do. Rusty skills, I hadn't
used POV for years.

Many thanks!

Constantin

[Cousin Ricky] Re: HELP! problem with CSG syntax [2170 days 18 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Tue, 12 May 2020 05:15:00 GMT

"Constantin" <con### [at] mcgillca> wrote:
> I consider myself an advanced POV user but this one is mystifies me. I am trying
> a simple model of a butterfly wing movement in a sort (12 frames, 3/4 sec)
> animation. This is my code:

You are missing the 'object' keyword:

> //rapid downstroke
> #declare startclock=0;
> #declare endclock =4;
> #declare localclock=clock-startclock;
> #if(clock>startclock & clock<=endclock) union { { Rightwing rotate
                                             here^
> <0,0,60-14*localclock>} {Leftwing rotate<0,0,-(60-14*localclock)>}
                 and here^
> rotate<-30,-30,0> translate <30,-(55-localclock), 50> }  #end
>
> //slower return up
> #declare startclock=endclock;
> #declare endcolck=startclock+8;
> #declare localclock=clock-startclock;
> #if( clock>startclock & clock <=endclock) union { { Rightwing rotate<
                                           and here^
> 0,0,7.5*localclock>} {Leftwing rotate<0,0,-7.5*localclock>}  rotate<-20,-35,0>
              and here^
> translate <10,-(54+0.5*localclock), 100>  }  #end
>
> Povray refuses to accept the first #if statement: "No matching } in 'union', {
> found instead" What is wrong with the union syntax?
>
> More puzzling, if I comment out the first #if statement, it accepts the second
> one and proceeds to rendering, even though the union syntax is EXACTLY the same.

The second #if is never satisfied, so POV-Ray never gets to flag it as a syntax
error.

[Constantin] HELP! problem with CSG syntax [2170 days 21 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Tue, 12 May 2020 02:15:00 GMT

I consider myself an advanced POV user but this one is mystifies me. I am trying
a simple model of a butterfly wing movement in a sort (12 frames, 3/4 sec)
animation. This is my code:

//rapid downstroke
#declare startclock=0;
#declare endclock =4;
#declare localclock=clock-startclock;
#if(clock>startclock & clock<=endclock) union { { Rightwing rotate
<0,0,60-14*localclock>} {Leftwing rotate<0,0,-(60-14*localclock)>}
rotate<-30,-30,0> translate <30,-(55-localclock), 50> }  #end

//slower return up
#declare startclock=endclock;
#declare endcolck=startclock+8;
#declare localclock=clock-startclock;
#if( clock>startclock & clock <=endclock) union { { Rightwing rotate<
0,0,7.5*localclock>} {Leftwing rotate<0,0,-7.5*localclock>}  rotate<-20,-35,0>
translate <10,-(54+0.5*localclock), 100>  }  #end

Povray refuses to accept the first #if statement: "No matching } in 'union', {
found instead" What is wrong with the union syntax?

More puzzling, if I comment out the first #if statement, it accepts the second
one and proceeds to rendering, even though the union syntax is EXACTLY the same.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for any help

Constantin

[Dick Balaska] Re: Dodeca World [2196 days 7 hours and 7 minutes ago]

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:39:02 GMT

Am 4/16/20 5:23 AM, also sprach kurtz le pirate:
> On 15/04/2020 18:01, kurtz le pirate wrote:
> 
> Sorry, bad link.
> 
Â Â Â Â <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene028.shtml>
> 
> 

I meant to say ... the other one was your game of life (which you know).

I like this, it's cute!

-- 
dik
Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

[kurtz le pirate] Re: Dodeca World [2196 days 14 hours and 22 minutes ago]

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 09:23:48 GMT

On 15/04/2020 18:01, kurtz le pirate wrote:

Sorry, bad link.
	<http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene028.shtml>


-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[kurtz le pirate] Dodeca World [2197 days 7 hours and 45 minutes ago]

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 16:01:15 GMT

Hi.

Basic animation of a dodecahedron with some buildings on its sides.
The video is not of very good quality after conversion to WebM format.

<http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene027.shtml>

The original video in mpeg4 format (about 100MB) is available on request.


Just for fun...

-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[Mr] Re: Anyone using RTR? [2215 days 7 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 16:05:01 GMT

"Jeff Houck" <jho### [at] northrimnet> wrote:
> I've retired and now find myself with all that "spare time" I never seemed to
> find before. I've returned to some long-shelved POV-Ray projects, including a
> render farm using Raspberry Pi's and some animation stuff. (Some of these
> projects go back 20+ years ... I've been busy.:) )
>
> RTR, Real Time Raytracing, has been in v3.7 but is anyone using it? The devs
> intended to keep it in POV-Ray if it proves popular. So, I'm wondering how
> popular is it with folks?
>
> From the user document: "Note: Currently, it is not possible to save the
> rendered RTR output to disk. We will provide this as an option if we keep RTR in
> POV-Ray."
>
> While both clocked and clockless animation features are possible, it seems to me
> that using RTR gives one another tool in the toolbox.
>
> Comments? Cheers.

Hi,

Definitely one of the features I hope they will keep, but as mentioned: cross
platform consistency (win/linux/mac) is a pre requisite before we invest our
testing and development time for any feature of the blender to POV exporter.

If it is not kept, One day we will have to create a bad emulated version of it
with much degraded render quality like a bunch of command lines to temporarily
drop radiosity , drop aa... so that pov can still have a more interactive and
fast rendering mode in the interactive 3d viewport. But if I have to do that
myself, well... Honestly, it will be much worse than what it currently (almost)
is, and pov would once more look  as if it was a step behind its competition to
the blender community, while it actually performs reasonnably well.(Many of the
Uberpov / HGPOV features like blurry reflections and displacement have the same
kind of attractivity, and I'm waiting for them to be integrated into main POV
trunk before risking any attempt)

That being said, any feature is a lot of work and POV does have a lot ! Thanks
to all devs for all their efforts of which I'm well aware.

[William F Pokorny] Re: Anyone using RTR? [2215 days 19 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 04:10:13 GMT

On 3/27/20 4:11 PM, Jeff Houck wrote:
> I've retired and now find myself with all that "spare time" I never seemed to
> find before. I've returned to some long-shelved POV-Ray projects, including a
> render farm using Raspberry Pi's and some animation stuff. (Some of these
> projects go back 20+ years ... I've been busy.:) )
> 
> RTR, Real Time Raytracing, has been in v3.7 but is anyone using it? The devs
> intended to keep it in POV-Ray if it proves popular. So, I'm wondering how
> popular is it with folks?
> 
>  From the user document: "Note: Currently, it is not possible to save the
> rendered RTR output to disk. We will provide this as an option if we keep RTR in
> POV-Ray."
> 
> While both clocked and clockless animation features are possible, it seems to me
> that using RTR gives one another tool in the toolbox.
> 
> Comments? Cheers.
> 
> 
It's not being used to my knowledge. A few years back perhaps, there was 
a thread discussing the feature. Mostly that it never worked anywhere 
but in the windows implementation - and was there was a bit of a shoe 
horned thing if memory serves.

Ah! There is a github issue for it:

https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301

Aside: My son gave me a Raspberry PI 4 for Christmas! Been playing with 
it on and off and plan to compile and run POV-Ray on it, but not there 
yet. I'm thinking about bulding a small cluster for regularly running 
the test cases I've collected over time.

Bill P.

[Jeff Houck] Anyone using RTR? [2216 days 3 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Fri, 27 Mar 2020 20:15:01 GMT

I've retired and now find myself with all that "spare time" I never seemed to
find before. I've returned to some long-shelved POV-Ray projects, including a
render farm using Raspberry Pi's and some animation stuff. (Some of these
projects go back 20+ years ... I've been busy.:) )

RTR, Real Time Raytracing, has been in v3.7 but is anyone using it? The devs
intended to keep it in POV-Ray if it proves popular. So, I'm wondering how
popular is it with folks?

From the user document: "Note: Currently, it is not possible to save the
rendered RTR output to disk. We will provide this as an option if we keep RTR in
POV-Ray."

While both clocked and clockless animation features are possible, it seems to me
that using RTR gives one another tool in the toolbox.

Comments? Cheers.

[Dick Balaska] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2222 days 4 hours and 19 minutes ago]

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 19:26:54 GMT

Am 3/20/20 7:52 PM, also sprach Leroy:
> It now at
> https://youtu.be/B9fG-p0S4CU
> 
> 

Very cool!  I love the fence. :)

-- 
dik
Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

[William F Pokorny] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2222 days 10 hours and 45 minutes ago]

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 13:01:04 GMT

On 3/20/20 7:50 PM, Leroy wrote:
...
> 
> It at you tube:
> https://youtu.be/B9fG-p0S4CU
> 
Cool. Most complex actual animation I've done was a short fly through of 
a simple scene. Someday maybe...

Are the images of the dirt road and trees from somewhere there in Missouri?

Bill P.

[jr] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2222 days 22 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 01:10:00 GMT

hi,

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> "jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > hi,
> >
> > "Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > > ... I have already done
> > > basic walk trough with boxes for placeholders. It took 45 minutes to render,
> > > seconds to parse each frame.
> >
> > looking forward to the final version.  (hoping it'll be larger frames than the
> > 256x256 "teaser".  :-))
> >
> >
> > regards, jr.
>
> It at you tube:
> https://youtu.be/B9fG-p0S4CU

thanks.  man, you really "went to town", so many nice features.  will update my
'youtube-dl' later this weekend and grab a copy.


regards, jr.

[Leroy] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2222 days 23 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 23:55:02 GMT

It now at
https://youtu.be/B9fG-p0S4CU

[Leroy] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2222 days 23 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 23:55:01 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > ... I have already done
> > basic walk trough with boxes for placeholders. It took 45 minutes to render,
> > seconds to parse each frame.
>
> looking forward to the final version.  (hoping it'll be larger frames than the
> 256x256 "teaser".  :-))
>
>
> regards, jr.

It at you tube:
https://youtu.be/B9fG-p0S4CU

[Leroy] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2223 days and 31 minutes ago]

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 23:15:00 GMT

I'm done!
 I plan to put it on You Tube after I leave here!
It's a full 3 minutes long and only took 48 plus hours to render.

 The {camera & look_at} array, along with a {is viewed} array work out very
well. To make the camera array I had file that contained the key locations and
how to move between them that pov could read and make all the in between
locations. Also pov using debug list all the key points and their times. This
came in handy when I went to make music for my animation.
 I had 16 object that could be viewed at any one time. So I made the {is viewed}
array by using the bounding boxes corners and center with the {camera & look_at}
array to calculate if a object was in view. That worked well no object would go
unnoticed. But the shadows would be. So with a little work I calculated every
shadow corner of a bounding box. I had 3 lights so there was 12 more points for
each object. All of this boiled down to an yes or no element in the {is viewed}
array.
 Most of the objects where animated. Since I never really knew when one would be
in view, they where timed based on the frame_number. So I never had to worry
about timing. He..He..
 Hope you enjoy it!
Have Fun!

[Thomas de Groot] Re: ttbo WiP [2244 days 16 hours and 14 minutes ago]

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 07:31:32 GMT

Op 28/02/2020 om 03:16 schreef Dick Balaska:
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttbo-480p.mp4
> 
> Here is my work in progress for the last scene in my movie.
> I'm actually getting a little freaked out that the end of this 20 year 
> project is near.Â  What will I do with all this software I've written?
> 
> The whole scene is blocked out. I just have to fill it in now.
> I am pretty much done up until the Sharkbottle shoots the tugboat.
> (Although the tugboat moves weird during the chase)
> 
> I had the Soapbergs (icebergs of soap) transparent. They looked cool at 
> 1080p, but they also looked lifeless and bump a frame's render time from 
> minutes to hours.
> 

Sad to see the end of the project indeed but I can imagine you will come 
up with all kinds of offshoots from this project.

Excellent work indeed. Amazing how you have kept on for twenty years.

-- 
Thomas

[Dick Balaska] ttbo WiP [2244 days 21 hours and 29 minutes ago]

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 02:16:37 GMT

http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttbo-480p.mp4

Here is my work in progress for the last scene in my movie.
I'm actually getting a little freaked out that the end of this 20 year 
project is near.  What will I do with all this software I've written?

The whole scene is blocked out. I just have to fill it in now.
I am pretty much done up until the Sharkbottle shoots the tugboat.
(Although the tugboat moves weird during the chase)

I had the Soapbergs (icebergs of soap) transparent. They looked cool at 
1080p, but they also looked lifeless and bump a frame's render time from 
minutes to hours.

-- 
dik
Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

[Steve Anger] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2271 days 3 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sat, 1 Feb 2020 19:55:06 GMT

> It is the official source.
>
>  From memory, so I'm likely wrong:
> In VS2015 load povray.sln.  Enable subproject Console, disable
> subproject Gui.
> Build it.
> It will complain that you need to #define _CONSOLE somewhere, and tell
> you where. (Hint: in my copy it's at
> windows/povconfig/syspovconfig.h:54:// _CONSOLE must be defined when
> building the console version of POVWIN.
> windows/povconfig/syspovconfig.h:56:// #define _CONSOLE
> )
> So do that and rebuild.
>
> et voilÃ !
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

Sounds great. Thanks!

[Dick Balaska] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2272 days 7 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 15:54:36 GMT

Am 1/31/20 9:31 AM, also sprach Steve Anger:
> Dick Balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> 
>> I have povconsole.exe which does what you want.  A gui-less version that
>> I drive from my renderfarm.  It's a little old since I switched my farm
>> to all linux and haven't needed to update it.
>> http://www.buckosoft.com/povclipse2/povray/
>>
>> --
>> dik
>> Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)
> 
> Was there an official source release for that or was it a version you customized
> yourself? I need to use povray-3.8.0 since it corrects a rendering bug that
> existed in the older versions. If you have the source I could update it with the
> latest code.
> 
> 
> 

It is the official source.

 From memory, so I'm likely wrong:
In VS2015 load povray.sln.  Enable subproject Console, disable 
subproject Gui.
Build it.
It will complain that you need to #define _CONSOLE somewhere, and tell 
you where. (Hint: in my copy it's at
windows/povconfig/syspovconfig.h:54:// _CONSOLE must be defined when 
building the console version of POVWIN.
windows/povconfig/syspovconfig.h:56:// #define _CONSOLE
)
So do that and rebuild.

et voilÃ !

-- 
dik
Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

[Steve Anger] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2272 days 9 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 14:35:00 GMT

Dick Balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:

> I have povconsole.exe which does what you want.  A gui-less version that
> I drive from my renderfarm.  It's a little old since I switched my farm
> to all linux and haven't needed to update it.
> http://www.buckosoft.com/povclipse2/povray/
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

Was there an official source release for that or was it a version you customized
yourself? I need to use povray-3.8.0 since it corrects a rendering bug that
existed in the older versions. If you have the source I could update it with the
latest code.

[Dick Balaska] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2273 days and 24 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 23:21:40 GMT

Am 1/30/20 12:53 PM, also sprach Steve Anger:
> "jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> hi,
>>
>> "Steve Anger" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>>> I've hit my first glitch in this process. Years ago I did something similar by
>>> having a script call povray.exe for each frame to render. povray.exe would not
>>> exit until the render of the frame was complete. After povray.exe returned the
>>> script could pick the next frame to render and continue. The current
>>> pvengine32/64.exe program runs asynchronously and returns immediately so the
>>> script can't tell when the render is finished. Also, once pvengine is open you
>>> can't call it again with another .ini file to start another frame.
>>>
>>> Any ideas?
>>
>> on a *nix-like box, your script could, for instance, use 'ps' to see whether
>> POV-Ray is still running.  maybe the Windows Ubuntu sub-system thing provides
>> such tools?
>>
>>
>> regards, jr.
> 
> Unfortunately the pvengine never terminates unless the user manually close it.
> 
> 
> 

I have povconsole.exe which does what you want.  A gui-less version that 
I drive from my renderfarm.  It's a little old since I switched my farm 
to all linux and haven't needed to update it.
http://www.buckosoft.com/povclipse2/povray/

-- 
dik
Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

[Bald Eagle] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2273 days 4 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 19:00:00 GMT

"Steve Anger" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

> Unfortunately the pvengine never terminates unless the user manually close it.

Can you use something like:

Post_Scene_Command=taskkill /f pvengine32/64.exe

in your .ini?

http://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Shell_Command_Options#Shell_Command_Sequencing

https://techieinspire.com/how-to-start-and-end-or-kill-process-using-dos-command-prompt/

[jr] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2273 days 5 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 18:10:00 GMT

hi,

"Steve Anger" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> "jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > "Steve Anger" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > > ...
> > > Any ideas?
> >
> > on a *nix-like box, your script could, for instance, use 'ps' to see whether
> > POV-Ray is still running.  maybe the Windows Ubuntu sub-system thing provides
> > such tools?
> >
> > regards, jr.
>
> Unfortunately the pvengine never terminates unless the user manually close it.

not even when your ini file contains 'pause_when_done = off' ?


regards, jr.

[Steve Anger] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2273 days 5 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 17:55:00 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Steve Anger" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > I've hit my first glitch in this process. Years ago I did something similar by
> > having a script call povray.exe for each frame to render. povray.exe would not
> > exit until the render of the frame was complete. After povray.exe returned the
> > script could pick the next frame to render and continue. The current
> > pvengine32/64.exe program runs asynchronously and returns immediately so the
> > script can't tell when the render is finished. Also, once pvengine is open you
> > can't call it again with another .ini file to start another frame.
> >
> > Any ideas?
>
> on a *nix-like box, your script could, for instance, use 'ps' to see whether
> POV-Ray is still running.  maybe the Windows Ubuntu sub-system thing provides
> such tools?
>
>
> regards, jr.

Unfortunately the pvengine never terminates unless the user manually close it.

[jr] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2273 days 6 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 17:35:01 GMT

hi,

"Steve Anger" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> I've hit my first glitch in this process. Years ago I did something similar by
> having a script call povray.exe for each frame to render. povray.exe would not
> exit until the render of the frame was complete. After povray.exe returned the
> script could pick the next frame to render and continue. The current
> pvengine32/64.exe program runs asynchronously and returns immediately so the
> script can't tell when the render is finished. Also, once pvengine is open you
> can't call it again with another .ini file to start another frame.
>
> Any ideas?

on a *nix-like box, your script could, for instance, use 'ps' to see whether
POV-Ray is still running.  maybe the Windows Ubuntu sub-system thing provides
such tools?


regards, jr.

[Steve Anger] Re: Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2273 days 7 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 16:30:00 GMT

I've hit my first glitch in this process. Years ago I did something similar by
having a script call povray.exe for each frame to render. povray.exe would not
exit until the render of the frame was complete. After povray.exe returned the
script could pick the next frame to render and continue. The current
pvengine32/64.exe program runs asynchronously and returns immediately so the
script can't tell when the render is finished. Also, once pvengine is open you
can't call it again with another .ini file to start another frame.

Any ideas?

[Steve Anger] Scripts for Controlling a Render Farm [2273 days 8 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 14:50:01 GMT

I'm just getting ready to write up some scripts to automatically distribute an
animation job between a number of Windows computers (probably Azure VM's).
Before I get too far I thought I'd check if someone else has set something like
this up already.

Up to now I've been manually creating a separate .INI file for each machine and
assigning it a portion of the job based on the machine's speed. This gets a bit
tedious after a while and makes it difficult to add and remove computers on the
fly.

[jr] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2273 days 13 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 10:00:01 GMT

hi,

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> ... I have already done
> basic walk trough with boxes for placeholders. It took 45 minutes to render,
> seconds to parse each frame.

looking forward to the final version.  (hoping it'll be larger frames than the
256x256 "teaser".  :-))


regards, jr.

[Bald Eagle] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2275 days 23 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 00:35:01 GMT

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

>  I do animations by frame count and most of what I've seen here work with the
> clock. Its not that I don't use the clock, Its that I hate fractions. Frames
> 1450,1451 means more to me than .503647100, 0.503994443.

That sounds good on the surface, but sometimes I do a quick, sparsely populated
animation, just to look it all over and debug anything that's off or left out.
When I want to make it smoother, I just increase the number of frames, and
nothing in my scene file needs to change.

You could always have the clock run from 0 to 2880 in the ini,
or multiply the clock value by 2880 in the scene.

>  The story board is a good idea, but I can ever get one done. I do use an
> outline that changes as I go along.
>
>  My idea about an array of camera locations came about because I wanted to have
> the fastest parse and render times I could get.

I don't quite understand ... but I'm really looking forward to seeing the
results of your coding and animation method!

[Leroy] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2276 days and 31 minutes ago]

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 23:15:00 GMT

Thanks for all your ideas!
 It is interesting to see how other people tackle a problem.
Sorry I've haven't posted earlier. I've been animating and time slipped away.

 I do animations by frame count and most of what I've seen here work with the
clock. Its not that I don't use the clock, Its that I hate fractions. Frames
1450,1451 means more to me than .503647100, 0.503994443.

 The story board is a good idea, but I can ever get one done. I do use an
outline that changes as I go along.

 My idea about an array of camera locations came about because I wanted to have
the fastest parse and render times I could get. The array for my 2880 frame
animation is about the same size as one of my mesh2 belts. I have already done
basic walk trough with boxes for placeholders. It took 45 minutes to render,
seconds to parse each frame.
 I fill the array piecemeal,in sections. You know :go to this location look at
that thing then another location ,look another thing and so on. One thing about
the having an filled array, is that you can go back change any time sections
using values already stored.

Thanks again for all your ideas!

Have Fun

[jr] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2288 days 2 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 21:25:00 GMT

hi,

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> I just wondering how other people here do their animations. ...
>  Any thoughts will handy.

in addition to what has been said already, I'd begin with paper + pen and create
a storyboard.


regards, jr.

[Dick Balaska] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2289 days 18 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 05:24:37 GMT

Am 1/13/20 5:47 PM, also sprach Leroy:
> I just wondering how other people here do their animations. I've done a few,
> some very long 3 minutes or more. I started a new one, a simple walk through,
> around a building with lots of belts and pulleys.
>   On most of my other animations I use one pov file per scene. Each scene had all
> the things needed for that bit of animation. Now that I'm doing a walk through I
> plan on using one file that has every thing needed and drop things not in view.
> I'll have one file that has all the camera locations in an array that will give
> the values for each frame. Then when the values are used drop the array using
> the #undef function.
>   Any thoughts will handy.
> 
> Have Fun!
> 
> 

I'm not following you.  It sounds like you're not using clock the way I 
would.  If it works for you, by all means continue, but I don't 
understand the need to define an array of all possible camera locations 
and then undef'ing them.

#declare sceneLength = 120*seconds;	// (seconds = 1)
#declare myclock = clock*sceneLength;	// inc from 0 to 120 each frame

#declare scene1Start=0;
#declare scene1End=60;
#declare scene2Start=60;
#declare scene2End=120;

// 2 helper macros I use.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Animate this segment of the clock from 0 to 1
#macro AniSegment(_start, _end)
	((myclock-_start)/(_end-_start))
#end

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Move a Vector from, to, increment
#macro MoveV(_from, _to, __i)
	<_from.x+((_to.x-_from.x)*__i),
	 _from.y+((_to.y-_from.y)*__i),
	 _from.z+((_to.z-_from.z)*__i)>
#end

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Move a float: from, to, increment
#macro MoveF(_from, _to, __i)
	(_from+((_to-_from)*__i))
#end

#switch (myclock)
   // Handle the first scene's camera
   #range(scene1Start, scene1End)
     #local I=AniSegment(scene1Start, scene1End);
     #local CameraStart=<0,0,0>;
     #local LookatStart=<0, 0, 100>;
     #local CameraEnd=<0,0,100>;
     #local LookatEnd=<100,0,100>;
     #declare Camera=MoveV(CameraStart, CameraEnd, I);
     #declare Lookat=MoveV(LookatStart, LookatEnd, I);
     #break
   // Handle the second scene's camera
   // Note the camera start is the same as the end of the previous scene
   // This is to make a seamless move, you can jump cut too.
   #range(scene2Start, scene2End)
     #local I=AniSegment(scene2Start, scene2End);
     #local CameraStart=<0,0,100>;
     #local LookatStart=<100, 0, 100>;
     #local CameraEnd=<0,100,100>;
     #local LookatEnd=<100,100,100>;
     #declare Camera=MoveV(CameraStart, CameraEnd, I);
     #declare Lookat=MoveV(LookatStart, LookatEnd, I);
     #break
#end

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Anyway, that's how I would do it.  It looks like more boilerplate to 
setup, but it gives you flexibility.  If you decide to make scene 1 
longer, you only have to change 2 numbers.
Plus, I've abstracted out frame_number.  You can run this at 20 FPS by 
declaring Final_Frame=240 in your ini file, or 30 FPS by
declaring Final_Frame=360.

Here, this is one of my actual director files for my space landing scene.
http://git.buckosoft.com/gitweb/pov.cgi?p=tteoac.git;a=blob;f=ttdo/direct.inc

First, I declare any important positioning vectors.
Second, I declare the timings for the scene.
Third, run the big #declare Camera #switch (line 345)
Forth, run the big #declare Lookat #switch (line 515)
I found that Lookat isn't 100% the same thing as Camera. i.e.
"Look at SpaceLoco, wait a beat, start to walk towards SpaceLoco".
Last, more #switch loops for various timings.  I often have things that 
are point A, then move point A to B, then point B.
So,
#declare Thing1Start=0.75*seconds;
#declare Thing1End=1.0*seconds;

#switch (myclock)
   #range(0, Thing1Start)
     #declare ThingPos=0;
     #break
   #range(Thing1Start, Thing1End)
     #local I=AniSegment(Thing1Start, Thing1End);
     #declare ThingPos=I;  // between 0.75-1.0 seconds, move from 0-1
     #break;
   #range(Thing1End, sceneLength)
     #declare ThingPos=1;
     #break

Oh, my first rule of animation is everything runs from 0-1.
As much as possible every move is from 0-1.
Because once you get that number, you can manipulate it.

Move a vector smoothly from left to right:
#declare V=MoveV(<-100,0,0>, <100,0,0>, ThingPos);

Bring the lights up smoothly from 20% to 80%
#declare LightBright=MoveF(0.0, 0.6, ThingPos)+0.2;


I hope that all makes a little bit of sense. :)

Am 1/13/20 7:09 PM, also sprach Bald Eagle:
 > Dick Balaska obviously has his own mini cinematic production company 
churning
 > away in his living room and across the internet - so that may be on 
another
 > level entirely.  ;)

:D :D :D

-- 
dik
Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

[Bald Eagle] Re: How do you do your Animations? [2289 days 23 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 00:10:01 GMT

"Leroy" <whe### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> I just wondering how other people here do their animations. I've done a few,
> some very long 3 minutes or more. I started a new one, a simple walk through,
> around a building with lots of belts and pulleys.
>  On most of my other animations I use one pov file per scene. Each scene had all
> the things needed for that bit of animation. Now that I'm doing a walk through I
> plan on using one file that has every thing needed and drop things not in view.
> I'll have one file that has all the camera locations in an array that will give
> the values for each frame. Then when the values are used drop the array using
> the #undef function.
>  Any thoughts will handy.

Most of my animations are just straightforward 1-clock-cycle variable scenes.

I did one of a set of tori just for fun, and with that one, I divided the clock
cycle up by using a #switch-range-break block.  Each section of that was 1/10th
of a clock cycle and I just used the current clock value in an equation to make
each section's Clock [meta]variable return 0-1.

I did a walkthrough of a section of a large complex I was working on, and I just
left all of the unseen parts defined.   It didn't seem to matter much, and I
have a lot more memory in my current machine than I did then.
IIRC, I just used a linear spline to direct the camera position.
What you _could_ do is use your clock value and #switch to control a list of
#include files to filter out not-in-view objects.
If you'd like, I also worked out the whole camera view frustum calculations, and
you could somehow check to see if a portion of an object's bounding box was
intersecting the view frustum and then either #declare it as a visible object in
the scene or not.

I'd see about contacting the guy who did the engine animation, or the puzzle
boxes, or any of the other more complicated, step-wise movies with many parts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE04CTpCIdQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oiwvJ3_QR4

Dick Balaska obviously has his own mini cinematic production company churning
away in his living room and across the internet - so that may be on another
level entirely.  ;)

[Leroy] How do you do your Animations? [2290 days and 56 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 22:50:01 GMT

I just wondering how other people here do their animations. I've done a few,
some very long 3 minutes or more. I started a new one, a simple walk through,
around a building with lots of belts and pulleys.
 On most of my other animations I use one pov file per scene. Each scene had all
the things needed for that bit of animation. Now that I'm doing a walk through I
plan on using one file that has every thing needed and drop things not in view.
I'll have one file that has all the camera locations in an array that will give
the values for each frame. Then when the values are used drop the array using
the #undef function.
 Any thoughts will handy.

Have Fun!

[jr] Re: Through the Eyes of a Child - Christmas 2019... [2322 days 4 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 19:00:01 GMT

hi,

Dick Balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> ...
> Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

got to add to the well-earned plaudits, +1.

(very US of A.  you enter an empty house and find the TV is on.  :-))


regards, jr.

[Ton] Re: Through the Eyes of a Child - Christmas 2019... [2322 days 12 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 10:50:00 GMT

Amazing Dick, well done.

A real Magical Mystery Tour with the yellow submarine, and a locomotive rocket,
or rocket locomotive.
Music is good too, good band apparently....

Cheers.
Ton.

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Through the Eyes of a Child - Christmas 2019... [2322 days 15 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 07:49:53 GMT

Op 12/12/2019 om 07:57 schreef Dick Balaska:
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/
> 
> This release of my movie marks a major milestone for me.
> 1) There are real frames for the entire movie. Sure, the
>  Â Â  last 2 minutes are dummy frames, but they're there.
>  Â Â  (I'm working on this scene.)
> 2) Introducing 1080p edition.Â  So my low grade video card
>  Â Â  couldn't handle this.Â  Who knew!?Â 
It looks verry nice.
> 
> I have finished my space sequence.Â  If you've seen it,
> you can/should start at the 10:00 mark to see the whole
> space flight sequence.
> 
> I cranked up the compression to make much smaller videos
> (my first 1080p was 1.2GB, got it down to 461MB).
> 
> My renderfarm has gone idle after 10 solid weeks.
> A cool CPU is a happy CPU.
> 

I love it! I watched the whole movie again... waiting for the last 
minutes now.

-- 
Thomas

[Dick Balaska] Through the Eyes of a Child - Christmas 2019 rel... [2322 days 16 hours and 49 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 06:57:16 GMT

http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/

This release of my movie marks a major milestone for me.
1) There are real frames for the entire movie. Sure, the
    last 2 minutes are dummy frames, but they're there.
    (I'm working on this scene.)
2) Introducing 1080p edition.  So my low grade video card
    couldn't handle this.  Who knew!?  It looks verry nice.

I have finished my space sequence.  If you've seen it,
you can/should start at the 10:00 mark to see the whole
space flight sequence.

I cranked up the compression to make much smaller videos
(my first 1080p was 1.2GB, got it down to 461MB).

My renderfarm has gone idle after 10 solid weeks.
A cool CPU is a happy CPU.

-- 
dik
Rendered 49,882,521,600 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (100%)

[Bald Eagle] Re: Barrel rifling animation [2334 days 3 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 20:05:05 GMT

Dick Balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:

> I don't think that is the link you meant to share. :)
I did, just not in this post.  :P  :D

Try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_yemjfgkE0

[Dick Balaska] Re: Barrel rifling animation [2334 days 3 hours and 58 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 19:47:46 GMT

On 11/30/19 1:56 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> Rifling machine.
> 
> I'm loving the part highlighting and the sequential camera movement.
> 
> Sine bar.  Genius.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic8C-Uclbs4
> 
> 
Static frame with a thrash metal soundtrack.
"Pig is a pig is a pig is a pig"

I don't think that is the link you meant to share. :)

-- 
dik
Rendered 31,280,256,000 of 49,882,521,600 pixels (62%)

[Bald Eagle] Barrel rifling animation [2334 days 4 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 19:00:00 GMT

Rifling machine.

I'm loving the part highlighting and the sequential camera movement.

Sine bar.  Genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic8C-Uclbs4

[jr] Re: Game of Life - Now in 3D [2334 days 11 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 12:20:00 GMT

hi,

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> After my first trials in 2D, the first 3D version.

looks great, love the presentation.

(wish the colour was a gradient, depending on #neighbours  ;-))


regards, jr.

[kurtz le pirate] Game of Life - Now in 3D [2334 days 12 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 11:15:18 GMT

Hello,

After my first trials in 2D, the first 3D version.

2D : <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene025.shtml>
3D : <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene026.shtml>

or my full site <http://louisbel.free.fr/>



-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[pascal] Re: Game of Life. [2354 days 7 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sun, 10 Nov 2019 16:14:45 GMT

Le 08/11/2019 Ã  11:24, kurtz le pirate a Ã©critÂ :
> Hello,
> 
> A small example of animation of the "game of life".
> Explanations, details and source here:
> <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene025.shtml>
> 
> Just for fun :)
> 
Travail remarquable !
TrÃ¨s clair.
Bravo.
Pascal

[kurtz le pirate] Re: Game of Life. [2354 days 8 hours and 12 minutes ago]

Sun, 10 Nov 2019 15:34:23 GMT

On 08/11/2019 11:24, kurtz le pirate wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> A small example of animation of the "game of life".
> Explanations, details and source here:
> <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene025.shtml>
> 
> Just for fun :)
> 

adding other examples.



-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[Dick Balaska] ttso [2355 days 17 hours and 9 minutes ago]

Sat, 9 Nov 2019 06:36:49 GMT

Through the Space Of...
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttso-480p.mp4
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttso-720p.mp4

(no 1080p yet.  I'm still trudging through 6 hour frames after the 
mushroom cloud explodes in the kitchen.)


I've already started on ttdo (Through The lanDing Of...)
but I think I'm going to circle back to this and do "more".  Not one of 
my better looking scenes, I think.

And the last scene of the movie will be ttbo, Through the Bath Of...
I anticipate some heavy render times on those bubbles... :)

I really wanted to end on ttzo, Through the Zzz Of, but I feel like the 
cut between ttbo and ttzo is going to be a moving target, and retiming a 
scene is a major hassle.

ttdo is 52 seconds and ttbo will be 127 seconds.
I can't believe I'm actually seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

-- 
dik
Rendered 22,919,500,800 of 40,928,716,800 pixels (55%)

[jr] Re: Game of Life. [2356 days and 41 minutes ago]

Fri, 8 Nov 2019 23:05:00 GMT

hi,

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Hello,
> A small example of animation of the "game of life".
> Explanations, details and source here:
> <http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene025.shtml>
> Just for fun :)

lovely.


regards, jr.

[kurtz le pirate] Game of Life. [2356 days 13 hours and 22 minutes ago]

Fri, 8 Nov 2019 10:24:02 GMT

Hello,

A small example of animation of the "game of life".
Explanations, details and source here:
<http://louisbel.free.fr/scenes/scene025.shtml>

Just for fun :)

-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[Dick Balaska] ttso WiP [2375 days 11 hours and 4 minutes ago]

Sun, 20 Oct 2019 12:42:10 GMT

I've been working on Through the Space of...
a 2:12 scene.  New work is from 0:45 to 1:30

http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttso-480p.mp4

I did ttFireworks in C++ instead of my usual Java because I wanted to 
build up a library of routines for the next bit, which will involve some 
heavy number crunching.  I can't wait to see how *that* turns out.

(My sig now contains the total number of pixels in the 1080p version, 
and how much has been rendered in the last 3 weeks. (of which I think 6 
more weeks of work is woefully optimistic :( .))

-- 
dik
Rendered 15941836800 of 40928716800 pixels (38%)

[jr] Re: Drawing lines... [2383 days 5 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Sat, 12 Oct 2019 18:25:01 GMT

hi,

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have a really stupid question.
>
> I want to draw a line (a cylinder in fact), between two points in a
> "gradual way". Let us take two points A and B separated by a distance
> DIST and trying to do :
>
> delta = 0
> while (delta < DIST)
>    draw cylinder from A to A+delta
>    increment delta
> end
>
> And the 'last' cylinder is draw from A to B.
>
> I'm lost between 'vnormalize', 'vtransform' and 'reorient' :(
> Probably very easy, but I'm ditching.

couldn't do it myself (haven't the math) but think that the distribution file
"scenes/animations/vect1/vect1.pov" contains the info you're after.

regards, jr.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Drawing lines... [2383 days 7 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sat, 12 Oct 2019 16:05:01 GMT

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have a really stupid question.
>
> I want to draw a line (a cylinder in fact), between two points in a
> "gradual way". Let us take two points A and B separated by a distance
> DIST and trying to do :
>
> delta = 0
> while (delta < DIST)
>    draw cylinder from A to A+delta
>    increment delta
> end
>
> And the 'last' cylinder is draw from A to B.
>
>
> I'm lost between 'vnormalize', 'vtransform' and 'reorient' :(
> Probably very easy, but I'm ditching.
>
>
> --
> Kurtz le pirate
> Compagnie de la Banquise

You want something along the lines of:

1. calculate the distance D between the points.
2. normalize the vector P (P2 - P1)
3. #for (M, 0, D, StepSize)
cylinder {0, P*M, LineWidth translate P1}
#end

[kurtz le pirate] Drawing lines... [2383 days 8 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sat, 12 Oct 2019 15:15:09 GMT

Hello,

I have a really stupid question.

I want to draw a line (a cylinder in fact), between two points in a 
"gradual way". Let us take two points A and B separated by a distance 
DIST and trying to do :

delta = 0
while (delta < DIST)
   draw cylinder from A to A+delta
   increment delta	
end

And the 'last' cylinder is draw from A to B.


I'm lost between 'vnormalize', 'vtransform' and 'reorient' :(
Probably very easy, but I'm ditching.


-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[Dick Balaska] Tales from a RenderFarm [2390 days 19 hours and 27 minutes ago]

Sat, 5 Oct 2019 04:19:00 GMT

No new video, just words.

It's been 13 months since I worked on my video.  I got involved playing 
Minecraft. :)  Six months into that, I decided I really needed to 
upgrade my very serviceable video card from a GeForce GT 625 to a GTX 1650.

I was growing weary of Ubuntu, no, weary of Gnome - "You will take the 
GUI we give you, and you will like it".  Last week they decided I wanted 
white.  White windows, white borders, white border edges. You can't tell 
where one window ends and another begins. Good luck grabbing the 
resizing edge.  And I was tired of no system menu, what games do I have 
installed?  `ls /usr/games` is tedious.

So I did a backup and reformatted my disk as Mint 19.2.

While hand-copying everything back, I noticed tteoac-1080p.mp4, decided 
to give it a play.

Holy crap! It looks brilliant!  I never suspected that the video card 
was the issue because I could play Blu-ray discs just fine.

So now I'm setting the whole farm back up so I can build a full 1080p 
video. (I stopped building it after 2 minutes of video because it looked 
like crap).

And, I'm working on my space scene again while that runs. :)

[Bald Eagle] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2425 days 3 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 20:00:00 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:

> > But ... Beefeater?
>
> I know.  scandalous.  one would think Hendrick's much more appropriate.
>
> :-)

Hey man/men, I do what I can with what I have.

Be thankful it's not dispensed from a plastic bottle, or a bathtub.   :P

If I bought and adequate supply, Hendrick's would bankrupt me.
Beefeater is currently an acceptable compromise.

I would LOVE to be able to drink Lagavulin all the time too, but at 40-70
FRN/bottle that's usually left to celebratory occasions.   McClelland's has an
Islay style that's a pretty good close second for the price.

As for the tenderloin, rolling in cornstarch and searing, followed by closely
monitored pan-cooking with a covering of bourbon-soaked dried apricots has
seemed to work marvelously so far.   :)

Now get to work on that texture {Meat}!   :D

[jr] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2425 days 6 hours and 1 minute ago]

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 17:45:02 GMT

hi,

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 8/31/19 11:47 AM, jr wrote:
> > "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
>
> But ... Beefeater?

I know.  scandalous.  one would think Hendrick's much more appropriate.

:-)


regards, jr.

[dick balaska] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2425 days 7 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 16:40:19 GMT

On 8/31/19 11:47 AM, jr wrote:
> hi,
> 
> "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> 
> some life-affirming stuff.
> 
> 
> regards, jr.
> 
> (re tenderloin.  wrap in (sheet of) fat cut from porkbelly.  ;-))
> 
> 

But ... Beefeater?

-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[jr] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2425 days 7 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 15:50:01 GMT

hi,

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:

some life-affirming stuff.


regards, jr.

(re tenderloin.  wrap in (sheet of) fat cut from porkbelly.  ;-))

[Bald Eagle] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2425 days 10 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 12:55:00 GMT

> Does your incomplete work hamper your academic performance?

No, but it does leave some gaps and annoying artefacts in my scenes.

>  Do you find yourself in the struggling for good marks in your assignment?

Well, yes, but that's usually because the globalist agent in charge of that
specific course of indoctrination is trying to shove a lot of arbitrary and
inconsequential drivel at me without understanding the material itself or its
context in the broader scheme.  I typically don't suffer fools gladly.

> Don’t be depressed!

Good advice.   I'm pouring a stiff double Beefeater and tonic right now.

> You just need to find the right solution to fix your problem.

> That's the spirit!   This is the same advice we offer here, and in every other open
forum on the internet.   After mu
ch lurking, it seems you're starting to really get the feel of the place.  :)

> Complete your homework by using an effective Assignment Help and score high grades.

So true.   Read my past threads, and you'll see that I've done exactly that.
TdG, s day, Bill P, clipka, jr, TOK, B Gimeno, Jerome, and dozens of others have
all pitched in and helped me forge ahead in my many and varied tasks.

> It is common among scholars to score less marks in their tasks.

Having taught several college level chemistry courses, I can assure you that
such a state is usually the result of laziness, incompetence, and a sense of
entitlement.  Or you're just at loggerheads with the unthinking twit "teaching"
the course, or their professorial overlord.

> After putting much effort and
> dedication if you could not score high grades, then you find yourself in
> tension.

Truly, but perseverance and grit will win the day.   For the tension though, I
think some deep muscle work by a Swedish massage team would outclass whatever
you're trying to peddle.

> Sometimes, you even could not get the reason for having the lower marks
> in your work.

Well of course.   Power attracts the corruptible.   They are liars and thieves
by nature.  5 minutes visiting RetractionWatch.com will open your eyes to that.
Lets not even delve into the "peer review" process, funding, admissions
scandals, the rampant problem of "private tutoring", professors and graduate
students working _very_ closely, indictments for trafficking in KP, political
targeting and consequences, and other forms of corruption.

> Thus, take time and connect with the online writing service
> provider to increase your poor marks. Get the expert support to receive quality
> content for submitting an effective assignment in the given time. By connecting
> with our expert, you will surely receive higher marks. Browse our website and
> get instant help for your concern.
> https://www.greatassignmenthelp.com

Why can't you just read my other threads and help me write some sweet, juicy
functions and macros for my scenes?   I could use some of your team's valuable
input on patterns, tilings, textures, custom landscape heightfields, uv mapping,
Fourier transforms, autocorrelation, and achieving a crisp and delicious
caramelized bark on my pork tenderloin while maintaining a perfect pink and
juicy interior.

With regard to writing advice, I must admit to struggling with tension about
that I before E thing.    You seem my foreign neighbor, Keith, ordered some
stuff online, and received eight counterfeit beige sleighs from a company
representing themselves as feisty caffeinated weightlifters.   Weird.


Good to hear from you, and anxiously awaiting your meticulous and thoughtful
response.

- Haliaeetus Leucocephalus

[dick balaska] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2425 days 21 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 02:19:52 GMT

On 8/30/19 7:58 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> 
> "jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> 
>> and to the spammer: _who_ in their right mind would want "help" with an
>> assignment -- anything! -- from a moron who cannot even string together a
>> grammatical sentence?
> 
> It's somehow latched onto [thankfullly] only this one thread - it's some kind of
> bot.

There's also one thread in p.programming.

I'm not so sure it's a bot.  My money is on Romanian Mafia.

> 
> The server logs should show source IP's, etc...
> 
> 


-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[Bald Eagle] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2425 days 23 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMT

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> and to the spammer: _who_ in their right mind would want "help" with an
> assignment -- anything! -- from a moron who cannot even string together a
> grammatical sentence?

It's somehow latched onto [thankfullly] only this one thread - it's some kind of
bot.

The server logs should show source IP's, etc...

[William F Pokorny] Re: Does animation have any rendering benefit? [2435 days 14 hours and 13 minutes ago]

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 09:32:54 GMT

On 8/21/19 1:40 AM, Kima wrote:
> With animation command, povray renders a series of images at different times.
> Apart from coding sophistication, does animation need fewer resources (CPU time)
> to render the images?
> 
> For example, imagine we move an object in 100 steps with the clock time. Is the
> rendering process different from when we render 100 individual images? Is it
> faster to render the same 100 images with the animation command, as compared
> with rendering 100 pov files?
> 
> I mean does povray remember/cache some parts of rendering, which are not
> changing through 100 frames? Or animation is just a simple loop which triggers
> full rendering at each given time?
> 
> 
Others better know the exacts, but resources are not reduced(1) with 
animation.

For more information, search the newsgroups for a keyword & feature 
added as an experimental feature to uberpov called #persistent. It 
allows parts of the SDL scene to be marked as persistent frame to frame.

Bill P.

(1) - With hard disk file caching, macro caching 'maybe' sometimes 
animation a tiny bit better. The animation mechanism occasionally gets 
used to create input to follow on frames and so due this carries a 
resource benefit.

[Kima] Does animation have any rendering benefit? [2435 days 18 hours and 1 minute ago]

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 05:45:00 GMT

With animation command, povray renders a series of images at different times.
Apart from coding sophistication, does animation need fewer resources (CPU time)
to render the images?

For example, imagine we move an object in 100 steps with the clock time. Is the
rendering process different from when we render 100 individual images? Is it
faster to render the same 100 images with the animation command, as compared
with rendering 100 pov files?

I mean does povray remember/cache some parts of rendering, which are not
changing through 100 frames? Or animation is just a simple loop which triggers
full rendering at each given time?

[Bald Eagle] Re: Help with SDL for Bouncing Ball [2483 days 4 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Thu, 4 Jul 2019 19:15:00 GMT

I think the above needs to get marked as spam / deleted.

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Martian air/space defense installation [2503 days 1 hour and 23 minutes ago]

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 22:23:18 GMT

On 6/11/19 10:57 PM, Hj. Malthaner wrote:
> My first animation of some complexity.
> 
> "Long after the last war, some of the martian defense installations are 
> still operational and without any crew left, now working in fully 
> automated mode."

New version with some sound effects and more flash! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCAz89cDw8

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Bald Eagle] Re: Martian air/space defense installation [2504 days 23 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:20:00 GMT

"Hj. Malthaner" <han### [at] nospamgmxde> wrote:

> Is your animation online somewhere? I'm curious :)

It is now.   I just posted it in p.b.a:

http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.animations/message/%3Cweb.5d019356fb906fe54eec112d0%40news.povray.org%3E/#%3Cweb
.5d019356fb906fe54eec112d0%40news.povray.org%3E

It could probably use some updating...  :O

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Martian air/space defense installation [2505 days and 52 minutes ago]

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 22:53:52 GMT

On 6/12/19 11:43 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> 
> "Hj. Malthaner" <han### [at] nospamgmxde> wrote:

>> I still can't get the math right for predicted fire if the target move
>> across rather than towards the fortress.
> 
> I'm sure it's nothing we haven't solved before.   Post your issue.  We provide
> the counseling, you provide your own medication ;)

I know the basics ... take the movement vector of the target, estimate 
the distance and the time of the bolts to fly, from that calculate the 
point where the target will be after that time if it continues moving as 
it used to.

Now, to get that into formulas that actually work in the scene file, 
that is the problem and my head is not made for that.

> I had great success with Audacity. 

Found something called Openshot. That is nice and easy to compose video 
and audio. To actually make or edit the sound effects audacity sure is 
nice. I've used it in the past to edit a few recordings of mine.
  > I was able to do a pretty good animation of
> the Hellraiser box with some sound effects.   My Linux Mint software manager
> shows that it's available, so maybe give it a go and see what you think.

Is your animation online somewhere? I'm curious :)

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Martian air/space defense installation [2505 days 1 hour and 18 minutes ago]

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 22:28:18 GMT

On 6/11/19 10:57 PM, Hj. Malthaner wrote:
> My first animation of some complexity.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWg1xsw5BCc

Found a free soundtrack to use ( 
https://opengameart.org/content/last-stand-in-space ), so here is the 
new version with some sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJyOwumENDk

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Bald Eagle] Re: Martian air/space defense installation [2505 days 2 hours and 1 minute ago]

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:45:00 GMT

"Hj. Malthaner" <han### [at] nospamgmxde> wrote:

> 800-some frames. Most of the models I had made for prior projects
> already. So the biggest task was to make the cannons aim properly. Once
> I had to learn all that math, but meanwhile I had forgotten quite a lot
> again ...

Well that's not too bad...
I hear ya on the math - I've been there many many times myself.

> I still can't get the math right for predicted fire if the target move
> across rather than towards the fortress.

I'm sure it's nothing we haven't solved before.   Post your issue.  We provide
the counseling, you provide your own medication ;)

> I also need to look into video editing and how add a soundtrack to the
> animation. So next step will be to find an easy to use and still
> powerful video editor for Linux.

I had great success with Audacity.  I was able to do a pretty good animation of
the Hellraiser box with some sound effects.   My Linux Mint software manager
shows that it's available, so maybe give it a go and see what you think.

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Martian air/space defense installation [2505 days 2 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:15:07 GMT

On 6/12/19 1:42 AM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> 
> "Hj. Malthaner" <han### [at] nospamgmxde> wrote:
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWg1xsw5BCc
> 
> Well that's some pretty impressive work!

Thanks!

> There must be a sizable amount of code, and you must have rendered quite a few
> frames  :O

800-some frames. Most of the models I had made for prior projects 
already. So the biggest task was to make the cannons aim properly. Once 
I had to learn all that math, but meanwhile I had forgotten quite a lot 
again ...

I still can't get the math right for predicted fire if the target move 
across rather than towards the fortress.

>> The radiosity code could not really make up its mind where to put the
>> light ...
> 
> Yeah - I could see that being tricky.
> Have you tried using that rad_def.inc file as a starting point?  Maybe get
> something that's slow but good, and then tweak it.  Because with all the
> radiosity settings, that's gonna be challenging to do from scratch.

I think at one point I tried, but for my scenes which actually use 
radiosity I tried to figure out good values on my own. I guess I should 
check the include file again. It probably was made with more knowledge 
than I have.

But that will have to wait for the next animation project.

I also need to look into video editing and how add a soundtrack to the 
animation. So next step will be to find an easy to use and still 
powerful video editor for Linux.

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Bald Eagle] Re: Martian air/space defense installation [2506 days and 1 minute ago]

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 23:45:00 GMT

"Hj. Malthaner" <han### [at] nospamgmxde> wrote:
> My first animation of some complexity.
>
> "Long after the last war, some of the martian defense installations are
> still operational and without any crew left, now working in fully
> automated mode."
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWg1xsw5BCc
>
> Rendered with PovRay 3.8.0-alpha

Well that's some pretty impressive work!
There must be a sizable amount of code, and you must have rendered quite a few
frames  :O

> No radiosity, because that was flickering badly between the frames. Here
> an early attempt with radiosity.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZM_lhW_FKQ
>
> The radiosity code could not really make up its mind where to put the
> light ...

Yeah - I could see that being tricky.
Have you tried using that rad_def.inc file as a starting point?  Maybe get
something that's slow but good, and then tweak it.  Because with all the
radiosity settings, that's gonna be challenging to do from scratch.

[Hj Malthaner] Martian air/space defense installation [2506 days 2 hours and 49 minutes ago]

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 20:57:04 GMT

My first animation of some complexity.

"Long after the last war, some of the martian defense installations are 
still operational and without any crew left, now working in fully 
automated mode."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWg1xsw5BCc

Rendered with PovRay 3.8.0-alpha

No radiosity, because that was flickering badly between the frames. Here 
an early attempt with radiosity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZM_lhW_FKQ

The radiosity code could not really make up its mind where to put the 
light ...

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Warmup for a bigger animation project [2538 days 1 hour and 48 minutes ago]

Fri, 10 May 2019 21:57:54 GMT

On 5/9/19 10:28 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> It's coming along well - I might add some lights or contrasting textures/colors
> to initially draw a bit more attention to the opening doors before the ships
> leave - the first time watching it looked like it was just sitting there doing
> nothing for a while.

Thanks, and yes, this is a problem.

> Alternatively, you could experiment with changing perspectives.
> Keep your intro the same.
> Shift to a closer view a single door.
> Switch back, or zoom out to view the whole ship again.

I like this idea a lot. I've been thinking about it some time today, how 
and when to move the camera, when to switch back to the full view and 
how to integrate that with the files that I have. It will take a bit 
till I have time for a new version of the animation, but I sure will try 
your suggestion.

Thanks again :)

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Bald Eagle] Re: Warmup for a bigger animation project [2539 days 3 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Thu, 9 May 2019 20:30:01 GMT

It's coming along well - I might add some lights or contrasting textures/colors
to initially draw a bit more attention to the opening doors before the ships
leave - the first time watching it looked like it was just sitting there doing
nothing for a while.

Sets of lights that come on, change color, lighting inside the bays, or just a
difference between the doors and the main ship.

Alternatively, you could experiment with changing perspectives.
Keep your intro the same.
Shift to a closer view a single door.
Switch back, or zoom out to view the whole ship again.

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Warmup for a bigger animation project [2539 days 3 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Thu, 9 May 2019 20:04:47 GMT

On 5/8/19 2:26 PM, dick balaska wrote:
> On 5/7/19 7:57 PM, Hj. Malthaner wrote:

>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRIPFtdAmtw
>>
> 
> I like everything except that weird white frame flash.
> 

Thanks. I'm fairly new to making videos, so I'm still trying and 
testing. Let's see if a blend from the ghost ship to the real ship works 
better.

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[dick balaska] Re: Warmup for a bigger animation project [2540 days 11 hours and 19 minutes ago]

Wed, 8 May 2019 12:26:37 GMT

On 5/7/19 7:57 PM, Hj. Malthaner wrote:
> New version again. Arrival from hyperspace and launch of the daughter
> ships. Improved "hyperspace ghost" ship impression:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRIPFtdAmtw
> 

I like everything except that weird white frame flash.

-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Warmup for a bigger animation project [2540 days 23 hours and 48 minutes ago]

Tue, 7 May 2019 23:57:53 GMT

New version again. Arrival from hyperspace and launch of the daughter 
ships. Improved "hyperspace ghost" ship impression:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRIPFtdAmtw

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Hj Malthaner] Re: Warmup for a bigger animation project [2541 days 2 hours and 18 minutes ago]

Tue, 7 May 2019 21:27:28 GMT

New version. Arrival from hyperspace and launch of the daughter ships,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cms8UpUTNfw

I wanted the ship to arrive as a ghostly, translucent shape but with the 
original ship model that rose rendering times too much. I will try that 
again with a simplified ship model that has less inner surfaces (the 
ship has currently unions instead of merges)

[Hj Malthaner] Warmup for a bigger animation project [2542 days 1 hour and 40 minutes ago]

Mon, 6 May 2019 22:06:24 GMT

A spherical space ship is launching 12 smaller crafts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXXr9Fjvfho

I made this to get into such animations more. The models I had made for 
some other scenes before, so nothing new there. I hope to make a bigger 
and more complex space animation soon.

-- 
Some of my PovRay works:
https://www.deviantart.com/antarasol/gallery/42758766/3D

[Leroy] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2604 days 1 hour and 16 minutes ago]

Tue, 5 Mar 2019 22:30:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> > On 02/12/2018 16:26, Kenneth wrote:

> I could never figure out a
> way to get a string construction to 'create' a POV-Ray keyword. I assume it
> can't be done-- but it would be an interesting feature to add in the future (if
> possible!)  ;-)
>
Have you tried parse_string?
It is slow if you have lot to do.

[LanuHum] Re: Lathe control point animation in Blender (Po... [2655 days 16 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sun, 13 Jan 2019 07:35:01 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 12.01.2019 um 18:05 schrieb LanuHum:
> > Sorry!
> > https://youtu.be/Pkpu8iyo3ws
>
> Sorry? Why?

Joke. :)))

[clipka] Re: Lathe control point animation in Blender (Po... [2655 days 22 hours and 18 minutes ago]

Sun, 13 Jan 2019 01:27:34 GMT

Am 12.01.2019 um 18:05 schrieb LanuHum:
> Sorry!
> https://youtu.be/Pkpu8iyo3ws

Sorry? Why?

[William F Pokorny] Re: Lathe control point animation in Blender (Po... [2656 days 6 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Sat, 12 Jan 2019 17:20:16 GMT

On 1/12/19 12:05 PM, LanuHum wrote:
> Sorry!
> https://youtu.be/Pkpu8iyo3ws
> 
> 
Cool! :-)

Bill P.

[LanuHum] Lathe control point animation in Blender (Povray) [2656 days 6 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Sat, 12 Jan 2019 17:10:06 GMT

Sorry!
https://youtu.be/Pkpu8iyo3ws

[clipka] Re: +KLA -- What's the status? [2688 days 10 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:54:54 GMT

Am 11.12.2018 um 13:36 schrieb Shuffle:

> So, my question is the following: is there currently a way to use +KLA without
> +RTR and if so, how? If not, can it be done without too much hassle?

"Currently, the use of clockless animation is limited to the 
real-time-raytracing feature."

(from an old 3.7 Beta web page produced by Google)

I'm pretty sure nothing much has been done on either RTR nor on 
clockless animations since then.

[Shuffle] +KLA -- What's the status? [2688 days 11 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:40:00 GMT

Hi,

I have an animated scene where parsing time is extremely long because of huge
image maps (over 20000x20000 for the final render, although I use "lowres"
4000x4000 for previews)

I preview the animation with the "+RTR +KLA" combo, and it's working good.


(You can skip from here to the last paragraph if you do not want the whole
story, but I tried to explain what I did and compile what I could find for
future reference)



Problem arises when trying to actually output the rendered images: +KLA alone
does not seem to work (+RTR alone does alright, for the record).

A quick search brought that thread:
>> http://news.povray.org/povray.beta-test/thread/%3C4c35f934%40news.povray.org%3E/
Where Thorsten Froehlich answers that "POV-Ray does still need to know how many
frames to render"... So I tried +KFFxxx, to no avail. :-(

I dug the documentation and found the feature's doc :
>> http://wiki.povray.org/content/Documentation:Windows_Section_1#Clockless_Animation
It basically says nothing else that "thou shalt define several cameras" and,
perhaps more importantly, "the number of frames shalt be the number of thy
cameras". Back to square one, then...

Then I found this very interesting thread about UberPOV:
>>
http://news.povray.org/povray.animations/thread/%3Cweb.594d3bddd61573accf0bfa9c0%40news.povray.org%3E/?mtop=419831
So there might be a possibility to do what I want, or something close enough, by
defining #persistent image maps, but I would prefer to stick to vanilla POV and
not change my scene too much (it's already complicated enough :-/ )



So, my question is the following: is there currently a way to use +KLA without
+RTR and if so, how? If not, can it be done without too much hassle?

[Kenneth] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2695 days 6 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Tue, 4 Dec 2018 17:05:05 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 04.12.2018 um 03:57 schrieb Kenneth:
>
> > ...Pasting that short macro *into* scene code would
> > do away with #include as well.
>
> The macro is /not/ a shorthand for a `#read`/`#write` combination - the
> `#include` is indispensable. You can put it directly into the scene, but
> you can't do without it.
>
Oops, I see now that my sentence wasn't clear; sorry. What I meant was, by
pasting the macro itself directly into a scene file, the   #include
"Strings.inc"  line could be eliminated from the scene (NOT the #include line
that's *in* the macro.)

I.e., just...

#macro Parse_String(String)
    #fopen FOut "parse_string.tmp" write
    #write(FOut,String)
    #fclose FOut
    #include "parse_string.tmp"
#end

(then the macro invocation(s) later)

It's also a *little* faster to parse this way-- the entire "Strings.inc" file
doesn't have to be pulled from disc or processed.

[clipka] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2695 days 19 hours and 5 minutes ago]

Tue, 4 Dec 2018 04:41:16 GMT

Am 03.12.2018 um 02:06 schrieb Kenneth:

> I think the "\n" line feeds are necessary to even see the #debugged message;
> there is an older post about how the absence of them causes the message pane to
> ignore #debug...sometimes ;-) The details were somewhat complicated, IIRC.

In a first approximation, the details are actually quite simple:

- Any `#debug` statement that does not end in a `\n` will be 
concatenated with the next one.

- Any `#debug` output after the last `\n` may be truncated.


> Note: Up to (and including) version 3.7.0, contrary to the documentation (and on
> all platforms) backslashes lost their special meaning where a file name is
> expected, except when preceding a double quote. For backward compatibility, this
> behaviour is still retained for scenes specifying a #version of 3.70 or lower,
> but a warning will be issued.
> 
> ---
> 
> The only remaining mystery for me is whether or not a line feed "\n" should use
> a forward slash as well; I don't see that distinction in the docs.

No, the "use forward slashes instead" rule only applies to filenames; 
the change was made /specifically/ so that `\n` is always interpreted as 
a line feed (as opposed to a path separator followed by the lowercase 
letter `n`).

[clipka] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2695 days 19 hours and 23 minutes ago]

Tue, 4 Dec 2018 04:22:37 GMT

Am 04.12.2018 um 03:57 schrieb Kenneth:

> That macro construction looks like a compact 'shorthand' way to avoid coding
> separate #write/#read statements (doing away with #read altogether), while
> producing the same results (?). Pasting that short macro *into* scene code would
> do away with #include as well.

The macro is /not/ a shorthand for a `#read`/`#write` combination - the 
`#include` is indispensable. You can put it directly into the scene, but 
you can't do without it.

The primary trick here is that e.g. instead of writing the keyword `png` 
verbatim in your scene, you can instead include a file that contains the 
keyword (and nothing but the keyword).

The secondary trick is that you can create such a file with arbitrary 
content "on the fly" using `#write`.

Wrapping it all in a single macro is just a matter of convenience.

[Kenneth] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2695 days 20 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Tue, 4 Dec 2018 03:00:00 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:

>
> When you do it the cancat way - POV-Ray sees it as a string.
> When you do it the #include way - it parses it as a keyword.

Apparently so. In some miraculous and secretive way, known only to the Gods :-P
>
> Maybe something handy would be to have something like
>
> keyword (my_keyword) so the whole write/read/parse sequence could be avoided
>

What interests me about the Parse_String macro is that it does two seemingly
separate operations simultaneously (well, one after the other)-- #write and
#include. For some strange reason, I thought that the parsing/processing of a
macro would have to go past its #end statement, before anything actually
happened (with the result that an error would be encountered at the #include
line);  but that's not the case. It's a happy (if late) new discovery for me.
;-)

That macro construction looks like a compact 'shorthand' way to avoid coding
separate #write/#read statements (doing away with #read altogether), while
producing the same results (?). Pasting that short macro *into* scene code would
do away with #include as well.

[Stephen] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 2 hours and 39 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 21:06:28 GMT

On 03/12/2018 20:27, Bald Eagle wrote:
> in the far far future;)

Made me smile. :D


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Bald Eagle] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 3 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 20:30:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> But what baffles me at the moment is why it DOES work, when
>      image_map{concat("png ","my_image",str(frame_number - 1,-4,0),".png")
> does not-- since both constructions involve strings, in what *appears* to be a
> similar way.

When you do it the cancat way - POV-Ray sees it as a string.
When you do it the #include way - it parses it as a keyword.

Maybe something handy would be to have something like

keyword (my_keyword) so the whole write/read/parse sequence could be avoided

in the far far future   ;)

[Kenneth] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 7 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 16:05:01 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 03.12.2018 um 02:06 schrieb Kenneth:
>
> > That 'png' is a keyword (or sort of like one), and I could never figure
> > out a way to get a string construction to 'create' a POV-Ray keyword...
>
> See `Parse_String` macro in `strings.inc`.

Hey, that does work beautifully!

#include "Strings.inc"
image_map{
Parse_String("png") concat("my_image",str(frame_number - 1,-4,0),".png")

(although, I probably wouldn't use it in this *particular* context, as the
keyword   png   would simply be easier; but it's a great way to generate
keywords in general.) Thanks for the hint!

The macro is a nice one: It simply #writes the string to a file, then
immediately #includes that file back into the SDL code line.

But what baffles me at the moment is why it DOES work, when
     image_map{concat("png ","my_image",str(frame_number - 1,-4,0),".png")
does not-- since both constructions involve strings, in what *appears* to be a
similar way.

SO... I'm thinking that the  concat  keyword is the problem-- not specifically
concat, but that the initial image_map{  expression expects the BITMAP_TYPE to
be the first thing it sees, not some other 'thing'.  Not even  str("png")

[Stephen] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 10 hours and 59 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 12:47:11 GMT

On 03/12/2018 12:03, Kenneth wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> On 03/12/2018 01:06, Kenneth wrote:
>>>
>>> The only remaining mystery for me is whether or not a line
>>> feed "\n" should use a forward slash as well; I don't see that
>>> distinction in the docs.
>>>
>>
>> Have you tried? ;)
>>
> 
> I just did!  :-P
> 
> #debug concat ("/n","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png","/n")
> 
> ....and no debug message shows up. So I guess line feeds can't use the forward
> slash after all. (I'm guessing that line feeds are 'different animals' than
> library-path separators.)
> 
> 
> 
As Thomas and jr said. :)
But I think that you are showing your age calling them line feeds. o_O

I remember the time when you had to type CR+LF because if you typed 
LF+CR your Teletype 33 would not return the carriage to the beginning of 
the line before the machine would start printing the next character.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[jr] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 11 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 12:30:00 GMT

hi,

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> > On 03/12/2018 01:06, Kenneth wrote:
> > >
> > > The only remaining mystery for me is whether or not a line
> > > feed "\n" should use a forward slash as well; I don't see that
> > > distinction in the docs.
> > >
> >
> > Have you tried? ;)
> >
>
> I just did!  :-P
>
> #debug concat ("/n","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png","/n")
>
> ....and no debug message shows up. So I guess line feeds can't use the forward
> slash after all. (I'm guessing that line feeds are 'different animals' than
> library-path separators.)

your "guess" is good.  see 3.3.2.7.2 "Text Formatting" for the list of "escape
sequences".  the path separator is just a "normal" character, albeit different
for each (it seems) os.


regards, jr.

[Kenneth] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 11 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 12:05:00 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 03/12/2018 01:06, Kenneth wrote:
> >
> > The only remaining mystery for me is whether or not a line
> > feed "\n" should use a forward slash as well; I don't see that
> > distinction in the docs.
> >
>
> Have you tried? ;)
>

I just did!  :-P

#debug concat ("/n","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png","/n")

....and no debug message shows up. So I guess line feeds can't use the forward
slash after all. (I'm guessing that line feeds are 'different animals' than
library-path separators.)

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 11 hours and 45 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 12:01:17 GMT

On 3-12-2018 2:06, Kenneth wrote:
> ---
> 
> The only remaining mystery for me is whether or not a line feed "\n" should use
> a forward slash as well; I don't see that distinction in the docs.
> 
> 

If I am correct, the / instead of \ has only been introduced in the case 
of folder boundaries, in particular to distinguish them from the other 
language uses, like \n.

-- 
Thomas

[Stephen] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 14 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 09:35:02 GMT

On 03/12/2018 01:06, Kenneth wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> On 02/12/2018 16:26, Kenneth wrote:
>>>
>>> My own particular set-up would be...
>>>
>>> box{0, <1,1,0>
>>> pigment{
>>> image_map{png concat("my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")
>>
>> I'll just point out, again. That the BITMAP_TYPE should not be included
>> in the concat function. When I tried that earlier, Pov threw a wobbly
>> and complained that the first letter of the file path was an undeclared
>> variable "C".
> 
> Yes-- BITMAP_TYPE being the *first* .png in the code line. I ran into the same
> problem years ago, even without the use of a C: library path as in your example.
> That 'png' is a keyword (or sort of like one), and I could never figure out a
> way to get a string construction to 'create' a POV-Ray keyword. I assume it
> can't be done-- but it would be an interesting feature to add in the future (if
> possible!)  ;-)
> 
>> Also #debug would not output the result of:
>> image_map{concat("png  ","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")
>> That made me feel that I was losing my marbles for a while.
>>
> 
> This works for me...
> #debug concat ("\n","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png","\n")
>

My problem was when I tried to include the *first* .png in the code 
line. Although when I used #warning. The message was displayed. Then the 
render failed.

> I think the "\n" line feeds are necessary to even see the #debugged message;
> there is an older post about how the absence of them causes the message pane to
> ignore #debug...sometimes ;-) The details were somewhat complicated, IIRC.
> 
I've not noticed that. I have noticed that if you don't add new lines. 
The message can get lost in the message tab.
I try to keep things simple and generally add a newline before and after.

#debug "\n"
#debug concat ("my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")
#debug "\n"

> When using the C: path method instead, I came across some info in the built-in
> documentation at   3.3.1.9 Strings   about backslashes, that might be of
> interest...

Yes, a couple of years ago clipka explained that. And since my modelling 
program exports the SDL with single "\". So I manually have to add the 
double backslash.

> ---
> Windows users need to be especially wary about this as the backslash is also the
> windows path separator. For example, the following code does not produce the
> intended result:
> #declare DisplayFont = "c:\windows\fonts\lucon.ttf"
>    text { ttf DisplayFont "Hello", 2,0 translate y*1.50 }
> 
> New users might expect this to create a text object using the font
> c:\windows\fonts\lucon.ttf. Instead, it will give an error message saying that
> it cannot find the font file c:windowsontslucon.ttf.
> 
> The correct form of the above code is as follows:
> #declare DisplayFont = "c:\\windows\\fonts\\lucon.ttf"
>    text { ttf DisplayFont "Hello", 2,0 translate y*1.50 }
> 
> However, as POV-Ray for Windows also supports forward slashes as path separator,
> it is recommended to use the following form: #declare DisplayFont =
> "c:/windows/fonts/lucon.ttf"
> 

I remember clipka saying that.

> Note: Up to (and including) version 3.7.0, contrary to the documentation (and on
> all platforms) backslashes lost their special meaning where a file name is
> expected, except when preceding a double quote. For backward compatibility, this
> behaviour is still retained for scenes specifying a #version of 3.70 or lower,
> but a warning will be issued.
> 
I must admit that I have seen that warning. :)

> ---
> 
> The only remaining mystery for me is whether or not a line feed "\n" should use
> a forward slash as well; I don't see that distinction in the docs.
> 
> 
> 

Have you tried? ;)


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[clipka] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 15 hours and 3 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 08:43:08 GMT

Am 03.12.2018 um 02:06 schrieb Kenneth:

> That 'png' is a keyword (or sort of like one), and I could never figure out a
> way to get a string construction to 'create' a POV-Ray keyword. I assume it
> can't be done-- but it would be an interesting feature to add in the future (if
> possible!)  ;-)

See `Parse_String` macro in `strings.inc`.

[Kenneth] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 18 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 05:25:01 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> Tired, starting new job tomorrow, (yay)
>
> But I thought I'd dig this up to see if it's any help:
>
> http://news.povray.org/5ba3b5f9%241%40news.povray.org
>
> The entire thread's a good read (for me, anyway)

Good point! I should have remembered that piece of info. The BITMAP_TYPE isn't
even required, apparently.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 21 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 02:20:01 GMT

Tired, starting new job tomorrow, (yay)

But I thought I'd dig this up to see if it's any help:

http://news.povray.org/5ba3b5f9%241%40news.povray.org

The entire thread's a good read (for me, anyway)

[Kenneth] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2696 days 22 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Dec 2018 01:10:00 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 02/12/2018 16:26, Kenneth wrote:
> >
> > My own particular set-up would be...
> >
> > box{0, <1,1,0>
> > pigment{
> > image_map{png concat("my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")
>
> I'll just point out, again. That the BITMAP_TYPE should not be included
> in the concat function. When I tried that earlier, Pov threw a wobbly
> and complained that the first letter of the file path was an undeclared
> variable "C".

Yes-- BITMAP_TYPE being the *first* .png in the code line. I ran into the same
problem years ago, even without the use of a C: library path as in your example.
That 'png' is a keyword (or sort of like one), and I could never figure out a
way to get a string construction to 'create' a POV-Ray keyword. I assume it
can't be done-- but it would be an interesting feature to add in the future (if
possible!)  ;-)

> Also #debug would not output the result of:
> image_map{concat("png  ","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")
> That made me feel that I was losing my marbles for a while.
>

This works for me...
#debug concat ("\n","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png","\n")

I think the "\n" line feeds are necessary to even see the #debugged message;
there is an older post about how the absence of them causes the message pane to
ignore #debug...sometimes ;-) The details were somewhat complicated, IIRC.

When using the C: path method instead, I came across some info in the built-in
documentation at   3.3.1.9 Strings   about backslashes, that might be of
interest...
---
Windows users need to be especially wary about this as the backslash is also the
windows path separator. For example, the following code does not produce the
intended result:
#declare DisplayFont = "c:\windows\fonts\lucon.ttf"
  text { ttf DisplayFont "Hello", 2,0 translate y*1.50 }

New users might expect this to create a text object using the font
c:\windows\fonts\lucon.ttf. Instead, it will give an error message saying that
it cannot find the font file c:windowsontslucon.ttf.

The correct form of the above code is as follows:
#declare DisplayFont = "c:\\windows\\fonts\\lucon.ttf"
  text { ttf DisplayFont "Hello", 2,0 translate y*1.50 }

However, as POV-Ray for Windows also supports forward slashes as path separator,
it is recommended to use the following form: #declare DisplayFont =
"c:/windows/fonts/lucon.ttf"

Note: Up to (and including) version 3.7.0, contrary to the documentation (and on
all platforms) backslashes lost their special meaning where a file name is
expected, except when preceding a double quote. For backward compatibility, this
behaviour is still retained for scenes specifying a #version of 3.70 or lower,
but a warning will be issued.

---

The only remaining mystery for me is whether or not a line feed "\n" should use
a forward slash as well; I don't see that distinction in the docs.

[clipka] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2697 days 2 hours and 50 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Dec 2018 20:55:57 GMT

Am 02.12.2018 um 07:25 schrieb Phil:

>                          #declare thisfilename = magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F]
>                          paint_tile(thisfilename)
...
> File 'initialise_cube.mac' line 163: Parse Error: Cannot assign uninitialized
>   identifier.

It is good practice to end each and every `#declare` with a semicolon, 
even in cases where it is entirely optional.

The requirement for a semicolon at some variants of `#declare` is not 
arbitrary: It is required everywhere there is a possibility that the 
right-hand side expression might continue. If POV-Ray comes across a 
macro invocation in such a case, POV-Ray presumes that the macro 
invocation is still part of the right-hand side expression of the 
`#declare`, so `paint_tile(thisfilename)` will take the old value of 
`thisfilename`.


Totally unreleated: It is highly recommend to NOT use all-lowercase 
identifiers, as these may conflict with keywords in future versions.

[Stephen] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2697 days 6 hours and 2 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Dec 2018 17:44:08 GMT

On 02/12/2018 16:26, Kenneth wrote:
> I would
> instead use Stephen's approach, calling each .png image as needed, with no
> array. 

I did this sort of thing regularly but with animated meshes made in Poser.
Several winters ago. Tim Cook IIRC, made a TV where the image files were 
stored in a df3. The frames were selected by intersecting the df3 with a 
thin box. The result was monochromatic. But if you used jr's tga2df3 to 
create the df3 (actually 3 df3s one for each RGB channel.). Then you can 
have the image in colour, if you use 3 media in the material. *Not* that 
I am suggesting Phil uses that method. That would just be showing off. ;)

My own particular set-up would be...
> 
> box{0, <1,1,0>
> pigment{
> image_map{png concat("my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")

I'll just point out, again. That the BITMAP_TYPE should not be included 
in the concat function. When I tried that earlier, Pov threw a wobbly 
and complained that the first letter of the file path was an undeclared 
variable "C". Also #debug would not output the result of: 
image_map{concat("png  ","my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")
That made me feel that I was losing my marbles for a while.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Kenneth] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2697 days 7 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Dec 2018 16:30:05 GMT

(in Windows)
I had done this kind of thing years ago, but lost the code; so I came up with
something very similar to Stephen's idea.

My particular video app outputs the .png frame sequence like this...
my_image0001
my_image0002
my_image0003
--etc.--

These are placed in a folder location that I added to POV-Ray's 'master
POVRAY.INI' file-- i.e., Library_Path= ... So I didn't need to add a C: ...
library path to the concat(...) string, as Stephen did. POV-Ray will
automatically locate the images.

#declare AA = array[20]; // for 20 images
#for(i,0,19) // because arrays start with 'location' zero
#declare AA[i] = concat("my_image",str(i+1,-4,0),".png");
#end

then...
box{0, <1,1,0> // a box can be made zero-thickness
pigment{image_map{png AA[frame_number - 1] once interpolate 2}}
finish{ambient 1 emission 0 diffuse 0}
scale <...whatever...>
     }

However, I don't see the need for the array (unless you have a specific reason
to use one.) During your 'new' animation render, the array will be filled with
all 20 images during each animation frame, which isn't very efficient. I would
instead use Stephen's approach, calling each .png image as needed, with no
array. My own particular set-up would be...

box{0, <1,1,0>
pigment{
image_map{png concat("my_image",str(frame_number,-4,0),".png")
once interpolate 2
         }
       }
     finish{ambient 1 emission 0 diffuse 0}
scale...
}

[Bald Eagle] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2697 days 10 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Dec 2018 13:05:01 GMT

Hi Phil, as Stephen points out, one of the tricky bits of working with POV-Ray's
command-line SDL is that where the parser finally decides to throw an error is
not necessarily where the real problem lies.

But in this case, I think you've highlighted the bit of code that POV-Ray
correctly declares is the problem.

First, I think it would help if
#declare thisfilename = magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F]
were terminated by a semicolon
#declare thisfilename = magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F];

Second, and central to your problem, is that it looks as if you are trying to
get the filename to interpreted as a pigment using (what appears to be a macro
called) "paint_tile".

so, either you need to keep things simple and just use

pigment {image_map {png thisfilename}}
instead of
paint_tile(thisfilename)

or you need to check out your macro earlier in the scene (and this is where
Stephen's point may actually be the case) and see what your macro is doing.

I'm envisioning it to be this simple, although the above direct use of the
filename in a pigment statement _without_ a macro is simpler still.

#macro paint_tile(_FN)
pigment {image_map {png _FN}}
#end

You may also consider testing for the existence of the element
magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F], using #ifdef(magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F]), and sending a
debug message to the output stream so you can verify what POV-Ray has stored in
magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F] and is trying to use as a filename.

I'd be tempted to rewrite the box definition to avoid the sequence of scaling
and translation - simply because it's easier to debug, and I often find myself
catching would-be errors before I set them down in code.

All this code is straight off the top of my head, untested, and you're getting
it before I've even had my first coffee - so some of the finer elements of the
proper syntax may be wrong/missing.

Welcome!
Good luck.
I hope to see the progress of your project   :)

Bill

[Stephen] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2697 days 13 hours and 2 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Dec 2018 10:44:02 GMT

On 02/12/2018 07:12, Stephen wrote:
> box { <0.00, 0.00, 0.00>,< 1.00, 1.00, 1.000>
> 
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
texture {
> 
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
pigment{
> 
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
#declare thisfilename = magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F]
> 
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
paint_tile(thisfilename)
> 
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
}
> 
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
} // end of texture
> 
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
scale <0.9 0.9,0.001> rotate<0,0,0> translate 
> <-0.45,-0.45,-0.501> rotate
> x*0
>  Â Â Â Â Â Â  } // end
of box --------------------------------------
>  Â Â Â  #end

I have been thinking about this as I did something similar a while ago.

Not knowing what you have in magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F] or 
paint_tile(thisfilename). I did a test with a series of files 0001 ... 
0120 in the directory C:\tmp

This works using concat and frame_number.
Note that the BITMAP_TYPE should not be included in the concat function

#declare Non_Patterned_Texture =
texture {
   pigment {
     image_map{

         png  concat ("C:\\tmp\\", str(frame_number, -4, 0),  ".png")

       map_type 0
       once
     }
     translate <-0.500,-0.500,-0.500>
   }

   finish {
     ambient     rgb <0.100,0.100,0.100>*5.000
     brilliance  1.000
     crand       0.000
     diffuse     0.600
     metallic    0.000
     phong       0.000
     phong_size  40.000
     specular    0.000
     roughness   0.050
   }

}



-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Stephen] Re: Calling an Image Map with an array identifie... [2697 days 16 hours and 33 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Dec 2018 07:12:56 GMT

On 02/12/2018 06:25, Phil wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm having a go at embedding video in my animations by splitting video files up
> into .png's and then calling them using image_map command with an array
> identifier that stores the file names for the images.
> 
> Here is some of the code:
> 
> box { <0.00, 0.00, 0.00>,< 1.00, 1.00, 1.000>
>         texture {
>                  pigment{
>                          #declare thisfilename = magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F]
>                          paint_tile(thisfilename)
>                          }
>                 } // end of texture
>         scale <0.9 0.9,0.001> rotate<0,0,0> translate <-0.45,-0.45,-0.501> rotate
> x*0
>        } // end of box --------------------------------------
>     #end
> 
> .... but I keep getting the following error:
> 
> File 'initialise_cube.mac' line 163: Parse Error: Cannot assign uninitialized
>   identifier.
> Fatal error in parser: Cannot parse input.
> Render failed
> 
> Can anyone give me a lead ??
> 
> This is my first post to the forum.
> 
> Thanking you in advance.
> 
> Phil.
> 
> 

Hi Phil and welcome

Is the bit of code close to line 163?
Did you declare paint_tile and the array magik_cube before the box code?
When Pov fails and highlights a line of code. It is not necessarily that 
line which is the problem.


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Phil] Calling an Image Map with an array identifier th... [2697 days 17 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Dec 2018 06:30:00 GMT

Hi,

I'm having a go at embedding video in my animations by splitting video files up
into .png's and then calling them using image_map command with an array
identifier that stores the file names for the images.

Here is some of the code:

box { <0.00, 0.00, 0.00>,< 1.00, 1.00, 1.000>
       texture {
                pigment{
                        #declare thisfilename = magik_cube[X][Y][Z][F]
                        paint_tile(thisfilename)
                        }
               } // end of texture
       scale <0.9 0.9,0.001> rotate<0,0,0> translate <-0.45,-0.45,-0.501> rotate
x*0
      } // end of box --------------------------------------
   #end

.... but I keep getting the following error:

File 'initialise_cube.mac' line 163: Parse Error: Cannot assign uninitialized
 identifier.
Fatal error in parser: Cannot parse input.
Render failed

Can anyone give me a lead ??

This is my first post to the forum.

Thanking you in advance.

Phil.

[dick balaska] Re: PNG to MP4 [2724 days 16 hours and 19 minutes ago]

Mon, 5 Nov 2018 07:26:32 GMT

On 11/4/18 9:15 AM, Roland MÃ¶sl wrote:

> 
> ffmpeg -f image2 -r 6 -i 'img%02d.png' output.mp4
> 
> Seems I have only to change 6 to 30 to have 30 frames
> per second.

yes.

> Seems ffmpeg is available for Linux and Windows

yes, I've used it on both.

> 

I would completely omit "-f image2".  "-f" specifies file formats which
is only useful if you are not using the standard extensions of ".png"
and ".mp4".  (And I'm not sure what an 'image2' format is)

-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[Roland Mösl] PNG to MP4 [2725 days 9 hours and 30 minutes ago]

Sun, 4 Nov 2018 14:15:56 GMT

Hallo,

after I was here last time 2011,
I am just again in povray animations.

Since I changed to Linux 2016,
i was again at the question,
how to convert all the images
created by POV to a video
I found an answer at:

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2173013

ffmpeg -f image2 -r 6 -i 'img%02d.png' output.mp4

Seems I have only to change 6 to 30 to have 30 frames
per second.
Seems ffmpeg is available for Linux and Windows

-- 
Roland MÃ¶sl - PEGE - http://www.pege.org
Planetary Engineering Group Earth

[clipka] Re: ttso WIP [2760 days 17 hours and 12 minutes ago]

Sun, 30 Sep 2018 06:34:12 GMT

Am 29.09.2018 um 23:56 schrieb dick balaska:

> (Years ago, Warp(?) did an animation with 4 camera angles in a
> single render. Maybe that was uberpov?)

Probably MegaPOV. That one had a camera pigment.

[dick balaska] Re: ttso WIP [2761 days 1 hour and 47 minutes ago]

Sat, 29 Sep 2018 21:58:52 GMT

On 09/29/2018 05:56 PM, dick balaska wrote:
> On 09/27/2018 02:51 PM, Kenneth wrote:
>> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> 
>>>
>>
>> Ha! That is really cool. Is the first half of the animation a *single* render
>> within POV-Ray, with the multiple panes all rendered at once?? If so, I must
>> have missed the 'how-to' explanation in the past.
> 
> No, it is 3 renders.  I do Camera2 and Camera3 and then run the main
> scene. (Years ago, Warp(?) did an animation with 4 camera angles in a
> single render. Maybe that was uberpov?)

Oh, the image that I posted in p.b.i was the last frame of Camera2 which
has an extreme aspect ratio, 140:1, but rendered at 500x500, hence the
really tall spheres.

-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[dick balaska] Re: ttso WIP [2761 days 1 hour and 50 minutes ago]

Sat, 29 Sep 2018 21:56:15 GMT

On 09/27/2018 02:51 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:

>>
> 
> Ha! That is really cool. Is the first half of the animation a *single* render
> within POV-Ray, with the multiple panes all rendered at once?? If so, I must
> have missed the 'how-to' explanation in the past.

No, it is 3 renders.  I do Camera2 and Camera3 and then run the main
scene. (Years ago, Warp(?) did an animation with 4 camera angles in a
single render. Maybe that was uberpov?)

> 
> I still like that 'rocket exhaust' method you use!
> 
> In the second half, I can't say that I understand what the on-screen numbers
> represent-- but it looks interesting nonetheless ;-)

Like Stephen said, bars and beats.  When I start a scene, I first run
the DebugBeats version to get the timing of the scene together.  When
the drum machine was on, it was fairly easy; "number of beats / time +
occasional drift".  Now that the drum machine is off ... mathematically
I sucked at holding tempo on the keyboards. :), the retard and hold were
especially tricky to work through.

The hardest part for me is looking at the numbers.  Musicians count
1-2-3-4 and C style arrays count 0-1-2-3.  After 15 years, I see that
"3" and still think it's the middle of the measure, not the 4th beat.

I care because direct.inc contains the timings like this:
#declare Countdown10Start	= Measure(326,2);
#declare Countdown10End		= Measure(327,0);
#declare Countdown9Start	= Measure(327,0);
#declare Countdown9End		= Measure(327,2);
#declare Countdown3Start	= Measure(327,2);
#declare Countdown3End		= Measure(328,0);
#declare Countdown2Start	= Measure(328,0);
#declare Countdown2End		= Measure(328,2);
#declare Countdown1Start	= Measure(328,2);
#declare Countdown1End		= Measure(329,0);

"0" is easy, but I'm always typing "3" for the middle of the measure
instead of the correct "2".

(Btw, the original launch sequence countdown was 10-9-5-6-1 because the
kid can't count yet.)

-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[Stephen] Re: ttso WIP [2763 days 4 hours and 27 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 19:18:57 GMT

On 27/09/2018 19:51, Kenneth wrote:
> In the second half, I can't say that I understand what the on-screen numbers
> represent-- but it looks interesting nonetheless;-)


Bars and beats?


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Kenneth] Re: ttso WIP [2763 days 4 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 18:55:01 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> Through the Space of ...
>
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttso-480p.mp4
>
> I wasn't going to post this yet, but
>

Ha! That is really cool. Is the first half of the animation a *single* render
within POV-Ray, with the multiple panes all rendered at once?? If so, I must
have missed the 'how-to' explanation in the past.

I still like that 'rocket exhaust' method you use!

In the second half, I can't say that I understand what the on-screen numbers
represent-- but it looks interesting nonetheless ;-)

[Stephen] Re: ttso WIP [2763 days 16 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 06:55:07 GMT

On 27/09/2018 07:35, dick balaska wrote:
> Through the Space of ...
> 
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttso-480p.mp4
> 
> I wasn't going to post this yet, but


Glad you did. It is good.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: ttso WIP [2763 days 16 hours and 59 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 06:46:35 GMT

On 27-9-2018 8:35, dick balaska wrote:
> Through the Space of ...
> 
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttso-480p.mp4
> 
> I wasn't going to post this yet, but
> 

You made my day! :-D

Brilliant!

-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] ttso WIP [2763 days 17 hours and 10 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 06:35:35 GMT

Through the Space of ...

http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttso-480p.mp4

I wasn't going to post this yet, but

On 09/27/2018 12:09 AM, Kenneth wrote:
> it would be interesting
> to construct a plot of distance values (as seen in the preview render,
> horizontally for example) with the camera angle changing all the way
from 1 to
> 90(!)
>

I was having Fun With Aspect Ratios. At 40 seconds, the bit where the
monitor shrinks away, rather than slide the video down, I changed the
camera so that the video fits the changing rectangle.
The aspect ratio of the caboose slides from 1.69 to 141.40
-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[dick balaska] Tales from a Renderfarm [2782 days 10 hours and 38 minutes ago]

Sat, 8 Sep 2018 13:07:31 GMT

If you've seen my desktop picture, you've seen the 6 bash windows
monitoring 5 servers and a client.  I need to do it this way because I
need to know if a server dies, or at least is doing something.  I like
my "Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)"

Two of my servers are at my buddy's house and lately the VPN between our
houses has been burping occasionally.  And the new beefy i5 technically
belongs to the 6 year old and he will reboot when a video game doesn't
work right.  3 out of 5 servers need more handholding than I want.

New bsac protocol 3 revives my povray+websockets (povrayws) that I used
with qtpov.  I made a debian/ubuntu package of that and I launch and
drive it from the bsac server, which is now a proper unix service and
also a debian package.

https://launchpad.net/~dickbalaska/+archive/ubuntu/povrayws
https://launchpad.net/~dickbalaska/+archive/ubuntu/bsac/+packages

Now if the vpn dies, the queued frames keep chugging, and if a machine
reboots he just restarts and goes. yay.

And I still keep my progress indicators (which is what I needed the
websockets for).
http://www.buckosoft.com/bsac/g/bsacqtActivity.png

Finally I can get back to my animation.  I'm just about to get into
space (the caboose has separated and landed) and I want to figure out
this df3tools for some gaseous effects.

-- 
dik
Rendered 1024 of 921600 pixels (0%)

[peyrol] How does the mandel value scale? Using ImageMagi... [2811 days 15 hours and 1 minute ago]

Fri, 10 Aug 2018 08:45:00 GMT

I like the fractalzoom sample file provided in the animations folder for POVray.
I want to extend the first zoom in that file beyond the iterative limit it uses.
but I cannot predict what limit to use if I continue to zoom in at the same
magnification rate per frame, nor do I know what color map values to use to
provide good detail. That particular region that I am zooming into looks very
busy.

My notion is to shell out to call an ImageMagick script after each frame. This
script will check a rectangular region in the center of the image and count the
number of pure white pixels, which is the color corresponding to the upper bound
of the color map provided. If the region passes a threshold white pixel count
value, the iterative maximum will get increased, and new colors will be
introduced. This change will happen smoothly over the course of one second's
worth of frames, which in my case is 30. ImageMagick will not get called during
those frames.

At the end of that second, I want the old colors to still map to the same
iterative limits they were at before. For example, the original POVray script
had color map boundary values at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1. Suppose the
iterative limit L increases by one order of magnitude to 10*L. Should the pure
white boundary value, which was at 1, become 0.1 which corresponds to a linear
scale? Or should it be ln(L)/ln(10*L) which is a logarithmic scale? Or something
else?

Thanks for any clue. Someone must surely have already dealt with this issue.

[Chuck] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2841 days 9 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 14:15:01 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> Chuck wrote:
> > Key frames - I know what a keyframe is (perhaps), just not how to identify
> > them in a video editor. I'm not sure but don't think ProShow gold will
> > identify them.
>
> Actually, VirtualDub itself shows which frames are keyframes ("I-frames"), in
> the little info bar a the bottom of the playback window. (When a group of
> POV-Ray animation images are first loaded into VD, they start off as all
> keyframes.)
>
> Essentially, video encoding is more efficient (smaller file size) when it uses
> fewer actual keyframes for the final video. The 'in-between' frames (called
> "P-frames" and "B-frames") are actually composed of only the *differences*
> between an I-frame and its surrounding frames-- with very little quality loss.
> Put very simply, those differences are made up of small 8X8- or 16X16-pixel
> blocks ("macroblocks".) The encoder tries to find 'matching' macroblocks among
> the adjacent frames (even if those blocks have moved during the frame changes.)
> It re-uses those blocks when it can, in the adjacent P-frames and B-frames. So
> the P's and B's contain much less 'new' information than would otherwise be the
> case.
>
> For an ALL-keyframe video, a crude analogy would be as if each individual frame
> is encoded as an individual and separate JPEG image. While that's possible to do
> (the "motion-JPEG" format does this, as far as I understand), it's not very
> efficient-- the video decoder has to decode ALL the macroblocks in each
> individual frame on-the-fly.

I appreciate the key-frame info. That raises a number of questions but would
stray from PovRay related topics so will do some private reading.

Another animation was created with the idea of generating 25 frames per second.
As expected the resulting animation is MUCH more smooth. Unfortunately I cannot
reproduce the original animation which started this thread and the current
attempts, while smooth, are not very interesting. I may upload one of them to
demonstrate the improvements anyway.

[Kenneth] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2841 days 13 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:50:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 08.07.2018 um 22:12 schrieb Kenneth:
>
> > I still use VirtualDub as well, for certain videos... The interesting
> > thing about VirtualDub... is that the video is saved as all keyframes,
> > by default. My experience in playing
> > back such a 1920X1080 video as-is, is that it stutters on my own computer--
> > probably because that's a LOT of video information to decode on-the-fly.
>
> My guess would be that the stuttering is not due to an excessive amount
> of data to be /decoded/, but rather simply due to an excessive amount of
> data to be /read/ from hard disk.

That's probably the bulk of the problem, I admit, especially for a 1920X1080
video. But I've noticed 'stuttering' even in 960X520 h.264-encoded videos, when
all the frames are keyframes. (For some reason, I think it becomes more apparent
when a video is 'streamed' rather than with direct computer-playback.)

Chuck wrote:
> Key frames - I know what a keyframe is (perhaps), just not how to identify
> them in a video editor. I'm not sure but don't think ProShow gold will
> identify them.

Actually, VirtualDub itself shows which frames are keyframes ("I-frames"), in
the little info bar a the bottom of the playback window. (When a group of
POV-Ray animation images are first loaded into VD, they start off as all
keyframes.)

Essentially, video encoding is more efficient (smaller file size) when it uses
fewer actual keyframes for the final video. The 'in-between' frames (called
"P-frames" and "B-frames") are actually composed of only the *differences*
between an I-frame and its surrounding frames-- with very little quality loss.
Put very simply, those differences are made up of small 8X8- or 16X16-pixel
blocks ("macroblocks".) The encoder tries to find 'matching' macroblocks among
the adjacent frames (even if those blocks have moved during the frame changes.)
It re-uses those blocks when it can, in the adjacent P-frames and B-frames. So
the P's and B's contain much less 'new' information than would otherwise be the
case.

For an ALL-keyframe video, a crude analogy would be as if each individual frame
is encoded as an individual and separate JPEG image. While that's possible to do
(the "motion-JPEG" format does this, as far as I understand), it's not very
efficient-- the video decoder has to decode ALL the macroblocks in each
individual frame on-the-fly.

[Stephen] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2842 days 9 hours and 43 minutes ago]

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 14:03:24 GMT

On 10/07/2018 13:56, Chuck wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> On 09/07/2018 02:45, Chuck wrote:
>>>    I like blender but
>>> don't know python at all and I believe that would be necessary to do the same
>>> sort of animation. Could be lack of knowledge talking here.
>>
>>
>>
>> You don't need to use Python to create a video using Blender. I can't
>> and do. :)
>> Blender will create your avi or mpg4 from a series of images. It comes
>> with a set of default settings for various outputs and you can manually
>> adjust them.
>> I have been following this thread as I am not too sure what all the
>> settings do and their effects.
>>
>>
>> The lowest fps I use is 25 fps but generally use 30 fps. Occasionally 60
>> fps for very smooth animations.
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Regards
>>       Stephen
> 
> I wasn't very clear about python. The glass funnel animation at:
> www.elevenmilephotography.com, gallery: private, PW: povray was created with
> Blender's physics model. I assumed (?) that an animation like "Duet" (over 2,000
> objects each moving every frame) would require the use of custom python files in
> one form or another. I sincerely hope that this assumption is wrong.
> 
> Chuck
> 


No, you do not need python or I would not be able to use it.
In March I posted an animation in povray.binaries.animations called In 
the Meantime a diversion. Using Blender's Internal renderer. (The PovRay 
exporter cannot handle it.)

I upped the number of boids to 3000 in this animation although there are 
only 2 boids the rest are copied versions.
https://youtu.be/emAuf6o2hzM

Very rough and ready, I am afraid.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Chuck] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2842 days 10 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:00:01 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 09/07/2018 02:45, Chuck wrote:
> >   I like blender but
> > don't know python at all and I believe that would be necessary to do the same
> > sort of animation. Could be lack of knowledge talking here.
>
>
>
> You don't need to use Python to create a video using Blender. I can't
> and do. :)
> Blender will create your avi or mpg4 from a series of images. It comes
> with a set of default settings for various outputs and you can manually
> adjust them.
> I have been following this thread as I am not too sure what all the
> settings do and their effects.
>
>
> The lowest fps I use is 25 fps but generally use 30 fps. Occasionally 60
> fps for very smooth animations.
>
>
> --
>
> Regards
>      Stephen

I wasn't very clear about python. The glass funnel animation at:
www.elevenmilephotography.com, gallery: private, PW: povray was created with
Blender's physics model. I assumed (?) that an animation like "Duet" (over 2,000
objects each moving every frame) would require the use of custom python files in
one form or another. I sincerely hope that this assumption is wrong.

Chuck

[clipka] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2843 days 9 hours and 17 minutes ago]

Mon, 9 Jul 2018 14:28:51 GMT

Am 08.07.2018 um 22:12 schrieb Kenneth:

> I still use VirtualDub as well, for certain videos (and follow a similar
> two-or-three-stage final encoding process as you do-- although I presently use
> Avidemux in place of your ProShow and SmugMug.) The interesting thing about
> VirtualDub-- whether for a compressed file there or an uncompressed one-- is
> that the video is saved as all keyframes, by default. My experience in playing
> back such a 1920X1080 video as-is, is that it stutters on my own computer--
> probably because that's a LOT of video information to decode on-the-fly.

My guess would be that the stuttering is not due to an excessive amount
of data to be /decoded/, but rather simply due to an excessive amount of
data to be /read/ from hard disk.

[Stephen] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2843 days 17 hours and 12 minutes ago]

Mon, 9 Jul 2018 06:33:34 GMT

On 09/07/2018 02:45, Chuck wrote:
>   I like blender but
> don't know python at all and I believe that would be necessary to do the same
> sort of animation. Could be lack of knowledge talking here.

You don't need to use Python to create a video using Blender. I can't 
and do. :)
Blender will create your avi or mpg4 from a series of images. It comes 
with a set of default settings for various outputs and you can manually 
adjust them.
I have been following this thread as I am not too sure what all the 
settings do and their effects.

The lowest fps I use is 25 fps but generally use 30 fps. Occasionally 60 
fps for very smooth animations.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Chuck] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2843 days 21 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Mon, 9 Jul 2018 01:50:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> > On 07/07/2018 11:56 AM, Chuck wrote:
> >
> > > The originals as
> > > produced by PovRay are PNGs. Then since I use VirtualDub to produce an
> > > uncompressed AVI from the frame sequence I assume that all of the
> > > original bits are still present (at the cost of a huge file).
> > >
> > > Now I use ProShow to load in the AVI file and to add music and perhaps an
> > > introductory black slide. Then there are many output options: BlueRay, DVD,
> > > AVCHD, MPEG-4 (1080p (full HD), 4K UHD, and others.
> > > [snip]
> > > SmugMug then re-encodes the file for presentation...
>
> I still use VirtualDub as well, for certain videos (and follow a similar
> two-or-three-stage final encoding process as you do-- although I presently use
> Avidemux in place of your ProShow and SmugMug.) The interesting thing about
> VirtualDub-- whether for a compressed file there or an uncompressed one-- is
> that the video is saved as all keyframes, by default. My experience in playing
> back such a 1920X1080 video as-is, is that it stutters on my own computer--
> probably because that's a LOT of video information to decode on-the-fly. When I
> later transcode the video in Avidemux (usually as an h.264-encoded file in am
> ..mp4 container format), I can 'reduce' all those individual keyframes to a
> keyframe only every 25 frames (for example), which greatly-reduces the
> stuttering. SO... maybe your ProShow/SmugMug transcoding process is keeping
> *all* the original keyframes intact? Which might be the cause of the stuttering?
> >
> > If you are comfortable with the command line, you should try ffmpeg.
> > It's pretty much the standard these days.
>
> I think Avidemux makes use of ffmeg as it's 'engine' (although I'm not sure);
> but I've not yet used ffmeg itself as a command-line tool. It does seem that
> many folks here in the newsgroups are comfortable with it. (BTW, thanks for the
> ffmeg example code you posted here.)
> > >
> > > If reading between the lines above leads you to the conclusion that I am a
> > > neophyte to video you would be correct.
> >
> > Aren't we all.
> > You seem to have a good handle on what you're doing.  That puts you
> > light years ahead of (100 - â„“P)% of people.
>
> Ain't it the truth! Trying to clearly understand all the different file formats,
> encoding options, container formats etc. could be a full-time job! ;-)  And apps
> like Avidemux-- as good as they are-- seems to have their *own* little quirks
> that take some getting-used-to. (When a new version comes along, I dutifully
> download it-- then I find that my workarounds for the previous version have to
> be modified for the 'new' quirks. Aarggh!) It's the same with other video
> encoders/transcoders that I've used-- except VirtualDub(!), which seems
> rock-solid and consistent with its .avi-output files.

Dick - thanks for the ffmpeg parms. I feel that a number of similar programs are
expert friendly. I don't mean that as negative at all. These programs just give
the user a whole lot more knobs to turn when using them. The challenge is
knowing what the knobs are supposed to do.

Key frames - I know what a keyframe is (perhaps), just not how to identify them
in a video editor. I'm not sure but don't think ProShow gold will identify them.
The prog seems to read in the large uncompressed AVIs produced with VirtualDub
with no problems.

Now rendering a new animation (much less complex than before) just to see how a
30 (or 20) FPS video will look. The previews do look much less "choppy" as
expected. The first attempts had about 30,000 objects in the image which PovRay
handled quite well but the resulting image did not look so good so reduced the
maximum number of objects to 2,000.

A year ago wrote an interface to DirectX12 and ported the code logic to the
program. Instead of waiting quite some time for a render the visuals were
instant. I went back to PovRay and quite like it. PovRay seems to be the best
system for what I want to do. Have used it for a long time. I like blender but
don't know python at all and I believe that would be necessary to do the same
sort of animation. Could be lack of knowledge talking here. The Blender physics
model is awesome though. The glass funnel animation on the web site was created
with that. I would take a closer look at progs like AvidMux but ProShow provides
copyright worry free music for slideshows and videos and that sells it for me.

Chuck

[Kenneth] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2844 days 3 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sun, 8 Jul 2018 20:15:01 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 07/07/2018 11:56 AM, Chuck wrote:
>
> > The originals as
> > produced by PovRay are PNGs. Then since I use VirtualDub to produce an
> > uncompressed AVI from the frame sequence I assume that all of the
> > original bits are still present (at the cost of a huge file).
> >
> > Now I use ProShow to load in the AVI file and to add music and perhaps an
> > introductory black slide. Then there are many output options: BlueRay, DVD,
> > AVCHD, MPEG-4 (1080p (full HD), 4K UHD, and others.
> > [snip]
> > SmugMug then re-encodes the file for presentation...

I still use VirtualDub as well, for certain videos (and follow a similar
two-or-three-stage final encoding process as you do-- although I presently use
Avidemux in place of your ProShow and SmugMug.) The interesting thing about
VirtualDub-- whether for a compressed file there or an uncompressed one-- is
that the video is saved as all keyframes, by default. My experience in playing
back such a 1920X1080 video as-is, is that it stutters on my own computer--
probably because that's a LOT of video information to decode on-the-fly. When I
later transcode the video in Avidemux (usually as an h.264-encoded file in am
..mp4 container format), I can 'reduce' all those individual keyframes to a
keyframe only every 25 frames (for example), which greatly-reduces the
stuttering. SO... maybe your ProShow/SmugMug transcoding process is keeping
*all* the original keyframes intact? Which might be the cause of the stuttering?
>
> If you are comfortable with the command line, you should try ffmpeg.
> It's pretty much the standard these days.

I think Avidemux makes use of ffmeg as it's 'engine' (although I'm not sure);
but I've not yet used ffmeg itself as a command-line tool. It does seem that
many folks here in the newsgroups are comfortable with it. (BTW, thanks for the
ffmeg example code you posted here.)
> >
> > If reading between the lines above leads you to the conclusion that I am a
> > neophyte to video you would be correct.
>
> Aren't we all.
> You seem to have a good handle on what you're doing.  That puts you
> light years ahead of (100 - â„“P)% of people.

Ain't it the truth! Trying to clearly understand all the different file formats,
encoding options, container formats etc. could be a full-time job! ;-)  And apps
like Avidemux-- as good as they are-- seems to have their *own* little quirks
that take some getting-used-to. (When a new version comes along, I dutifully
download it-- then I find that my workarounds for the previous version have to
be modified for the 'new' quirks. Aarggh!) It's the same with other video
encoders/transcoders that I've used-- except VirtualDub(!), which seems
rock-solid and consistent with its .avi-output files.

[dick balaska] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2845 days 3 hours and 54 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 19:52:04 GMT

On 07/07/2018 03:20 PM, Chuck wrote:

>> On 07/07/2018 11:56 AM, Chuck wrote:
> The program that creates the individual PovRay files is driven by a smallish
> parameter file. Owing to poor "backup hygiene" the program has been modified so
> that the original parameter file no longer works. I am working on a newer
> version that should be able to reproduce a reasonable look alike series of
> images. When it is working again I will make a 30 FPS animation that has 30
> rendered frames per second.
> 
> I created a private gallery at:
> 
> www.elevenmilephotography.com
> 
> with a password of "povray" (no quotes). When the private gallery is entered it
> is possible to download the original MP4 exactly as it was uploaded. The file
> size is 25.1 MB. In case anyone is interested...
> 
> Since the original AVI is still available, as an experiment I will encode a new
> animation with high quality set.
> 
> Using ffmpeg: No worries on using the command line. What would it replace:
> VirtualDub or the ProShow encoding?

Minimally it would replace VirtualDub; convert *.png to x.mp4
Maybe ProShow wouldn't transcode it if it was already a palatable format 
for it.

Here's my command line for a 720p video:
ffmpeg  -y -r 30 -i ttlo%4d.png -i ttlo.wav -s hd720 -map 0:0 -map 1:0 
-crf 17 -c:v libx264 -preset slow -pix_fmt yuv420p -strict -2 ttlo.mp4

-y = overwrite existing .mp4 file
-r 30 = 30 fps
-i ttlo%4d.png = read ttlo0001.png through ttlo3280.png
           (ttlo%d.png would read ttlo1.png through ttlo3280.png)
-i ttlo.wav = audio file
-s hd720 = make a 720p video
-map 0:0 = put the video in the first stream
-map 1:0 = put the audio in the second stream
-crf 17 = video quality.  24-20 is nominal. 17 is a little better.
           higher numbers are smaller files and worse video
-c:v libx264 = use x264 encoder, i.e. standard .mp4
-preset slow = spend more time making good compression
-pix_fmt yuv420p = just because
-strict = lock the aspect ratio
-2 = because Mr. google said so.
ttlo.mp4 = output file

(My .png are rendered at 1280x720 with a 1:1 aspect ratio)

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Chuck] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2845 days 4 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 19:25:01 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 07/07/2018 11:56 AM, Chuck wrote:
>
> >
> > Don't know if it is good practice but, if possible, I want to maintain all of
> > the information present in the original rendered frames.
>
> I think that is every animator's goal.
>
> > The originals as
> > produced by PovRay are PNGs. Then since I use VirtualDub to produce an
> > uncompressed AVI from the frame sequence I assume that all of the original bits
> > are still present (at the cost of a huge file).
> >
> > Now I use ProShow to load in the AVI file and to add music and perhaps an
> > introductory black slide. Then there are many output options: BlueRay, DVD,
> > AVCHD, MPEG-4 (1080p (full HD), 4K UHD, and others.
> >
> > There is another box that can be checked that selects either 30fps normal, high,
> > or extreme quality. The normal quality is checked. Extreme quality doubles or
> > triples the size of the output file.
>
> I don't know "extreme", but normal and high are standard.  High gives
> better compression and better resolution at the expense of CPU power.
> These days, I see no reason to use normal.  (High was for the original
> 720p HD.)
>
> >
> > SmugMug then re-encodes the file for presentation so I don't know if selecting
> > normal quality really does any good.
> >
> > There were 1268 original frames produced. VLC shows the length of the animation
> > to be 2:06 minutes which at 30 FPS could use unique 3780 frames. I recall that
> > VirtualDub created the AVI at 10 FPS so the math seems to match up.
>
> I see. Yes, 10 FPS is definitely choppy speed.  You can go as low as 20
> FPS (23.976 is Blu-Ray speed) and look ok.
>
> >
> > An interestine experiment would be to render 3780 frames and have VirtualDub
> > create an AVI to run at 30 FPS.
>
> That would be an interesting experiment.
> My wild guess is an 80% larger file.  3x the frames but 50% is black.
>
>
> If you are comfortable with the command line, you should try ffmpeg.
> It's pretty much the standard these days.
>
> >
> > If reading between the lines above leads you to the conclusion that I am a
> > neophyte to video you would be correct.
>
> Aren't we all.
> You seem to have a good handle on what you're doing.  That puts you
> light years ahead of (100 - â„“P)% of people.
> >
> > I set the options on SmugMug to limit the res of the download to try to keep
> > pilfering down but if it is useful I could check into creating another gallery
> > and allow a download of the "fullm as created mp4 file".
>
> I would be very interested in seeing your vid with a higher frame rate. :)
>
> >
> > Chuck
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

The program that creates the individual PovRay files is driven by a smallish
parameter file. Owing to poor "backup hygiene" the program has been modified so
that the original parameter file no longer works. I am working on a newer
version that should be able to reproduce a reasonable look alike series of
images. When it is working again I will make a 30 FPS animation that has 30
rendered frames per second.

I created a private gallery at:

www.elevenmilephotography.com

with a password of "povray" (no quotes). When the private gallery is entered it
is possible to download the original MP4 exactly as it was uploaded. The file
size is 25.1 MB. In case anyone is interested...

Since the original AVI is still available, as an experiment I will encode a new
animation with high quality set.

Using ffmpeg: No worries on using the command line. What would it replace:
VirtualDub or the ProShow encoding?

Chuck

[Bald Eagle] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2845 days 4 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 19:05:00 GMT

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> If systems of equations defining motion are not too complicated, why not.

IIRC, a double-pendulum is featured somewhere in this movie:
http://www.chaos-math.org/en

Which means that there may be existing code for one somewehere...

Or contact the movie-makers - they may be able to point you in the right
direction.

:)

[dick balaska] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2845 days 5 hours and 1 minute ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 18:44:37 GMT

On 07/07/2018 11:56 AM, Chuck wrote:

> 
> Don't know if it is good practice but, if possible, I want to maintain all of
> the information present in the original rendered frames. 

I think that is every animator's goal.

> The originals as
> produced by PovRay are PNGs. Then since I use VirtualDub to produce an
> uncompressed AVI from the frame sequence I assume that all of the original bits
> are still present (at the cost of a huge file).
> 
> Now I use ProShow to load in the AVI file and to add music and perhaps an
> introductory black slide. Then there are many output options: BlueRay, DVD,
> AVCHD, MPEG-4 (1080p (full HD), 4K UHD, and others.
> 
> There is another box that can be checked that selects either 30fps normal, high,
> or extreme quality. The normal quality is checked. Extreme quality doubles or
> triples the size of the output file.

I don't know "extreme", but normal and high are standard.  High gives 
better compression and better resolution at the expense of CPU power. 
These days, I see no reason to use normal.  (High was for the original 
720p HD.)

> 
> SmugMug then re-encodes the file for presentation so I don't know if selecting
> normal quality really does any good.
> 
> There were 1268 original frames produced. VLC shows the length of the animation
> to be 2:06 minutes which at 30 FPS could use unique 3780 frames. I recall that
> VirtualDub created the AVI at 10 FPS so the math seems to match up.

I see. Yes, 10 FPS is definitely choppy speed.  You can go as low as 20 
FPS (23.976 is Blu-Ray speed) and look ok.

> 
> An interestine experiment would be to render 3780 frames and have VirtualDub
> create an AVI to run at 30 FPS.

That would be an interesting experiment.
My wild guess is an 80% larger file.  3x the frames but 50% is black.


If you are comfortable with the command line, you should try ffmpeg. 
It's pretty much the standard these days.

> 
> If reading between the lines above leads you to the conclusion that I am a
> neophyte to video you would be correct.

Aren't we all.
You seem to have a good handle on what you're doing.  That puts you 
light years ahead of (100 - â„“P)% of people.
> 
> I set the options on SmugMug to limit the res of the download to try to keep
> pilfering down but if it is useful I could check into creating another gallery
> and allow a download of the "fullm as created mp4 file".

I would be very interested in seeing your vid with a higher frame rate. :)

> 
> Chuck
> 
> 
> 


-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Chuck] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2845 days 7 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 16:00:00 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 07/07/2018 12:10 AM, Kenneth wrote:
> >>
> >
> > How did you find that info? In Firefox, I have an add-on called VideoConverter,
> > but the only things it shows are the various 'streaming' bitrates, not the file
> > size(s). (And in this case, VC can't download it as a 'file', as far as I can
> > tell.)
>
> View source, line 33 gives you the video url. [1]
> I downloaded the 640x360 edition.  It is 2.9 MB which seems about right.
>
> > If the 1920 X 1080 video is indeed only 60+ KB in size, that's...
> > extraordinary!! (I have my doubts-- but if true, maybe it's because the video
> > frames show mostly a pure black background, which is easy to encode.)
> >
> > In another post, Chuck mentioned that the video was saved as an .avi file; in
> > your own data above, the Video Codec seems to be avc1. That would be a
> > variant(?) of h.264 I believe (or maybe the same thing?) I wonder if
> > avc1-encoded video-- but wrapped in an old-style.avi container-- might be a bad
> > mix? Just a conjecture-- I'm thinking about the choppiness.
>
> mediainfo says it was encoded with Lavf57.71.100 which is part of
> ffmpeg.  It was likely transcoded when he uploaded it.
> >
> >
> >
>
> [1] On my video page, I scrambled the url just to keep the stupid robots
> at bay.
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

Don't know if it is good practice but, if possible, I want to maintain all of
the information present in the original rendered frames. The originals as
produced by PovRay are PNGs. Then since I use VirtualDub to produce an
uncompressed AVI from the frame sequence I assume that all of the original bits
are still present (at the cost of a huge file).

Now I use ProShow to load in the AVI file and to add music and perhaps an
introductory black slide. Then there are many output options: BlueRay, DVD,
AVCHD, MPEG-4 (1080p (full HD), 4K UHD, and others.

There is another box that can be checked that selects either 30fps normal, high,
or extreme quality. The normal quality is checked. Extreme quality doubles or
triples the size of the output file.

SmugMug then re-encodes the file for presentation so I don't know if selecting
normal quality really does any good.

There were 1268 original frames produced. VLC shows the length of the animation
to be 2:06 minutes which at 30 FPS could use unique 3780 frames. I recall that
VirtualDub created the AVI at 10 FPS so the math seems to match up.

An interestine experiment would be to render 3780 frames and have VirtualDub
create an AVI to run at 30 FPS.

If reading between the lines above leads you to the conclusion that I am a
neophyte to video you would be correct.

I set the options on SmugMug to limit the res of the download to try to keep
pilfering down but if it is useful I could check into creating another gallery
and allow a download of the "fullm as created mp4 file".

Chuck

[kurtz le pirate] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2845 days 8 hours and 37 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 15:08:33 GMT

Le 02/07/2018 Ã  14:53, JimT a Ã©critÂ :
> I'm guessing what you were passing between frames were the two angles and
> angular velocities in order to do a numerical solution of the ODEs.

yes and the last <x,y> position

> However, I think your numerical solution scheme is adding energy. You start off with
the
> balls both stationary and horizontal. Later in the motion BOTH balls are above
> the horizontal. A numerical scheme to conserve energy is surprisingly difficult.
> What scheme did you use?

yes, energy is used but... it's not MY scheme.
In this example, I just adapted the L3 Processing code to POVRay SDL.
And, has i say on my web page, this not a real simaultion.

> Even more surprisingly, there are complex double pendulum motions that are
> periodic, many that are symmetric, but several that are asymmetric. Would you
> like some data for one (or more) of those motions?

If systems of equations defining motion are not too complicated, why not.



-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[dick balaska] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2845 days 16 hours and 24 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 07:22:00 GMT

On 07/07/2018 12:10 AM, Kenneth wrote:
>>
> 
> How did you find that info? In Firefox, I have an add-on called VideoConverter,
> but the only things it shows are the various 'streaming' bitrates, not the file
> size(s). (And in this case, VC can't download it as a 'file', as far as I can
> tell.) 

View source, line 33 gives you the video url. [1]
I downloaded the 640x360 edition.  It is 2.9 MB which seems about right.

> If the 1920 X 1080 video is indeed only 60+ KB in size, that's...
> extraordinary!! (I have my doubts-- but if true, maybe it's because the video
> frames show mostly a pure black background, which is easy to encode.)
> 
> In another post, Chuck mentioned that the video was saved as an .avi file; in
> your own data above, the Video Codec seems to be avc1. That would be a
> variant(?) of h.264 I believe (or maybe the same thing?) I wonder if
> avc1-encoded video-- but wrapped in an old-style.avi container-- might be a bad
> mix? Just a conjecture-- I'm thinking about the choppiness.

mediainfo says it was encoded with Lavf57.71.100 which is part of 
ffmpeg.  It was likely transcoded when he uploaded it.
> 
> 
> 

[1] On my video page, I scrambled the url just to keep the stupid robots 
at bay.

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[dick balaska] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2845 days 16 hours and 54 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 06:51:59 GMT

On 07/07/2018 12:10 AM, Kenneth wrote:

> How did you find that info? 

The little italic 'i' in the bottom right of the page.
Of course, it could by lying...


-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Kenneth] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2845 days 19 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sat, 7 Jul 2018 04:15:01 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 07/05/2018 05:45 PM, Chuck wrote:
> >
> > The animation was rendered at high res which caused buffering pauses with slower
> > internets feeds. It was replaced with lower res (link below), probably not
> > descernable after gallery compression.
> >
> > https://elevenmilephotography.smugmug.com/Experiments/i-xjk2QXx/A
> >
> > Thanks for the comment Dick.
> >
> > Chuck
> >
> >
> >
>
> I had no issues with buffering, but I thought it was, um choppy?  Like a
> very low frame rate or odd codec.

Impressive video! But I see 'choppiness' as well, in all five of the streaming
video-resolutions (even at 320 X 180-- and I have a fast broadband connection.)
>
> Oh, you squeezed a 2 minute 1080p video into 60KB.  That's pretty
> impressive.  What did you use to encode that?
>
>
> Name DuetPS9StdRes.mp4
> Size 1920 x 1080
> File Size 60.16 KB
> Advanced
> Duration 0:02:18
> Audio Codec mp4a
> Video Codec avc1
>

How did you find that info? In Firefox, I have an add-on called VideoConverter,
but the only things it shows are the various 'streaming' bitrates, not the file
size(s). (And in this case, VC can't download it as a 'file', as far as I can
tell.) If the 1920 X 1080 video is indeed only 60+ KB in size, that's...
extraordinary!! (I have my doubts-- but if true, maybe it's because the video
frames show mostly a pure black background, which is easy to encode.)

In another post, Chuck mentioned that the video was saved as an .avi file; in
your own data above, the Video Codec seems to be avc1. That would be a
variant(?) of h.264 I believe (or maybe the same thing?) I wonder if
avc1-encoded video-- but wrapped in an old-style.avi container-- might be a bad
mix? Just a conjecture-- I'm thinking about the choppiness.

[Chuck] Animation + Music (Encoder) [2846 days 9 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Fri, 6 Jul 2018 14:30:01 GMT

Yes, there is some choppyness in the animation. I think it is because there are
not enough frames per unit time. If I have some render time I may run it again
using more frames. I produce 1 PovRay file per frame with a C++ program and then
render the frames with a batch file. VirtualDub collects the frames and creates
an AVI.

I use ProShow Gold V9 to to the encoding. It loads the AVI, adds music and other
such embellishments. I mainly use this software since they include a decent
selection of music that can be used with no copyright worries.

Chuck

[dick balaska] Re: Replaced animation with lower res. [2847 days and 4 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Jul 2018 23:42:19 GMT

On 07/05/2018 05:45 PM, Chuck wrote:
> 
> The animation was rendered at high res which caused buffering pauses with slower
> internets feeds. It was replaced with lower res (link below), probably not
> descernable after gallery compression.
> 
> https://elevenmilephotography.smugmug.com/Experiments/i-xjk2QXx/A
> 
> Thanks for the comment Dick.
> 
> Chuck
> 
> 
> 

I had no issues with buffering, but I thought it was, um choppy?  Like a 
very low frame rate or odd codec.

Oh, you squeezed a 2 minute 1080p video into 60KB.  That's pretty 
impressive.  What did you use to encode that?


Name	DuetPS9StdRes.mp4
Size	1920 x 1080
File Size	60.16 KB
Advanced
Duration	0:02:18
Audio Codec	mp4a
Video Codec	avc1

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Chuck] Replaced animation with lower res. [2847 days 1 hour and 56 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Jul 2018 21:50:00 GMT

The animation was rendered at high res which caused buffering pauses with slower
internets feeds. It was replaced with lower res (link below), probably not
descernable after gallery compression.

https://elevenmilephotography.smugmug.com/Experiments/i-xjk2QXx/A

Thanks for the comment Dick.

Chuck

[dick balaska] Re: Animation + Music [2847 days 4 hours and 1 minute ago]

Thu, 5 Jul 2018 19:45:16 GMT

On 07/05/2018 02:28 PM, Chuck wrote:
> I created this about a year ago as part of a project. Music was added and posted
> to a gallery.
> 
> In the same gallery there are 2 other PovRay animations.
> 
> https://elevenmilephotography.smugmug.com/Experiments/i-5HQrS3w/A
> 
> The pipes animation was done over 5 years ago using the MadPipes macro to create
> the pipe assembly.
> 
> Chuck
> 
> 
> 

Nice.  I like the brass pipes too.

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Chuck] Animation + Music [2847 days 5 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Jul 2018 18:30:01 GMT

I created this about a year ago as part of a project. Music was added and posted
to a gallery.

In the same gallery there are 2 other PovRay animations.

https://elevenmilephotography.smugmug.com/Experiments/i-5HQrS3w/A

The pipes animation was done over 5 years ago using the MadPipes macro to create
the pipe assembly.

Chuck

[dick balaska] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2850 days 10 hours and 9 minutes ago]

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 13:37:13 GMT

On 07/02/2018 08:53 AM, JimT wrote:

> 
> I'm guessing what you were passing between frames were the two angles and
> angular velocities in order to do a numerical solution of the ODEs. However, I
> think your numerical solution scheme is adding energy. You start off with the
> balls both stationary and horizontal. Later in the motion BOTH balls are above
> the horizontal. 

I noticed this too.  But then later they resolve back towards 0. I 
figured the added energy was on purpose for effect.

Welcome to the dark side, where animations are greater than 1 second 
long, Mr. le pirate.
:D

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[JimT] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2850 days 10 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 12:55:01 GMT

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Le 30/06/2018 Ã  14:15, Bald Eagle a Ã©critÂ :
>
> > This is very nice!
> > How long did it take you implement the code?
> > I'm glad to see that you're another person playing with the coding challenge
> > topics   :)    There's lots of fun and educational projects there.
> >
> > (I still have to fix the last problem I had with converting the Perlin noise
> > flow field
> > Coding Challenge #24: Perlin Noise Flow Field
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjoM9oKOAKY
> > )
> >
> > I've always wanted to play with some of these systems and have the colors change
> > as a function of tension, rotational or translational velocity, etc.
> >
> > 1000 frames is "a lot" (Shut it, Balaska)
> > How long to render the whole animation?
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> Yes, Coding Challenge is a good source of inspiration...
>
> The code took me about 1 hour. The tricky part was the persistence of
> the data between images. Then, 1000 frames, 800x600 with anti-aliasong
> take 15mn.
>
>
>
> --
> Kurtz le pirate
> Compagnie de la Banquise

I'm guessing what you were passing between frames were the two angles and
angular velocities in order to do a numerical solution of the ODEs. However, I
think your numerical solution scheme is adding energy. You start off with the
balls both stationary and horizontal. Later in the motion BOTH balls are above
the horizontal. A numerical scheme to conserve energy is surprisingly difficult.
What scheme did you use?

Even more surprisingly, there are complex double pendulum motions that are
periodic, many that are symmetric, but several that are asymmetric. Would you
like some data for one (or more) of those motions?

Jim T.

[kurtz le pirate] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2852 days 8 hours and 33 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 15:12:32 GMT

Le 30/06/2018 Ã  14:15, Bald Eagle a Ã©critÂ :

> This is very nice!
> How long did it take you implement the code?
> I'm glad to see that you're another person playing with the coding challenge
> topics   :)    There's lots of fun and educational projects there.
> 
> (I still have to fix the last problem I had with converting the Perlin noise
> flow field
> Coding Challenge #24: Perlin Noise Flow Field
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjoM9oKOAKY
> )
> 
> I've always wanted to play with some of these systems and have the colors change
> as a function of tension, rotational or translational velocity, etc.
> 
> 1000 frames is "a lot" (Shut it, Balaska)
> How long to render the whole animation?
> 
> 
> 
> 


Yes, Coding Challenge is a good source of inspiration...

The code took me about 1 hour. The tricky part was the persistence of 
the data between images. Then, 1000 frames, 800x600 with anti-aliasong 
take 15mn.



-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[Stephen] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2852 days 11 hours and 23 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 12:23:22 GMT

On 30/06/2018 13:15, Bald Eagle wrote:
> 1000 frames is "a lot" (Shut it, Balaska)

LOL


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Bald Eagle] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2852 days 11 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 12:20:01 GMT

kurtz le pirate <kur### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> First basic implementation of "Double Pendulum" mouvement.
> Check out at <http://louisbel.free.fr/animate/>
>
> Your comments are welcome.

This is very nice!
How long did it take you implement the code?
I'm glad to see that you're another person playing with the coding challenge
topics   :)    There's lots of fun and educational projects there.

(I still have to fix the last problem I had with converting the Perlin noise
flow field
Coding Challenge #24: Perlin Noise Flow Field
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjoM9oKOAKY
)

I've always wanted to play with some of these systems and have the colors change
as a function of tension, rotational or translational velocity, etc.

1000 frames is "a lot" (Shut it, Balaska)
How long to render the whole animation?

[Stephen] Re: Double Pendulum Animation [2852 days 13 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 10:29:48 GMT

On 30/06/2018 10:58, kurtz le pirate wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> First basic implementation of "Double Pendulum" mouvement.
> Check out at <http://louisbel.free.fr/animate/>
> 
> Your comments are welcome.
> 
> 
> 
Nice! Now using reflective spheres. :-)

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[kurtz le pirate] Double Pendulum Animation [2852 days 13 hours and 47 minutes ago]

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 09:58:33 GMT

Hi,

First basic implementation of "Double Pendulum" mouvement.
Check out at <http://louisbel.free.fr/animate/>

Your comments are welcome.



-- 
Kurtz le pirate
Compagnie de la Banquise

[dick balaska] Re: Dodge on povray [2881 days 2 hours and 44 minutes ago]

Fri, 1 Jun 2018 21:01:38 GMT

On 06/01/2018 02:40 PM, Saxoalex wrote:
> Hi !

> //Annimation
> #declare POS_G = <0, 1, -12+20*clock>;
> #declare POS_R = <-10+20*clock, 1, -2>;
> #declare Diff = POS_G.x - POS_R.x;
> #if ( abs(Diff.x) < 4*Epaisseur )
>      #declare POS_G = <POS_G.x+(1/Diff.x+1), POS_G.y, POS_G.z>;

try
#declare Diff = vlength(POS_G - POS_R);
#debug concat("Longueur = ", str(Diff,0,2), "\n")

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Saxoalex] Dodge on povray [2881 days 5 hours and 1 minute ago]

Fri, 1 Jun 2018 18:45:00 GMT

Hi !
I'm sorry for my English level...


I'm a student in the media production field and I have to create an animation
which consist of animate balls. For the moment, I just want to make a video
where two balls are about to collide, but one of the balls dodge the other.
The problem is that I can't do that.

I try to get the different between the 2 balls position. The problem is that the
result value's is sometimes 0, so in my equation, it don't work...
Have you some suggestions for me please ?
Thank's !

Here is the program :

#version 3.7;
#include "colors.inc"
#include "textures.inc"

//Mise en place d'un trièdre de repère
#declare BARRE = cylinder {<0, 0, 0> <0, 10, 0> 0.05 }

#declare Epaisseur=1;

//Formes

#declare BILLE = sphere { <0, 0, 0> Epaisseur };

//Materiaux

#declare ROUGE = material { texture { pigment { Red } } };
#declare VERT = material { texture { pigment { Green } } };
#declare BLEU = material { texture { pigment { Blue } } };


//Habllage
#declare BARREX = object { BARRE material { ROUGE } };
#declare BARREY = object { BARRE material { VERT } };
#declare BARREZ = object { BARRE material { BLEU } };
#declare BILLER = object { BILLE material { ROUGE } };
#declare BILLEG = object { BILLE material { VERT } };

//Assemblage
#declare REPERE = union
{
    object { BARREX rotate <0, 0, -90> }
    object { BARREY }
    object { BARREZ rotate <90, 0, 0> }
}


//Scene
plane {y,0 pigment {checker pigment {Black}, pigment {White}  } }
object { REPERE }

//Annimation
#declare POS_G = <0, 1, -12+20*clock>;
#declare POS_R = <-10+20*clock, 1, -2>;
#declare Diff = POS_G.x - POS_R.x;
#if ( abs(Diff.x) < 4*Epaisseur )
    #declare POS_G = <POS_G.x+(1/Diff.x+1), POS_G.y, POS_G.z>;
#end

// Mise en scene
object { BILLER translate POS_R}
object { BILLEG translate POS_G}

camera {
    location <0, 10, 5>
    look_at <0, 0, 0>
    angle 90
}

light_source {
    <1, 8, 1>
    White*0.7
}

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2931 days 15 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 07:55:00 GMT

"greytery" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > However, what I also want to do is put in a few still images between the scenes.
> > But I guess I can just let POV-Ray render them too..
> >
> I think you are talking about a filler between the animation scene files. One
> way to do this is to use ffmpeg to loop a still image for a certain number of
> frames (e.g. 1 sec = 25).
> e.g. for a couple of 3 second fillers, using the last frame of each scene..
> $ ffmpeg  -loop 1 -i stillimg1.png -r 25  -frames 75 scene1a.mp4
> $ ffmpeg  -loop 1 -i stillimg2.png -r 25  -frames 75 scene2a.mp4
>
> then
> $ cat filelist.txt
> scene1.mp4
> scene1a.mp4
> scene2.mp4
> scene2a.mp4
> scene3.mp4

That's EXACTLY what I mean and need.
Thanks a lot!

(Btw, here's the latest version: https://vimeo.com/263747056 )

[clipka] Re: Earth horizon curve simulation [2931 days 23 hours and 23 minutes ago]

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 00:22:52 GMT

Am 11.04.2018 um 20:07 schrieb Movie Vertigo:
> I've been using POV-Ray to simulate how curved the horizon appears at different
> altitudes.
> 
> I chose to use POV-Ray rather than a standard modeller (e.g. Blender) as I can
> actually get a perfect (Non-polygon) sphere that way.
> 
> It also comfortably handled the 2.15GB 86400x43200 pixel texture I used for the
> detail! (Blender couldn't handle it!)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st-tzyisDoQ

Nice!

Might be interesting to somehow highlight a few key altitudes, such as:

- altitude of Mt Everest
- altitude of typical intercontinental flights
- altitude at which space officially begins
- altitude of the ISS
- altitude of geostationary satellites

[greytery] Re: IKEA test [2932 days 2 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 11 Apr 2018 21:10:00 GMT

> However, what I also want to do is put in a few still images between the scenes.
> But I guess I can just let POV-Ray render them too..
>
I think you are talking about a filler between the animation scene files. One
way to do this is to use ffmpeg to loop a still image for a certain number of
frames (e.g. 1 sec = 25).
e.g. for a couple of 3 second fillers, using the last frame of each scene..
$ ffmpeg  -loop 1 -i stillimg1.png -r 25  -frames 75 scene1a.mp4
$ ffmpeg  -loop 1 -i stillimg2.png -r 25  -frames 75 scene2a.mp4

then
$ cat filelist.txt
scene1.mp4
scene1a.mp4
scene2.mp4
scene2a.mp4
scene3.mp4

[Movie Vertigo] Earth horizon curve simulation [2932 days 5 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 11 Apr 2018 18:10:07 GMT

I've been using POV-Ray to simulate how curved the horizon appears at different
altitudes.

I chose to use POV-Ray rather than a standard modeller (e.g. Blender) as I can
actually get a perfect (Non-polygon) sphere that way.

It also comfortably handled the 2.15GB 86400x43200 pixel texture I used for the
detail! (Blender couldn't handle it!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st-tzyisDoQ

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2937 days 3 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Fri, 6 Apr 2018 20:40:00 GMT

Getting there... scenes are roughly where I want them now. Got some jagged lines
appearing in this version, but I will try to tweak it a bit.

Also... I need to do something about that water mark saying "unregistered
version"...

https://vimeo.com/263579484

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2937 days 4 hours and 1 minute ago]

Fri, 6 Apr 2018 19:45:00 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> I've used VideoMach for most of my past stuff, and it lets you select frames
> with different names, and apply a text overlay.
>
> I usually use Format factory to convert to some other video format afterwards.
>
> No guarantees, but they're what I use, free, and you give them a shot and see.

Ok, I have to admit VideoMach was an even better suggestion than OpenShot.

Really easy to adjust each frame's delay.

Thanks!

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2937 days 4 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Fri, 6 Apr 2018 19:05:00 GMT

Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas, I really appreciate it!

I found a program called OpenShot (Open Source) which can import the pngs
directly into a timeline editor and export to mp4.

And, as suspected, result was MUCH better:

https://vimeo.com/263565181

(Now I just gotta figure out how to avoid the "snap" that occurs between each
scene)

[dick balaska] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 1 hour and 5 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 22:40:44 GMT

On 04/05/2018 09:05 AM, Kenneth wrote:

>>
> Yep, I still use that on occasion. I especially like it for spitting out all the
> individual frames from a real-life video, to use as image_maps in a POV-Ray
> animation, for whatever purpose.

I use ffmpeg for extraction too. :)

"from 1999-12-08.mp2, starting at the 4.5 second mark, extract 3.75 
seconds of video as vidE*.png. 0 pad the frame number to 5 places"

ffmpeg -ss 00:04.5 -t 00:03.75 -i /MyVideo/Balaska199/1999-12-08.mp2 
vidE-%05d.png		# DA dancing 9shls famroom


-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Kenneth] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 10 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 13:10:00 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:

> You could try VirtualDub. It is old but free. ;-)
>
Yep, I still use that on occasion. I especially like it for spitting out all the
individual frames from a real-life video, to use as image_maps in a POV-Ray
animation, for whatever purpose.

For video editing and assembly, I've had very good results with AVIDEMUX (for
Windows). It's relatively easy to use, too. But like most free video
editors/assemblers out there, it has its own strange little quirks. I've managed
to work around most of them. When I can't, I load the video in VirtualDub first,
then re-save it with NO compression as a giant-sized .avi file, then import it
into Avidemux for final work (and transcoding to an .mp4 file.) Doing the final
editing this way is a breeze, because VirtualDub outputs its video as all
keyframes (by default, it seems.) So frame-by-frame edits are painless.

Avidemux is great for putting together POV-Ray animations too.

[Bald Eagle] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 13 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 10:35:01 GMT

I've used VideoMach for most of my past stuff, and it lets you select frames
with different names, and apply a text overlay.

I usually use Format factory to convert to some other video format afterwards.

No guarantees, but they're what I use, free, and you give them a shot and see.

[Stephen] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 14 hours and 15 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 09:31:18 GMT

On 05/04/2018 09:44, dick balaska wrote:
> On 04/05/2018 04:15 AM, Rushen wrote:
> 
>>
>> I think FFMPEG and VDub does the same thing,mainly, and that is going 
>> from still
>> to moving images. (or switching formats) And so far the avi-files 
>> produced
>> during that step show very little distortion.
> 
If you are happy using command line programs. Ignore the suggestion.


> # create your scenes
> $ ffmpeg -i scene1-%3d.png scene1.mp4
> $ ffmpeg -i scene2-%3d.png scene2.mp4
> $ ffmpeg -i scene3-%3d.png scene3.mp4
> 
> # create a file with the list of scene mp4s
> $ cat filelist.txt
> scene1.mp4
> scene2.mp4
> scene3.mp4
> 
> # concatenate the scenes together, without transcoding.
> $ ffmpeg -f concat -i filelist.txt -c copy finalmovie.mp4
> 


I agree with you about using mp4

I use a GUI and generally use 2 passes and fiddle with the framerate. 
You're not doing that? I know you want continuity in your scenes but are 
the defaults giving the best results?

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 14 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 09:15:00 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 04/05/2018 04:15 AM, Rushen wrote:
>
> >
> > I think FFMPEG and VDub does the same thing,mainly, and that is going from still
> > to moving images. (or switching formats) And so far the avi-files produced
> > during that step show very little distortion.
>
> # create your scenes
> $ ffmpeg -i scene1-%3d.png scene1.mp4
> $ ffmpeg -i scene2-%3d.png scene2.mp4
> $ ffmpeg -i scene3-%3d.png scene3.mp4
>
> # create a file with the list of scene mp4s
> $ cat filelist.txt
> scene1.mp4
> scene2.mp4
> scene3.mp4
>
> # concatenate the scenes together, without transcoding.
> $ ffmpeg -f concat -i filelist.txt -c copy finalmovie.mp4
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

Nice idea, yes the problem is the number of different named files from each
scene.

I'm always a bit intimidated by words like "script" or "bash", but that actually
seems managable even for me.

However, what I also want to do is put in a few still images between the scenes.
But I guess I can just let POV-Ray render them too..

I also wanted to add some text overlay to the final movie. Of course this can be
done in POV-Ray as well but the plan was to add that post rendering, as well as
sound.

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 14 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 09:10:00 GMT

Gergely Szaktilla <spa### [at] ktillade> wrote:
> Am 05.04.2018 um 08:20 schrieb Rushen:
> > ...
> > Well, any comments/ideas on this matter are, as always, heavily appreciated.
>
> Yes ... one can have lots of fun doing such things. I did my shelf in 3d
> prior to building it. The room under it is for a desk. See
> <http://test.szaktilla.de/3d.jpg>
>
> Gregor

That's a good idea. Also a bit easier to change the plans, if it does not fit
correctly, prior to constructing the actual shelf.. :)

[dick balaska] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 15 hours and 1 minute ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 08:44:56 GMT

On 04/05/2018 04:15 AM, Rushen wrote:

> 
> I think FFMPEG and VDub does the same thing,mainly, and that is going from still
> to moving images. (or switching formats) And so far the avi-files produced
> during that step show very little distortion.

# create your scenes
$ ffmpeg -i scene1-%3d.png scene1.mp4
$ ffmpeg -i scene2-%3d.png scene2.mp4
$ ffmpeg -i scene3-%3d.png scene3.mp4

# create a file with the list of scene mp4s
$ cat filelist.txt
scene1.mp4
scene2.mp4
scene3.mp4

# concatenate the scenes together, without transcoding.
$ ffmpeg -f concat -i filelist.txt -c copy finalmovie.mp4

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[dick balaska] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 15 hours and 13 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 08:32:44 GMT

On 04/05/2018 02:20 AM, Rushen wrote:
> Hey guys,
> 
> Been a few years since I posted anything here. Can't say that I've been busy
> working with 3d, so my skills are about the same as before. :)
> 
> Anyway, I've started to study a few courses on digital graphics, if nothing else
> to freshen up this forgotten hobby of mine. (But I guess the dream of working
> with 3d for a living also is somewhere in the back...) Stop! I already know
> POV-Ray is not the ulyimate tool for that...!
> 
> So, the idea was to make an IKEA manual as a 3d animation. Keeping it all kind
> of basic.
> 
> First few scenes put together can be watched here:
> 
> https://vimeo.com/263286279
> 
> First two scenes look smooth enough, but then the rest gets all jagged up (55
> seconds in forexample).  I've been
> using the same settings in FFMPEG: goes from png to avi, fps 25.
> 
> Put together in Windows Live Movie Maker... could that be the weak link? Or
> should I not be using avi-files in the first place? (WLMM makes wmv-files
> only...)
> 

Why not use just straight ffmpeg and output a .mp4 ?
avi has an optional lossless format that is nice for editing, but I 
would skip that part.
Is your issue that you have too many png files at once? (about 4000).
(I manage multiple scenes in a single movie. A bash script copies 8 
scenes of png files into one linear list of pngs and then I ffmpeg it.)

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 15 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 08:20:00 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 05/04/2018 07:20, Rushen wrote:
> > Hey guys,
> >
> > Been a few years since I posted anything here. Can't say that I've been busy
> > working with 3d, so my skills are about the same as before. :)
> >
> > Anyway, I've started to study a few courses on digital graphics, if nothing else
> > to freshen up this forgotten hobby of mine. (But I guess the dream of working
> > with 3d for a living also is somewhere in the back...) Stop! I already know
> > POV-Ray is not the ulyimate tool for that...!
> >
> > So, the idea was to make an IKEA manual as a 3d animation. Keeping it all kind
> > of basic.
> >
> > First few scenes put together can be watched here:
> >
> > https://vimeo.com/263286279
> >
> > First two scenes look smooth enough, but then the rest gets all jagged up (55
> > seconds in forexample).  I've been
> > using the same settings in FFMPEG: goes from png to avi, fps 25.
> >
> > Put together in Windows Live Movie Maker... could that be the weak link? Or
> > should I not be using avi-files in the first place? (WLMM makes wmv-files
> > only...)
> >
> > Well, any comments/ideas on this matter are, as always, heavily appreciated.
> >
>
> It could be your anti-aliasing settings are too low. But I notice that
> the video starts to go jaggy when there is movement. That points to the
> encoding. Can you find the advance settings and see what codex you are
> using and any settings?
>
> I've not used Windows Live Movie Maker but I found the earlier version
> quite limited.
> I'm using Blender but that is not really suitable for just putting a
> video together. To steep a learning curve, I fear.
> You could try VirtualDub. It is old but free. ;-)
>
>
> --
>
> Regards
>      Stephen

Thanks Stephen,

I believe the encoding problems show up in the process of putting several
smaller video-files (scenes) into one final clip.

I think FFMPEG and VDub does the same thing,mainly, and that is going from still
to moving images. (or switching formats) And so far the avi-files produced
during that step show very little distortion.

So I guess what I need is a better video editor basically. Are there any free
programs for that, besides windows not-so-great alternative?

[Gergely Szaktilla] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 15 hours and 28 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 08:18:15 GMT

Am 05.04.2018 um 08:20 schrieb Rushen:
> ...
> Well, any comments/ideas on this matter are, as always, heavily appreciated.

Yes ... one can have lots of fun doing such things. I did my shelf in 3d
prior to building it. The room under it is for a desk. See
<http://test.szaktilla.de/3d.jpg>

Gregor

[Stephen] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 16 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 07:25:02 GMT

On 05/04/2018 07:20, Rushen wrote:
> Hey guys,
> 
> Been a few years since I posted anything here. Can't say that I've been busy
> working with 3d, so my skills are about the same as before. :)
> 
> Anyway, I've started to study a few courses on digital graphics, if nothing else
> to freshen up this forgotten hobby of mine. (But I guess the dream of working
> with 3d for a living also is somewhere in the back...) Stop! I already know
> POV-Ray is not the ulyimate tool for that...!
> 
> So, the idea was to make an IKEA manual as a 3d animation. Keeping it all kind
> of basic.
> 
> First few scenes put together can be watched here:
> 
> https://vimeo.com/263286279
> 
> First two scenes look smooth enough, but then the rest gets all jagged up (55
> seconds in forexample).  I've been
> using the same settings in FFMPEG: goes from png to avi, fps 25.
> 
> Put together in Windows Live Movie Maker... could that be the weak link? Or
> should I not be using avi-files in the first place? (WLMM makes wmv-files
> only...)
> 
> Well, any comments/ideas on this matter are, as always, heavily appreciated.
> 

It could be your anti-aliasing settings are too low. But I notice that 
the video starts to go jaggy when there is movement. That points to the 
encoding. Can you find the advance settings and see what codex you are 
using and any settings?

I've not used Windows Live Movie Maker but I found the earlier version 
quite limited.
I'm using Blender but that is not really suitable for just putting a 
video together. To steep a learning curve, I fear.
You could try VirtualDub. It is old but free. ;-)

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Rushen] Re: IKEA test [2938 days 16 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 07:20:01 GMT

Addition:

Compare the jagged lines (is there a proper term for that?) in the clip posted
in the first post with this one:

https://vimeo.com/263292688

That's one of the files I put into Windows Live Movie Maker, which then came out
looking a lot worse.

/Gustav

[Rushen] IKEA test [2938 days 17 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 06:25:00 GMT

Hey guys,

Been a few years since I posted anything here. Can't say that I've been busy
working with 3d, so my skills are about the same as before. :)

Anyway, I've started to study a few courses on digital graphics, if nothing else
to freshen up this forgotten hobby of mine. (But I guess the dream of working
with 3d for a living also is somewhere in the back...) Stop! I already know
POV-Ray is not the ulyimate tool for that...!

So, the idea was to make an IKEA manual as a 3d animation. Keeping it all kind
of basic.

First few scenes put together can be watched here:

https://vimeo.com/263286279

First two scenes look smooth enough, but then the rest gets all jagged up (55
seconds in forexample).  I've been
using the same settings in FFMPEG: goes from png to avi, fps 25.

Put together in Windows Live Movie Maker... could that be the weak link? Or
should I not be using avi-files in the first place? (WLMM makes wmv-files
only...)

Well, any comments/ideas on this matter are, as always, heavily appreciated.

Take care!
/Gustav

[clipka] Re: ttlo [2939 days 4 hours and 37 minutes ago]

Wed, 4 Apr 2018 19:08:32 GMT

Am 04.04.2018 um 20:51 schrieb dick balaska:

> Hmm, I used to drive ZÃ¼rich to Basel at 140 km/h, so that number is
> significant to me, and it's 3 digits. So, that's my target. Thanks! :)
> (Or maybe I'll stick to the posted speed limit of 120 ;) )

As a nitpicking realism fanboy, I advocate paying attention that the
altitude increases properly in accordance with the speed. Dunno if
that's currently the case for your video, just putting it out there.

[dick balaska] Re: ttlo [2939 days 4 hours and 54 minutes ago]

Wed, 4 Apr 2018 18:51:49 GMT

On 04/04/2018 02:47 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> On 3-4-2018 16:52, dick balaska wrote:

> 
> Or not. There is a real nice feeling about going into space at a 
> comfortable 40 km/h.

Hmm, I used to drive ZÃ¼rich to Basel at 140 km/h, so that number is 
significant to me, and it's 3 digits. So, that's my target. Thanks! :)
(Or maybe I'll stick to the posted speed limit of 120 ;) )

>> Math, and time, are most unforgiving mistresses.

Now that I've straightened this out, I wish I had done it sooner. The 
solution is separate ini files and different times for each edition 
(frame rate).  A tiny bit more tedious to set up, but way easier to 
manage and infinitely more accurate.

> 
> I guess the number or grey hairs on your head are increasing (or falling 
> out instead) exponentially. :-)

My Slovak stock is blessed with perdurable hair. And being blond, you 
can't even see the grey. :)

> 
> I am sure all will be clarified in due time. I have full confidence on 
> the issue.
> 

This is interesting (to me). For the first 5 years (1999-2003) I 
finished 1.2 minutes of animation a year.  The last 2.5 years since I 
picked this back up, my throughput is 2.1 minutes of animation a year. 
I have 5.5 minutes left to do.  If I can keep up this pace, I am 
targeting a Christmas 2020 finish date. :)

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Thomas de Groot] Re: ttlo [2939 days 16 hours and 59 minutes ago]

Wed, 4 Apr 2018 06:47:10 GMT

On 3-4-2018 16:52, dick balaska wrote:
> On 04/03/2018 02:59 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> On 2-4-2018 3:21, dick balaska wrote:
>>> Elvis has left the building.
>>> My next scene, Through the Liftoff of ...
>>> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo-720p.mp4
>>>
>>>
>>
>> 195km??? And still visible from the ground???
> 
> Very small km?
> 
> On the other side of that, I think it is 10km and hasn't even cleared 
> the strongback.
> 
> I was worried you spacegeeks would freak out about that. :)

Just ignore them. No imagination at all. ;-)

In fact I think it is a brilliant feature. It throws people into 
confusion as they are caught by the action and forget the /reality/ of 
the playground. I was caught myself...

> 
> In my defense, in some reality, the SpaceLoco is being carried by the 
> kid and is really no higher than an outstretched arm, 4 feet up. :)

Of course!

> 
> The speedometer/tachometer sweep is what I used to see going from 0-100 
> mph (in 6 seconds) on my CB650sc. Other than that I didn't put a lot of 
> control into the numbers. I wasn't sure where they'd end up.Â  I will 
> figure out what I want those numbers to be and backport the increments 
> to fit. -- I just watched yesterday's SpaceX launch; I need to really 
> dial back the altitude and increase the speed. :)

Or not. There is a real nice feeling about going into space at a 
comfortable 40 km/h.

> 
> 
> Major math disaster strikes!
> 
> So I have this 16:43 long song/movie.Â  I break out a scene of a couple 
> of verses, between 1 and 2 minutes, and work on that.
> The problem is, each scene can not end exactly on a frame, because I 
> support 23.976 and 30 fps, and because I was a little sloppy. Each scene 
> is +-0.5 frames off, which added up over the scenes. Even worse, in the 
> movie, I have different start times for this scene depending on frame 
> rate. :(Â  I am off by 0.126 seconds from where I think I am, which is 
> horrible when trying to time it to music.
> 
> This is a cumulative problem, and I never really noticed it because most 
> music cues happen on the peak of a sin curve, so if it is off by a 
> little it's not really noticeable.Â  But, this scene, the countdown, 
> monitor2 on and monitor3 on all need to nail the timing.Â  And in this 
> scene as presented here, they do.Â  But, when I pasted it into the full 
> movie, it is off by 0.126 seconds and they look horrible.Â  Even worse, 
> this is 30 fps, and the 23.976 fps edition has a different amount of 
> off-ness. [1]
> So I have to do this scene in two different lengths. In the ini I pass
> Declare=__FPS__=30
> and adjust the duration and start time of the scene accordingly. :) :(
> And, the Thrusts and camera2/3 images are handled by Java [2] and *it* 
> needs to know the different scene durations and start times.Â  Just ugh.
> 
> At least at the end of this scene, my two timelines are resynced back up.
> 
> 
> Math, and time, are most unforgiving mistresses.

I guess the number or grey hairs on your head are increasing (or falling 
out instead) exponentially. :-)

> 
>>
>> I love this scene! I thought the locomotive would travel along the 
>> tracks but this is better.
> 
> :)
> 
>> Well done. Cannot wait to discover the destination.
> 
> I'm not real sure.Â  Do I go into space? Do I fly around the room? both?
> I cut the next scene at 2:13, which is my longest scene, and I'm not 
> sure what to do with it. :)
> 

I am sure all will be clarified in due time. I have full confidence on 
the issue.

-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] Re: ttlo [2940 days 8 hours and 54 minutes ago]

Tue, 3 Apr 2018 14:52:09 GMT

On 04/03/2018 02:59 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> On 2-4-2018 3:21, dick balaska wrote:
>> Elvis has left the building.
>> My next scene, Through the Liftoff of ...
>> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo-720p.mp4
>>
>>
> 
> 195km??? And still visible from the ground???

Very small km?

On the other side of that, I think it is 10km and hasn't even cleared 
the strongback.

I was worried you spacegeeks would freak out about that. :)

In my defense, in some reality, the SpaceLoco is being carried by the 
kid and is really no higher than an outstretched arm, 4 feet up. :)

The speedometer/tachometer sweep is what I used to see going from 0-100 
mph (in 6 seconds) on my CB650sc. Other than that I didn't put a lot of 
control into the numbers. I wasn't sure where they'd end up.  I will 
figure out what I want those numbers to be and backport the increments 
to fit. -- I just watched yesterday's SpaceX launch; I need to really 
dial back the altitude and increase the speed. :)

Major math disaster strikes!

So I have this 16:43 long song/movie.  I break out a scene of a couple 
of verses, between 1 and 2 minutes, and work on that.
The problem is, each scene can not end exactly on a frame, because I 
support 23.976 and 30 fps, and because I was a little sloppy. Each scene 
is +-0.5 frames off, which added up over the scenes. Even worse, in the 
movie, I have different start times for this scene depending on frame 
rate. :(  I am off by 0.126 seconds from where I think I am, which is 
horrible when trying to time it to music.

This is a cumulative problem, and I never really noticed it because most 
music cues happen on the peak of a sin curve, so if it is off by a 
little it's not really noticeable.  But, this scene, the countdown, 
monitor2 on and monitor3 on all need to nail the timing.  And in this 
scene as presented here, they do.  But, when I pasted it into the full 
movie, it is off by 0.126 seconds and they look horrible.  Even worse, 
this is 30 fps, and the 23.976 fps edition has a different amount of 
off-ness. [1]
So I have to do this scene in two different lengths. In the ini I pass
Declare=__FPS__=30
and adjust the duration and start time of the scene accordingly. :) :(
And, the Thrusts and camera2/3 images are handled by Java [2] and *it* 
needs to know the different scene durations and start times.  Just ugh.

At least at the end of this scene, my two timelines are resynced back up.

Math, and time, are most unforgiving mistresses.

> 
> I love this scene! I thought the locomotive would travel along the 
> tracks but this is better.

:)

> Well done. Cannot wait to discover the 
> destination.

I'm not real sure.  Do I go into space? Do I fly around the room? both?
I cut the next scene at 2:13, which is my longest scene, and I'm not 
sure what to do with it. :)

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[1] 
http://git.buckosoft.com/gitweb/pov.cgi?p=tteoac.git;f=ttCommon/Storyboard.txt;hb=HEAD
(lines 59-60)

[2] http://www.buckosoft.com/javadoc/TteoacService/

[dick balaska] Re: ttlo [2940 days 13 hours and 32 minutes ago]

Tue, 3 Apr 2018 10:13:38 GMT

On 04/02/2018 07:24 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> Wow! You've certainly been busy. I especially like the playful-looking smoke

Thanks. I like that too. I hadn't thought of the term "playful-looking" 
but that's a good description. It is a bug that caused it to sputter, 
but I really liked that. (I underestimated MaxThrusts).

> from the train's engine, AND the clever way you made the rocket (er, train)
> exhaust as it launches and lifts into the sky. Your animated patterned-sphere
> technique is looking better and better.

It is getting there. I think I need logarithmic curve for the 
fade-to-clear. .999 becomes .9999 becomes .99999 etc.

> 
> Well done!
> 
Thanks!

-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[Thomas de Groot] Re: ttlo [2940 days 16 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Tue, 3 Apr 2018 06:59:37 GMT

On 2-4-2018 3:21, dick balaska wrote:
> Elvis has left the building.
> My next scene, Through the Liftoff of ...
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo-720p.mp4
> 
> 

195km??? And still visible from the ground???

I love this scene! I thought the locomotive would travel along the 
tracks but this is better. Well done. Cannot wait to discover the 
destination.

-- 
Thomas

[Kenneth] Re: ttlo [2941 days and 21 minutes ago]

Mon, 2 Apr 2018 23:25:01 GMT

Wow! You've certainly been busy. I especially like the playful-looking smoke
from the train's engine, AND the clever way you made the rocket (er, train)
exhaust as it launches and lifts into the sky. Your animated patterned-sphere
technique is looking better and better.

Well done!

(BTW, the video didn't come up immediately-- it was taking it's time loading or
something-- but on my 2nd try, I waited patiently and it finally showed up.)

[dick balaska] ttlo [2941 days 22 hours and 25 minutes ago]

Mon, 2 Apr 2018 01:21:14 GMT

Elvis has left the building.
My next scene, Through the Liftoff of ...
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo-720p.mp4


-- 
dik
Rendered 328976 of 330000 (99%)

[clipka] Re: In the Meantime a diversion. [2959 days 16 hours and 22 minutes ago]

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 07:23:48 GMT

Am 14.03.2018 um 16:07 schrieb Stephen:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> Whilst waiting for the Blender Pov Exporter team to fix a bug with the
>> Boids particle system exporting. Here is a Blender internal render. Not
>> the best quality, to keep the size under 5 Meg
>> Coming soon a render using PovRay.
>>
>> [No pressure mr ;-)]
>>
> Drat! T.bird delete only deletes it from t.bird.
> I made a mistake "deleted" and reposted it in p.b.a.

There's "Cancel Message" in the "Message" menu. Which may or may not
work, dunno whether I ever tried it myself.

[Cousin Ricky] Re: In the Meantime a diversion. [2960 days 2 hours and 25 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 21:20:33 GMT

On 2018-03-14 11:07 AM (-4), Stephen wrote:
> Drat! T.bird delete only deletes it from t.bird.
> I made a mistake "deleted" and reposted it in p.b.a.

I made the identical mistake last April.

> I did not think binary attachments were allowed in non binary groups.

The Web interface will not allow it, but Thunderbird doesn't care.

[Stephen] Re: In the Meantime a diversion. [2960 days 8 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 15:10:00 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> Whilst waiting for the Blender Pov Exporter team to fix a bug with the
> Boids particle system exporting. Here is a Blender internal render. Not
> the best quality, to keep the size under 5 Meg
> Coming soon a render using PovRay.
>
> [No pressure mr ;-)]
>
Drat! T.bird delete only deletes it from t.bird.
I made a mistake "deleted" and reposted it in p.b.a.

I did not think binary attachments were allowed in non binary groups.

[Stephen] In the Meantime a diversion. [2960 days 9 hours and 19 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 14:26:52 GMT

Whilst waiting for the Blender Pov Exporter team to fix a bug with the 
Boids particle system exporting. Here is a Blender internal render. Not 
the best quality, to keep the size under 5 Meg
Coming soon a render using PovRay.

[No pressure mr ;-)]

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: ttlo WIP [2963 days 16 hours and 2 minutes ago]

Sun, 11 Mar 2018 07:43:46 GMT

On 11-3-2018 5:33, dick balaska wrote:
> My next scene in progress.Â  ttlo - Through the Liftoff of
> (although I prefer "Railway to Heaven")
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo-480p.mp4

Oooooh.... can't wait.... :-)

-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] ttlo WIP [2963 days 19 hours and 13 minutes ago]

Sun, 11 Mar 2018 04:33:27 GMT

My next scene in progress.  ttlo - Through the Liftoff of
(although I prefer "Railway to Heaven")
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo-480p.mp4
-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[dick balaska] Re: tteoac-20180302 [2970 days 20 hours and 39 minutes ago]

Sun, 4 Mar 2018 03:06:56 GMT

On 03/03/2018 02:43 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:

> 
> I love it. There is just that tantalising water surface we never breach. 
> I wonder what there was beyond that.
> 

At one point, I was going to have Spongebob's island up there; a mound 
of sand and a single palm tree. (I think I'm landing on the beach after 
the space scene.) There is a leap out of the water, but, it's only 8-9 
frames and I couldn't justify it. There's also a bendy guitar note near 
there that I wanted to coincide with the leap, but couldn't get it 
right.  There's also no splash or anything, so it's hard to tell. Maybe 
I'll go back to it...

The surface was interesting. It was designed for multiple waves in 
different directions, but while testing it I liked the single wave. I 
think it's more in line with the rest of the "art".
Each frame is a pre-generated, unique, heavy, 43MB mesh that has to get 
thrown to its server. If I'd known I was going to do the single wave, I 
prolly would have gone with building it out of cylinders. -- 43MB isn't 
too bad, until you consider, 1709+2138 frames (two frame rates). I'm 
carrying 160GB of mathematically simple meshes.

> Your transitions between scenes are smart.

Thanks! My initial inspiration was "An American in Paris". Gene Kelly 
choreographed a multi-scene 20 minute single camera, single shot ballet. 
These days I am also a big fan of the Ok Go music videos (usually single 
camera, single shot).

Did you notice the haus is rescaled and moved depending on whether you 
are looking out the front of the haus or the back?  I had to break that 
for the current scene. :( The kid runs out the back of the haus heading 
for the front. I can't have the backyard and front yard simultaneously.

Getting the lighting to match between scenes was "fun".  One irksome 
thing; there is a scale change after the ReeferMagnets show, when the 
kid first starts moving again.  The lighting was perfect when I shot 
this in 4:3 for a DVD. But in 1.78, there is a lighting change visible. 
:) :(  Getting in and out of the cave was easy because I just lined it 
up at mostly black.

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[Thomas de Groot] Re: tteoac-20180302 [2971 days 16 hours and 2 minutes ago]

Sat, 3 Mar 2018 07:43:59 GMT

On 3-3-2018 5:52, dick balaska wrote:
> I have integrated my most recent scene into my movie.Â  Also, a sneak 
> preview of the next scene I'm working on.
> 
> Start at like 8:30 if you've seen it before.
> 
> 
> Same movie, different resolutions. Choose wisely.
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/tteoac-480p-20180302.mp4
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/tteoac-720p-20180302.mp4
> 

I love it. There is just that tantalising water surface we never breach. 
I wonder what there was beyond that.

Your transitions between scenes are smart.

-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] tteoac-20180302 [2971 days 18 hours and 54 minutes ago]

Sat, 3 Mar 2018 04:52:00 GMT

I have integrated my most recent scene into my movie.  Also, a sneak 
preview of the next scene I'm working on.

Start at like 8:30 if you've seen it before.


Same movie, different resolutions. Choose wisely.
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/tteoac-480p-20180302.mp4
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/tteoac-720p-20180302.mp4

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[greytery] Re: A Bit of Chess [2986 days 2 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Fri, 16 Feb 2018 21:40:01 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 14.02.2018 um 23:28 schrieb greytery:

> For animations, frame-level job distribution will most certainly remain
> the most efficient solution, even once tile-level job distribution is
> enabled.

Danke für die Abklärung/clarification.
It's also easier to manage from a recovery POV. (No apology - pun intended!)
Easier to recover a missing frame - but a missing tile would ruin several
clients work.
I've only been using a private, local farm with home-brew UDP plumbing - but
never hit a recovery problem.
If "we" were to distibute animations across the web, say, then tile-level
message passing overheads would be horrendous. There will always be an overhead
in distributing the jobs, mainly because there doesn't appear to be any way of
cacheing/sharing the parsing results ( am I wrong?).

In this example, the individual moves were ~1-4 second scenes, each job split
into 30-100 frames. So there is an even higher level of job management - and job
recovery. Frames is good!

I understand that the render engine efficiency has been improved in > 3.7 and I
look forwards to feeling the difference.

tery

[dick balaska] Re: ttvo WIP [2986 days 4 hours and 4 minutes ago]

Fri, 16 Feb 2018 19:42:23 GMT

On 01/06/2018 01:21 PM, dick balaska wrote:
> This is the scene I am currently working on, a 71 second clip
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttvo-480p.mp4

I think I'm about done with this scene.  New bits at the 30 second mark.

http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttvo-480p.mp4

This is a picture of "forester", a program I wrote to plant the trees 
(red) and build the parade (blue). The big blue spline is the Moray's 
path through the scene.  Darker red dots have an earlier birth time.
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/g/forester.png

The database for forester is the povray file it generates itself.
http://git.buckosoft.com/gitweb/pov.cgi?p=tteoac.git;a=blob_plain;f=ttvo/ocean/forester.inc;hb=HEAD

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[clipka] Re: A Bit of Chess [2987 days 10 hours and 39 minutes ago]

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 13:07:24 GMT

Am 14.02.2018 um 23:28 schrieb greytery:

> Development seems to be changing the structure of POVRay so that maybe we can
> distribute work at the tile level but that's not here yet. Currently frame level
> works for me. And anyway it's not always clear whether work is more efficiently
> done at either the frame or at the tile level, especially for longer runs of
> frames.

For animations, frame-level job distribution will most certainly remain
the most efficient solution, even once tile-level job distribution is
enabled.

[greytery] Re: A Bit of Chess [2988 days 1 hour and 16 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 22:30:00 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:

> >> Heh. Nice node names. How many boxes are in the farm?
> > 10 (3 i7, 5 i5, 2 Ryzen 1700 - all SSD and 8-16GB RAM).
>
> Well I'm jealous of *that*. I have (1) i7 and (3) i5.
So. That's a farm!!
Did I mention I was a 'consultant' before retiring? == adequate pension + loads
of time.
> >>
> >> UDP huh? That's an interesting choice.
> >>
> >  UDP is reliable enough.
>
> Yeah, it's reliable enough but ... I guess you're using some python
> library to assemble the small packets into a big message (like the
> returned image).

Nope. It's pretty simple Python - no classes or Obscure Obfuscation. All done at
the POV frame level with a shared (SMB) folder. I call it
UDPov. UDPov Job manager sends text message to client(s) to render a batch(1) of
frames. UDPov client calls POVRay command line with .ini file name and
start/end frame number(s). Client then writes whole image back into shared
folder and polls for next. Folder fills up with the frames and eventually they
can be combined (ffmpeg).
Development seems to be changing the structure of POVRay so that maybe we can
distribute work at the tile level but that's not here yet. Currently frame level
works for me. And anyway it's not always clear whether work is more efficiently
done at either the frame or at the tile level, especially for longer runs of
frames.

> I did an early innernet video game. UDP is great until it breaks. Error
> tracing is difficult. (I always thought it was me until my TiVo also
> gave me the same useless "No route to host" message. It's the same lan,
> you stupid box.)

I'm really talking 1970's here :-)  Back then you built in recovery at the
application level as well as at the network level.  Stupid application IMHO.
(but yeah. UDP is 'fire & forget' so you need to remember and retry. Er, did I
mention the 70's?)
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[dick balaska] Re: A Bit of Chess [2988 days 4 hours and 25 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 19:21:06 GMT

On 02/14/2018 01:33 PM, greytery wrote:
> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
>> On 02/14/2018 12:16 PM, greytery wrote:
>>
> Corners chosen because I wanted a longer spread, but I take your point.

That makes sense.

>>
>> Heh. Nice node names. How many boxes are in the farm?
> 10 (3 i7, 5 i5, 2 Ryzen 1700 - all SSD and 8-16GB RAM).

Well I'm jealous of *that*. I have (1) i7 and (3) i5.
(Recently swapped an i5 and a Celeron for a new i5. More throughput, 
less node count).  My max node count was 8, but the family now all uses 
iPads and slow laptops that hibernate when you close the lid.

>>
>>    The home-brew render job management is a bit of Python using
>>> UDP(!!) over the gigabit LAN.
>>
>> UDP huh? That's an interesting choice.
>>
> Been writing comms code off & on since 1973. Back then it was teletypes,
> dial-up. Went through the early internet thing, and was involved in maybe 7
> TCP/IP subsystems. Our designs then used to fake the wiring between Host and
> User by drawing a {{cloud}}.  Have bought and sold international - and even
> orbital - networking solutions as a consultant .... so when I retired and sat
> down at home and checked out the best solution for a bunch of PCs connected to
> the same  gigabit switch - who needs a cloud?  UDP is reliable enough.

Yeah, it's reliable enough but ... I guess you're using some python 
library to assemble the small packets into a big message (like the 
returned image).
I did an early innernet video game. UDP is great until it breaks. Error 
tracing is difficult. (I always thought it was me until my TiVo also 
gave me the same useless "No route to host" message. It's the same lan, 
you stupid box.)

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[greytery] Re: A Bit of Chess [2988 days 5 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 18:35:00 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 02/14/2018 12:16 PM, greytery wrote:
> > Last year I had some fun with POV-Ray animation. The main aim was to find some
> > (any?) way to utilise my mini-farm of PCs.
> > The main result of that time can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/242598466
>
> Very nice!
Hey thanks. I was just checking out YOUR 'Child'. Spooky or what!

> I love the sparkle effect where the king is first captured. Very liquid-y.
> I like the shape of the mass of pieces when first laying out the board.
> I would have started them in the center back and expand left/right
> instead of in the corner.
>
Corners chosen because I wanted a longer spread, but I take your point.

> >
> > The subject was chosen to fit a piece of music by a Heavy Metal band (they're a
> > lot heavier than this piece). The Chess is NOT the greatest of contests but it
> > fits. (No Chess experts please!)
>
> Well, you did need a match that fits in 1:50. Someone has to make a dumb
> move. ;)
>
Hey - I said No Chess exp ..
> >
> > The render farm is a mix of i7/i5 PCs (and recently a couple of Ryzens).  At
> > full tilt, that's pumping out over a kilowatt and perfect for a cool winter's
> > day. The master (Gru) is Win10 while the clients run Linux Mint (the
> > "Mintions").
>
> Heh. Nice node names. How many boxes are in the farm?
10 (3 i7, 5 i5, 2 Ryzen 1700 - all SSD and 8-16GB RAM).
>
>   The home-brew render job management is a bit of Python using
> > UDP(!!) over the gigabit LAN.
>
> UDP huh? That's an interesting choice.
>
Been writing comms code off & on since 1973. Back then it was teletypes,
dial-up. Went through the early internet thing, and was involved in maybe 7
TCP/IP subsystems. Our designs then used to fake the wiring between Host and
User by drawing a {{cloud}}.  Have bought and sold international - and even
orbital - networking solutions as a consultant .... so when I retired and sat
down at home and checked out the best solution for a bunch of PCs connected to
the same  gigabit switch - who needs a cloud?  UDP is reliable enough.
> >
> > tery
>
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[dick balaska] Re: A Bit of Chess [2988 days 5 hours and 54 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 17:51:49 GMT

On 02/14/2018 12:16 PM, greytery wrote:
> Last year I had some fun with POV-Ray animation. The main aim was to find some
> (any?) way to utilise my mini-farm of PCs.
> The main result of that time can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/242598466

Very nice!
I love the sparkle effect where the king is first captured. Very liquid-y.
I like the shape of the mass of pieces when first laying out the board. 
I would have started them in the center back and expand left/right 
instead of in the corner.

> 
> The subject was chosen to fit a piece of music by a Heavy Metal band (they're a
> lot heavier than this piece). The Chess is NOT the greatest of contests but it
> fits. (No Chess experts please!)

Well, you did need a match that fits in 1:50. Someone has to make a dumb 
move. ;)

> 
> The render farm is a mix of i7/i5 PCs (and recently a couple of Ryzens).  At
> full tilt, that's pumping out over a kilowatt and perfect for a cool winter's
> day. The master (Gru) is Win10 while the clients run Linux Mint (the
> "Mintions").

Heh. Nice node names. How many boxes are in the farm?

  The home-brew render job management is a bit of Python using
> UDP(!!) over the gigabit LAN.

UDP huh? That's an interesting choice.

> 
> tery

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[greytery] A Bit of Chess [2988 days 6 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 17:20:08 GMT

Last year I had some fun with POV-Ray animation. The main aim was to find some
(any?) way to utilise my mini-farm of PCs.
The main result of that time can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/242598466

The subject was chosen to fit a piece of music by a Heavy Metal band (they're a
lot heavier than this piece). The Chess is NOT the greatest of contests but it
fits. (No Chess experts please!)

Python 3 was used to generate the POV-Ray pov/ini files, with most of the
parameters (timing, start/end distances) pre-generated in a spreadsheet. Some 50
pov/ini scenes were then farmed out in separate frames. The total number of
frames is ~1700 for ~1:50 secs of animation, including fillers and titles. The
final render session took ~25 hours, and the frames and soundtrack were finally
sewn together with ffmgeg at 25fps.

The render farm is a mix of i7/i5 PCs (and recently a couple of Ryzens).  At
full tilt, that's pumping out over a kilowatt and perfect for a cool winter's
day. The master (Gru) is Win10 while the clients run Linux Mint (the
"Mintions"). The home-brew render job management is a bit of Python using
UDP(!!) over the gigabit LAN.

tery

[Thomas de Groot] Re: ttvo WIP [2995 days 15 hours and 53 minutes ago]

Wed, 7 Feb 2018 07:53:03 GMT

On 7-2-2018 3:30, dick balaska wrote:
> On 02/06/2018 03:11 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>>
>> Fascinating project! Wonder what happens next.
>>
> 
> I wasn't going to say anything yet, but in honor of Elon launching a car 
> into orbit today, I'll be launching a train. (Through the Liftoff of...)
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo208.png

Lol!


-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] Re: ttvo WIP [2995 days 21 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Wed, 7 Feb 2018 02:30:11 GMT

On 02/06/2018 03:11 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> 
> Fascinating project! Wonder what happens next.
> 

I wasn't going to say anything yet, but in honor of Elon launching a car 
into orbit today, I'll be launching a train. (Through the Liftoff of...)
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttlo208.png

Even though I'm still working on the ocean, I started staging this 
because I'm concerned about the timing. I have a big musical cue coming 
up (7 beat hold). I want something dramatic for that. Originally, I was 
thinking the initial moment of 0g would be cool, but I'm nowhere near 
that.  Now I'm thinking it's going to be the ride up the elevator before 
launch.

But I'm almost out of time, meaning, that musical cue will never move 
and I'm getting closer to it.  It's a long run from the fishtank back 
out to the "yard". It fits, but I'm not real happy about it. I have 
another minute's worth of ideas for the underwater scene that I scrapped 
because I don't have time.

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[Stephen] Re: ttvo WIP [2996 days 6 hours and 28 minutes ago]

Tue, 6 Feb 2018 17:17:45 GMT

On 06/02/2018 15:48, dick balaska wrote:
> On 02/06/2018 05:25 AM, Stephen wrote:
>> On 06/01/2018 18:21, dick balaska wrote:
> 
>>
>>> Clearly, I have issues with the y axis; ascending and descending is a 
>>> bitch.
>>>
>>
>> I didn't notice.
> 
> That was an older version's issue.Â  I needed to add sky <> to my camera 
> calcs.Â  The flashlight doesn't know about sky <> which is why it is not 
> totally locked into the corner there.
> 
>>
>>> I don't get the jitter on the head of the Moray, when the kid is 
>>> riding on the ocean floor. I have no idea where that is coming from.
>>>
>>
>> It doesn't look bad though. Maybe swimming over rough ground.
>>
> 
> Oh good. I wondered if I was talking myself into "it doesn't look bad".
> 
> 

:-)
It adds a bit of variety to the movement.
But I know what you mean. After a while you lose all judgement.


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[dick balaska] Re: ttvo WIP [2996 days 7 hours and 58 minutes ago]

Tue, 6 Feb 2018 15:48:14 GMT

On 02/06/2018 05:25 AM, Stephen wrote:
> On 06/01/2018 18:21, dick balaska wrote:

> 
>> Clearly, I have issues with the y axis; ascending and descending is a 
>> bitch.
>>
> 
> I didn't notice.

That was an older version's issue.  I needed to add sky <> to my camera 
calcs.  The flashlight doesn't know about sky <> which is why it is not 
totally locked into the corner there.

> 
>> I don't get the jitter on the head of the Moray, when the kid is 
>> riding on the ocean floor. I have no idea where that is coming from.
>>
> 
> It doesn't look bad though. Maybe swimming over rough ground.
> 

Oh good. I wondered if I was talking myself into "it doesn't look bad".

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[Stephen] Re: ttvo WIP [2996 days 13 hours and 20 minutes ago]

Tue, 6 Feb 2018 10:25:46 GMT

On 06/01/2018 18:21, dick balaska wrote:
> This is the scene I am currently working on, a 71 second clip
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttvo-480p.mp4
> 
> The holstered flashlight is perfect. No matter how much I screw up 
> Camera and Lookat, it does its job. ;)
> 
> I think the banking while riding on the Moray may be a bit much.
> 

Just a little, I think.

> Clearly, I have issues with the y axis; ascending and descending is a 
> bitch.
> 

I didn't notice.

> I don't get the jitter on the head of the Moray, when the kid is riding 
> on the ocean floor. I have no idea where that is coming from.
> 

It doesn't look bad though. Maybe swimming over rough ground.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Stephen] Re: ttvo WIP [2996 days 13 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Tue, 6 Feb 2018 10:20:13 GMT

On 06/02/2018 08:11, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> 
> Fascinating project! Wonder what happens next.
> 

Yes and it stopped just as it was getting interesting.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: ttvo WIP [2996 days 15 hours and 35 minutes ago]

Tue, 6 Feb 2018 08:11:08 GMT

Fascinating project! Wonder what happens next.

-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] Re: ttvo WIP [2996 days 16 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Tue, 6 Feb 2018 06:54:54 GMT

On 01/06/2018 01:21 PM, dick balaska wrote:
> This is the scene I am currently working on, a 71 second clip
> http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttvo-480p.mp4

My monthly update on my current scene.
There's a good ride on the moray. I give up on the vertical chatter in 
the Moray's head. I'm leaving it in as "artist's choice". ;)

The submarine attacks the moray, but he doesn't return fire yet.

I think it's interesting, as we descend to the ocean floor, the 
flashlight flails about a little bit -- but the light stays perfectly 
focused where it's supposed to. It almost looks like the light is faked.

http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttvo-480p.mp4

-- 
dik
Rendered 920576 of 921600 pixels (99%)

[dick balaska] ttvo WIP [3027 days 5 hours and 24 minutes ago]

Sat, 6 Jan 2018 18:21:51 GMT

This is the scene I am currently working on, a 71 second clip
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/video/testRenders/ttvo-480p.mp4

The holstered flashlight is perfect. No matter how much I screw up 
Camera and Lookat, it does its job. ;)

I think the banking while riding on the Moray may be a bit much.

Clearly, I have issues with the y axis; ascending and descending is a bitch.

I don't get the jitter on the head of the Moray, when the kid is riding 
on the ocean floor. I have no idea where that is coming from.

-- 
dik
Rendered 344576 of 345600 pixels (99%)

[clipka] Re: Clockless_Animation [3027 days 17 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Sat, 6 Jan 2018 05:55:27 GMT

Am 06.01.2018 um 02:19 schrieb muyu:

>> In essence, `#persistent` works like `#declare`, but the variable sticks
>> around until UberPOV exits.
>>
>> You'll still need to assemble the contents of such persistent variables
>> into a new scene for each frame; however, you can prepare arbitrarily
>> complex objects in this manner, such as nested CSG unions.
> 
> Thanks a lot for your suggestions. But it still need parsing from frame to
> frame.

Well, yes, of course. The scene needs to be parsed again for each frame,
if only to insert the `#persistent`-declared object into the scene for
that frame in a manner that's unique to that particular frame (after all
you want /some/ difference between the frames of an animation).

Parsing speed is still increased, because UberPOV doesn't actually need
to process the tokens in the `#ifndef FOO #persistent FOO = ... #endif`
blocks again, but can just skip over them instead. For example, in an
image based pigment the most time is spent in loading the actual image
file, not parsing.

In cases where the block is just a long litany of loopless SDL code that
would be easy to parse except for its sheer length (as might be the case
for mesh2 objects), another trick you can use is to pull out that code
into an include file, and place the `#include` statement into the
`#ifndef... #endif` block, e.g.:

    // main file
    #ifndef MyMesh
      #include "mymesh.inc"
    #endif
    object { MyMesh }

    // mymesh.inc
    #persistent MyMesh = mesh2 {
      ...
    }

Or, if your mesh is generated by a 3rd party utility and uses
`#declare`, you might use:

    // main file
    #ifndef MyMesh
      #include "mymesh.inc"
      #persistent MyMesh = object { ExportedMesh }
    #endif

    // mymesh.inc
    #declare ExportedMesh = mesh2 {
      ...
    }

[muyu] Re: Clockless_Animation [3027 days 22 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Sat, 6 Jan 2018 01:20:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 04.01.2018 um 13:02 schrieb muyu:
> > clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> >> Am 03.01.2018 um 16:16 schrieb muyu:
> >>
> >>> I did another search in the forum. It seems that UberPOV can pass data through
> >>> frames without parsing each time. Is this true?
> >>
> >> Yes, absolutely.
> >
> > I did not find material to show how to use this feature. Could you please give
> > an simple example? Thanks a lot.
>
> For example, to load a complex mesh just once, you could use:
>
>     #ifndef MyMesh
>       #persistent MyMesh = mesh { ... }
>     #endif
>     object { MyMesh }
>
> Or, to load an image map just once, you could use:
>
>     #ifndef MyPigment
>       #persistent MyPigment = pigment {
>         image_map { ... }
>       }
>     #endif
>     object { SomeObject
>       texture {
>         pigment { MyPigment }
>         finish { ... }
>       }
>     }
>
>
> In essence, `#persistent` works like `#declare`, but the variable sticks
> around until UberPOV exits.
>
> You'll still need to assemble the contents of such persistent variables
> into a new scene for each frame; however, you can prepare arbitrarily
> complex objects in this manner, such as nested CSG unions.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. But it still need parsing from frame to
frame. I upload my pov file in this link
http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.animations/message/%3Cweb.5a50228f5c821073553834de0%40news.povray.org%3E/#%3Cweb
.5a50228f5c821073553834de0%40news.povray.org%3E

Could you please help have a look? Thanks a lot in advance.

Have a nice weekend
Shouyang

[clipka] Re: Clockless_Animation [3029 days 7 hours and 5 minutes ago]

Thu, 4 Jan 2018 16:40:35 GMT

Am 04.01.2018 um 13:02 schrieb muyu:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
>> Am 03.01.2018 um 16:16 schrieb muyu:
>>
>>> I did another search in the forum. It seems that UberPOV can pass data through
>>> frames without parsing each time. Is this true?
>>
>> Yes, absolutely.
> 
> I did not find material to show how to use this feature. Could you please give
> an simple example? Thanks a lot.

For example, to load a complex mesh just once, you could use:

    #ifndef MyMesh
      #persistent MyMesh = mesh { ... }
    #endif
    object { MyMesh }

Or, to load an image map just once, you could use:

    #ifndef MyPigment
      #persistent MyPigment = pigment {
        image_map { ... }
      }
    #endif
    object { SomeObject
      texture {
        pigment { MyPigment }
        finish { ... }
      }
    }

In essence, `#persistent` works like `#declare`, but the variable sticks
around until UberPOV exits.

You'll still need to assemble the contents of such persistent variables
into a new scene for each frame; however, you can prepare arbitrarily
complex objects in this manner, such as nested CSG unions.

[muyu] Re: Clockless_Animation [3029 days 11 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Thu, 4 Jan 2018 12:05:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 03.01.2018 um 16:16 schrieb muyu:
>
> > I did another search in the forum. It seems that UberPOV can pass data through
> > frames without parsing each time. Is this true?
>
> Yes, absolutely.

I did not find material to show how to use this feature. Could you please give
an simple example? Thanks a lot.

Shouyang

[clipka] Re: Clockless_Animation [3030 days 5 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Wed, 3 Jan 2018 18:20:04 GMT

Am 03.01.2018 um 16:16 schrieb muyu:

> I did another search in the forum. It seems that UberPOV can pass data through
> frames without parsing each time. Is this true?

Yes, absolutely.

[muyu] Re: Clockless_Animation [3030 days 8 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Wed, 3 Jan 2018 15:20:01 GMT

William F Pokorny <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> On 06/26/2017 03:28 PM, Thorsten Froehlich wrote:
> > "muyu" <lsy### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> >> I would like to generate animation using a very big file. It took a lot of time
> >> in sparsing. Each time, only the camera position will change.  As I see,
> >> Clockless_Animation may be the function to save the time cost.
> >>
> >> I set the following in .ini file:
> >> Real_Time_Raytracing = on
> >> Clockless_Animation = on
> >>
> >>
> >> I add several camera positions, but there is in the DSL. The rendering runs
> >> without stop and no output.
> >>
> >> I guess that I missed some information. Thanks in advance.
> >
> > You are mixing up two things. The real-time raytracing "feature" is just a demo
> > mode on Windows, and was never meant to be used for anything useful other than
> > showing how powerful modern processors are, i.e. on a computer at at least
> > tradeshow booth.
> >
> > The clockless animation on the other hand is a useful features that allows you
> > to move the camera in a scene without reparsing. While it was developed for the
> > demo mode at first, and that is probably where you got the idea to use both
> > settings together, but really, you just need to disable the real-time rendering
> > option (which effectively just screws up internal options and their logic to
> > bypass certain code needed for proper rendering). Then, the clockless animation
> > shoudl work as documented as long as you have a camera for each frame in your
> > scene as described in the docs.
> >
> >
> Thanks for the information. I tried the clockless option apart from the
> real time rendering option without success. Results just posted at:
>
> https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301
>
> Am I missing how to make clockless animation (no scene reload) work on
> linux?
>
> Bill P.

Happy new year first. I am back to this problem.

I did another search in the forum. It seems that UberPOV can pass data through
frames without parsing each time. Is this true?
The discussion is here
http://news.povray.org/povray.animations/thread/%3Cweb.565084806f515a457a3e03fe0%40news.povray.org%3E/?mtop=403126

Thanks in advance.

Shouyang

[muyu] Re: What developers for animation of the using b... [3030 days 8 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Wed, 3 Jan 2018 15:15:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 22.11.2015 um 11:41 schrieb LanuHum:
> > clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> >>
> >> UberPOV does provide a way to carry over selected data from one frame to
> >> the next though.
> >
> > How it is realized?
>
> Besides global and local variables, UberPOV has an additional
> "super-global" variable scope, which carries over from frame to frame
> (and even from scene to scene, in the Windows version; this is an
> unintended side effect but difficult to get rid of in the current
> architecture) as long as you don't exit POV-Ray or explicitly get rid of
> the variable using "#undef".
>
> The keyword to define a variable at this "super-global" scope is
> "#persistent".
>
> To actually benefit from the mechanism, you'd typically use:
>
>     #ifndef(Foo)
>     #persistent Foo = ...
>     #endif
>
>
> (There is one known caveat: Random number generators currently can't be
> carried over between frames.)

I met this problem also. Could you please give some more details? It will be
very nice if you can give an example. Thanks a lot in advance.

Shouyang

[Stephen] Re: Emissive df3 of a cone with a spiral texture. [3137 days 5 hours and 24 minutes ago]

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 18:21:31 GMT

On 18/09/2017 18:30, clipka wrote:
> Am 18.09.2017 um 18:18 schrieb Stephen:
>> On 18/09/2017 16:59, Stephen wrote:
>>  Â jhu's tga2png
>>
>> What were my fingers thinking of?
>>
>> tga2df3 of course. :-(
> 
> This is odd: When I first look at the original post, I see something sane.
> 
> When I then click on that follow-up of yours, that looks ok as well.
> 
> When I then click back on the original post, I see a concatenation of a
> huge bunch of messages - until I close T'bird and open it again.
> 
> What's even more odd is that this is reproducible.
> 

I don't see that but I must admit Thunderbird has, for me, been playing 
up recently. T'bird has been getting flaky, not downloading the message, 
occasionally.


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[clipka] Re: Emissive df3 of a cone with a spiral texture. [3137 days 6 hours and 15 minutes ago]

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 17:30:58 GMT

Am 18.09.2017 um 18:18 schrieb Stephen:
> On 18/09/2017 16:59, Stephen wrote:
> Â jhu's tga2png
> 
> What were my fingers thinking of?
> 
> tga2df3 of course. :-(

This is odd: When I first look at the original post, I see something sane.

When I then click on that follow-up of yours, that looks ok as well.

When I then click back on the original post, I see a concatenation of a
huge bunch of messages - until I close T'bird and open it again.

What's even more odd is that this is reproducible.

[Stephen] Re: Emissive df3 of a cone with a spiral texture. [3137 days 7 hours and 28 minutes ago]

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 16:18:13 GMT

On 18/09/2017 16:59, Stephen wrote:
  jhu's tga2png

What were my fingers thinking of?

tga2df3 of course. :-(


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Stephen] Emissive df3 of a cone with a spiral texture. [3137 days 7 hours and 47 minutes ago]

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 15:59:15 GMT

I'm still messing about with df3s
This is a test rendering.
I've inveigled jr to convert jhu's tga2png code to save R,G & B df3's 
with no averaging. So each outputted df3 contains only one colour channel.


https://youtu.be/YwSt3phQkuA

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3206 days 18 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Tue, 11 Jul 2017 04:55:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>
> CLOCK (for the camera only) needs to be substituted with a #declared name:
> #declare CLK = 0; // no longer the real clock
>
> #while(CLK < 1.0)
> // new camera statement...
> camera {
>   perspective
>   location  <0, 3 - 1.5*CLK, -5>
>   look_at   <-3*CLK, 2 - 1.2*CLK,  .5*CLK>
>   right     x*image_width/image_height
>   angle 55
> }
> #declare CLK = CLK + .005; // assuming that the original animation ran
> // for 200 frames-- 1.0/.005 = 200
> #end
>
> For doing a typical NORMAL render of the animation, all that's necessary
> is to comment-out the added #while-loop-specific parts (and
> re-#declare CLK = clock).

While doing some more tests of these features, I discovered that I made a small
mistake in that final comment, and in how I set up the #while loop itself-- due
to the nature of how CLOCK normally runs.

On the first frame of a regular animation, CLOCK is equal to 1/200, not 0.0
(assuming that the animation length in either scenario is 200 frames.) To get
consistent animation when switching back and forth between scenarios, the #while
loop should be like this when rendering with  +kla  +rtr  ...

#declare CLK = 1/200; // not zero
#while(CLK <= 1.0) // <= , not <
// new camera statement...
camera {
  perspective
  location  <0, 3 - 1.5*CLK, -5>
  look_at   <-3*CLK, 2 - 1.2*CLK,  .5*CLK>
  right     x*image_width/image_height
  angle 55
 }
#declare CLK = CLK + .005; // assuming that the original animation ran
// for 200 frames-- 1.0/.005 = 200
 #end

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3213 days 8 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Tue, 4 Jul 2017 15:10:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 03.07.2017 um 18:27 schrieb Kenneth:
> >
> > Once I install it there and see the results, I might even try to do
> > likewise in one of the latest 3.71 'beta' releases-- just to see what
> > happens ;-)  If there is a tremendous explosion on the East Coast of
> > the U.S., you'll know the source, ha!
>
> You shouldn't do that.

:-O

Good safety tip!! I was just about ready to 'light the fuse'...

Disaster averted! Thanks.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Clockless_Animation [3214 days 4 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Jul 2017 19:20:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> If there
> is a tremendous explosion on the East Coast of the U.S., you'll know the source,
> ha!

They'll probably still try to blame it on us here in NH.
:|

[clipka] Re: Clockless_Animation [3214 days 6 hours and 50 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Jul 2017 16:55:53 GMT

Am 03.07.2017 um 18:27 schrieb Kenneth:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> 
>>
>> As guessed by Stephen, that would be the source package, which you
>> /could/ use to compile UberPOV from source codes.
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV/releases
>>
>> There, for each such well-defined version you'll again find at least the
>> corresponding source code package (in both zip and tar.gz format), but
>> usually also pre-built Windows binaries.
>>
> 
> Excellent! Thanks (and to Stephen and Green as well.) Yeah, the Github way of
> doing things seems a bit odd and convoluted. Well, at least to me...

I guess it's not GitHub in particular, but rather git. (And yes, that's
/penultimately/ Linux-ey; not surprising actually, given that it was
/invented/ by Linus Torvalds himself /for/ kernel development ;))

> SO... to help others... the Windows binary download (I happen to have chosen the
> 64-bit version) is only a single file called   Uberpov64  and is meant to
> (temporarily) replace v3.70's  'pvengine'  file, in POV-Ray's "bin" directory--
> identical to how the various 3.71 ALPHA releases were installed.
> 
> Once I install it there and see the results, I might even try to do likewise in
> one of the latest 3.71 'beta' releases-- just to see what happens ;-)  If there
> is a tremendous explosion on the East Coast of the U.S., you'll know the source,
> ha!

You shouldn't do that. There is no advantage in transplanting UberPOV to
a v3.7.1-beta system whatsoever; to the contrary, you may find UberPOV
interfering with the v3.7.0 installation in interesting ways.

(In a nutshell, the v3.7.1-beta uses directories and registry keys named
"v3.7-beta", whereas v3.7.0 and the latest UberPOV versions use registry
keys named "v3.7".)

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3214 days 7 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Jul 2017 16:30:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:

>
> As guessed by Stephen, that would be the source package, which you
> /could/ use to compile UberPOV from source codes.
>
> [snip]
>
> https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV/releases
>
> There, for each such well-defined version you'll again find at least the
> corresponding source code package (in both zip and tar.gz format), but
> usually also pre-built Windows binaries.
>

Excellent! Thanks (and to Stephen and Green as well.) Yeah, the Github way of
doing things seems a bit odd and convoluted. Well, at least to me...

SO... to help others... the Windows binary download (I happen to have chosen the
64-bit version) is only a single file called   Uberpov64  and is meant to
(temporarily) replace v3.70's  'pvengine'  file, in POV-Ray's "bin" directory--
identical to how the various 3.71 ALPHA releases were installed.

Once I install it there and see the results, I might even try to do likewise in
one of the latest 3.71 'beta' releases-- just to see what happens ;-)  If there
is a tremendous explosion on the East Coast of the U.S., you'll know the source,
ha!

[Stephen] Re: Clockless_Animation [3214 days 17 hours and 54 minutes ago]

Mon, 3 Jul 2017 05:51:42 GMT

On 7/2/2017 11:56 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
>
>> Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!
>
> You would make Davros proud.
>
>

I am of that age. :)

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Bald Eagle] Re: Clockless_Animation [3215 days and 46 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Jul 2017 23:00:01 GMT

> Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!

You would make Davros proud.

[Stephen] Re: Clockless_Animation [3215 days 3 hours and 13 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Jul 2017 20:33:17 GMT

On 7/2/2017 8:37 PM, green wrote:
> "Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
>>> Am 29.06.2017 um 21:05 schrieb Bald Eagle:
>>>
>>
>>>
>>> You might be interested to hear that _UberPOV_ already provides an
>>> experimental mechanism that can be used to that end:
>>>
>>> [snip]
>>
>>> (In UberPOV for Windows, this mechanism will even retain data between
>>> consecutive runs of a single-frame scene...
>>
>>  From visiting the UberPOV Github repository here...
>>
>> https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV
>>
>> ... I'm honestly not sure how to download it, or which of the separate components
>> are needed. I assume that this is the Windows version(?) Does it need to be
>> *compiled* on my end? I don't see a clearly-labeled Windows executable there.
>
> it is not you; it is github.  github is retarded.  i suspect it was made by
> linuxians.

Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxD-5z_xHBU

>    above the red bar is cryptic scribbling 'commits', 'branches', 'releases' etc,
> click on 'releases'.  there you will find the binaries.
>
>

Thanks for the info. :D


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[clipka] Re: Clockless_Animation [3215 days 3 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Jul 2017 20:04:33 GMT

Am 02.07.2017 um 18:02 schrieb Kenneth:

> From visiting the UberPOV Github repository here...
> 
> https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV
> 
> ... I'm honestly not sure how to download it, or which of the separate components
> are needed. I assume that this is the Windows version(?) Does it need to be
> *compiled* on my end? I don't see a clearly-labeled Windows executable there.

As guessed by Stephen, that would be the source package, which you
/could/ use to compile UberPOV from source codes.

To be precise, it would be the source package of the development branch,
with the latest changes, which is usually not what you want: Even if you
did intend to build from source code, you'd normally want an iteration
of the source code that has a well-defined version number associated,
which you can find at:

https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV/releases

There, for each such well-defined version you'll again find at least the
corresponding source code package (in both zip and tar.gz format), but
usually also pre-built Windows binaries.


I guess I should overhaul the `README.md` file (which is displayed at
the bottom of https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV) to include an obvious
link to the releases section; as soon as I find the time of course.

[green] Re: Clockless_Animation [3215 days 4 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Jul 2017 19:40:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> > Am 29.06.2017 um 21:05 schrieb Bald Eagle:
> >
>
> >
> > You might be interested to hear that _UberPOV_ already provides an
> > experimental mechanism that can be used to that end:
> >
> > [snip]
>
> > (In UberPOV for Windows, this mechanism will even retain data between
> > consecutive runs of a single-frame scene...
>
> From visiting the UberPOV Github repository here...
>
> https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV
>
> ... I'm honestly not sure how to download it, or which of the separate components
> are needed. I assume that this is the Windows version(?) Does it need to be
> *compiled* on my end? I don't see a clearly-labeled Windows executable there.

it is not you; it is github.  github is retarded.  i suspect it was made by
linuxians.
  above the red bar is cryptic scribbling 'commits', 'branches', 'releases' etc,
click on 'releases'.  there you will find the binaries.

[Stephen] Re: Clockless_Animation [3215 days 6 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Jul 2017 16:59:46 GMT

On 7/2/2017 5:02 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
>> Am 29.06.2017 um 21:05 schrieb Bald Eagle:
>>
>
>>
>> You might be interested to hear that _UberPOV_ already provides an
>> experimental mechanism that can be used to that end:
>>
>> [snip]
>
>> (In UberPOV for Windows, this mechanism will even retain data between
>> consecutive runs of a single-frame scene...
>
>  From visiting the UberPOV Github repository here...
>
> https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV
>
> .... I'm honestly not sure how to download it, or which of the separate components
> are needed. I assume that this is the Windows version(?) Does it need to be
> *compiled* on my end? I don't see a clearly-labeled Windows executable there.
>
>
>
>
There is a green button near the top right which will start a download.
I had a quick look at the zip file and could not see any msi or exe 
files. so it looks like a compile.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3215 days 7 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sun, 2 Jul 2017 16:05:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 29.06.2017 um 21:05 schrieb Bald Eagle:
>

>
> You might be interested to hear that _UberPOV_ already provides an
> experimental mechanism that can be used to that end:
>
> [snip]

> (In UberPOV for Windows, this mechanism will even retain data between
> consecutive runs of a single-frame scene...

From visiting the UberPOV Github repository here...

https://github.com/UberPOV/UberPOV

... I'm honestly not sure how to download it, or which of the separate components
are needed. I assume that this is the Windows version(?) Does it need to be
*compiled* on my end? I don't see a clearly-labeled Windows executable there.

[Stephen] Re: Clockless_Animation [3216 days 7 hours and 18 minutes ago]

Sat, 1 Jul 2017 16:27:40 GMT

On 7/1/2017 5:17 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
>
>> I can see Kenneth salivating now, rubbing his hands together, and getting the
>> 42-cup coffee urn fired up for some very nice animations....   :D
>>
>   Yessirree!  (I haven't tried using UberPOV yet; I need to dip my toes into
> that! So little time, so much to do...)
>
>
I is worth using it even it is only for the speedup.


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3216 days 7 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Sat, 1 Jul 2017 16:20:01 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:

> I can see Kenneth salivating now, rubbing his hands together, and getting the
> 42-cup coffee urn fired up for some very nice animations....   :D
>
 Yessirree!  (I haven't tried using UberPOV yet; I need to dip my toes into
that! So little time, so much to do...)

[Stephen] Re: Clockless_Animation [3217 days 8 hours and 47 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 14:58:29 GMT

On 6/30/2017 6:14 AM, Kenneth wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>
>>
>>   From what I can remember is that Clockless_Animation was implemented as
>> a demo to show that it could be done, some time ago. But no one showed
>> any interest in it and it was left as it was.
>
> I have to admit that I didn't work with it either-- mainly because I didn't
> truly know HOW to use it! But I'm beginning to see the real power of these new
> features. I just ran an older and not-too-complex animation scene (with a few
> necessary changes to the camera definition) and saw a 3-fold decrease in total
> render time. With a *complex* slow-to-parse scene, the time-savings could be
> enormous! Of course, right now only the camera can be moved; but that's quite
> useful by itself, for testing.
>

The mesh_camera is another feature that came out about the same time, I 
think. I've read the docs and still don't understand what it does. :(


> If I had only known... :-(
>

The story of my life. :)


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Bald Eagle] Re: Clockless_Animation [3217 days 9 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 14:10:01 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:

> You might be interested to hear that _UberPOV_ already provides an
> experimental mechanism that can be used to that end:
>
>     #persistent Foo = ...;
.....
> This mechanism is also flexible enough to define the individual
> components of your animation's dynamic portion just once, and in the
> individual frames just rotate and translate them to their final
> orientation and location.

Aha.  So many things to experiment with, and it hadn't occurred to me that the
#persistent directive would be applicable to things other than "variables" -
though I suppose to a certain degree, everything is just an identifier with
"data" stuffed into that bin.
I can see Kenneth salivating now, rubbing his hands together, and getting the
42-cup coffee urn fired up for some very nice animations....   :D

> (In UberPOV for Windows, this mechanism will even retain data between
> consecutive runs of a single-frame scene, or even different scenes; but
> that's more an unintended side effect of its implementation rather than
> deliberate, and may be subject to change. In essence, variables declared
> using `#persistent` are just never deleted as long as UberPOV is
> running. This may be subject to change.)

Hmmm.
And I suppose a way to undo that would be #ifdef() and then #undef().

[clipka] Re: Clockless_Animation [3217 days 16 hours and 27 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 07:18:31 GMT

Am 29.06.2017 um 21:05 schrieb Bald Eagle:

> About this whole clockless animation - It would be interesting if it could be
> modified so that POV-Ray split a scene into 2 separately parsed sections - a
> static part, and a dynamic part.  Then you could have, say, a complex terrain
> that takes forever to parse - but only gets parsed once, and then clouds or the
> sun, or an automobile or a ball that is the only thing that changes position in
> the scene.

You might be interested to hear that _UberPOV_ already provides an
experimental mechanism that can be used to that end:

    #persistent Foo = ...;

defines an identifier that will survive across parser runs in an
animation. So you could use

    #ifndef(MyStaticScene)
      #persistent MyStaticScene = union {
        // Static stuff present in all frames goes here
      }
    #end
    object { MyStaticScene }
    // Dynamic stuff changing between individual frames goes here

This mechanism is also flexible enough to define the individual
components of your animation's dynamic portion just once, and in the
individual frames just rotate and translate them to their final
orientation and location.


(In UberPOV for Windows, this mechanism will even retain data between
consecutive runs of a single-frame scene, or even different scenes; but
that's more an unintended side effect of its implementation rather than
deliberate, and may be subject to change. In essence, variables declared
using `#persistent` are just never deleted as long as UberPOV is
running. This may be subject to change.)

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3217 days 18 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 05:20:01 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:

>
>  From what I can remember is that Clockless_Animation was implemented as
> a demo to show that it could be done, some time ago. But no one showed
> any interest in it and it was left as it was.

I have to admit that I didn't work with it either-- mainly because I didn't
truly know HOW to use it! But I'm beginning to see the real power of these new
features. I just ran an older and not-too-complex animation scene (with a few
necessary changes to the camera definition) and saw a 3-fold decrease in total
render time. With a *complex* slow-to-parse scene, the time-savings could be
enormous! Of course, right now only the camera can be moved; but that's quite
useful by itself, for testing.

If I had only known... :-(

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3217 days 18 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 05:00:01 GMT

Forgot to add this:

If POV-Ray's 'animation' feature is already 'on' (i.e., Final_Frame = ...) it
can be left on (or turned off); either way doesn't matter, as it's completely
ignored. The number of CAMERAS in the scene determines the length of the
animation.

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3217 days 18 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 04:50:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>
> 3)...But unexpectedly, the animation proceeded *past* frame
> 100; in fact, it's never-ending, unless you stop the render.
>

That's not quite correct. The demo scene contains a #while loop, with the 'total
number of cameras' determined by the loop's counter. Although the animation
*does* proceed forever, it's because the #while loop itself is endlessly
repeated-- kind of like viewing an animated movie clip (with a definite number
of frames) that continuously loops. A clever feature, IMO!

From further experimenting, here are a few more bits of behavior worth
mentioning...

* The cameras in the scene don't *need* to be created in a #while loop or #for
loop (although that's definitely the most practical approach.) You could write
1001 INDIVIDUAL camera definitions-- with changing values of course-- and the
cameras are chosen one after another automatically, one for each new animation
frame.

* Using only 'real-time raytracing' ( +rtr )  *by itself* has odd behavior: Only
one animation frame appears-- it's with the *final* camera-- but the rendering
continues 'behind the scenes' endlessly.

* If your animated scene already has 'clock' and/or 'frame_number' in it for
changing something, that's OK, you don't need to comment-out those things; but
those actions are ignored (as if clock and frame_number are both set to zero and
remain so.) For that reason alone, you can't change anything in the scene
*except* the camera. But that's really useful anyway, for doing quick(er)
camera-movement test renders.

Given a typical animation scene-- one that wasn't initially set up to use these
features -- here's one way to make a few minor changes to the camera so that it
will work correctly (assuming that the camera was using 'clock' to vary its
parameters, and with default values of 0.0-to-1.0 for simplicity):

ORIGINAL camera statement example:
camera {
  perspective
  location  <0, 3 - 1.5*clock, -5>
  look_at   <-3*clock, 2 - 1.2*clock,  .5*clock>
  right     x*image_width/image_height
  angle 55
}

CLOCK (for the camera only) needs to be substituted with a #declared name:
#declare CLK = 0; // no longer the real clock

#while(CLK < 1.0)
// new camera statement...
camera {
  perspective
  location  <0, 3 - 1.5*CLK, -5>
  look_at   <-3*CLK, 2 - 1.2*CLK,  .5*CLK>
  right     x*image_width/image_height
  angle 55
}
#declare CLK = CLK + .005; // assuming that the original animation ran
// for 200 frames-- 1.0/.005 = 200
#end

For doing a typical NORMAL render of the animation, all that's necessary is to
comment-out the added #while-loop-specific parts (and re-#declare CLK = clock).

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3217 days 19 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 03:50:01 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

>
> In order to really see the time-savings of these rendering features, I wanted
> the scene to take much more time to initially parse. (The scene as-is parses too
> fast on a modern computer.) The simplest way I could think of was to add  a box
> object to the scene, with a HIGH-rez image_map on it. That did the trick ;-)
>

There's an even simpler way to create meaningless extra parsing time for the
first animation frame: use a meaningless #while loop!

#declare K = 0;
#while(K <= 10000)
#declare K = K + .01;
#end

Change values to waste as much time as you want. ;-)

[Stephen] Re: Clockless_Animation [3218 days 3 hours and 58 minutes ago]

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 19:47:46 GMT

On 6/29/2017 7:18 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> I ran some tests in Windows--

 From what I can remember is that Clockless_Animation was implemented as 
a demo to show that it could be done, some time ago. But no one showed 
any interest in it and it was left as it was. A Proof of concept.
I will be pleasantly surprised if it can be brought into a useful state,

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Bald Eagle] Re: Clockless_Animation [3218 days 4 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 19:10:00 GMT

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> I would agree with previous posts here that the documentation needs more
> information and clarity about these features: their co-dependent operation; the
> fact that POV-Ray's 'animation' feature does not need to be turned on; etc.

I'd say that packaging a working scene file and .ini in a subdirectory of the
distribution, posting it here, or including it the docs is by far the best way
to "document" its usage.

About this whole clockless animation - It would be interesting if it could be
modified so that POV-Ray split a scene into 2 separately parsed sections - a
static part, and a dynamic part.  Then you could have, say, a complex terrain
that takes forever to parse - but only gets parsed once, and then clouds or the
sun, or an automobile or a ball that is the only thing that changes position in
the scene.

I don't know if that's feasible, but just throwing it out there.  ;)

[Kenneth] Re: Clockless_Animation [3218 days 5 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 18:25:01 GMT

I ran some tests in Windows-- with the downloaded demo scene "cube_rtr.pov" and
its "cube.inc" file-- and this is what I've found. (I happen to be running
POV-Ray v3.7.1 beta 8)

1) I turned on animation in my 'quickres.ini' file, by specifying
'Final_Frame=100'-- assuming that it was required. By the way, the demo scene
does not have the 'frame_number' keyword anywhere (or 'clock' either, for that
matter.)

3) clockless animation (+kla) does not work *by itself*-- the animation images
are rendered, but the camera doesn't move at all, and each frame takes the same
amount of time to parse. Assuming that the scene needed 'frame_number'
somewhere, I added it to the camera definition here...

#declare ck = ck + 0.01*frame_number;

..... but that didn't help. Then, guessing that the camera(s) needed to be
#declared first, I did that too. Still no success.

3) However, using *both* clockless animation and real-time raytracing...
                     +kla +rtr
and running the scene *as-is* (no frame_number addition or #declared cameras),
the scene does indeed work as planned. The full parsing is done only for frame
1; the following frames render in real time.  But there's no image output now...
which I kind of expected, since these experimental features are really only for
demonstration purposes. But unexpectedly, the animation proceeded *past* frame
100; in fact, it's never-ending, unless you stop the render.

4) From the results of 3), turning on POV-Ray's animation feature ('Final_Frame
= ...) is NOT necessary; apparently it's turned on by default when using the
combination of  +kla +rtr  and runs forever.

In order to really see the time-savings of these rendering features, I wanted
the scene to take much more time to initially parse. (The scene as-is parses too
fast on a modern computer.) The simplest way I could think of was to add  a box
object to the scene, with a HIGH-rez image_map on it. That did the trick ;-)

I would agree with previous posts here that the documentation needs more
information and clarity about these features: their co-dependent operation; the
fact that POV-Ray's 'animation' feature does not need to be turned on; etc.

[Thorsten Froehlich] Re: Clockless_Animation [3220 days 6 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 16:55:00 GMT

"Mr" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> "Mr" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>
> > > animation and real-time rendering are two entirely(?) different things.
> >
> > What should I use, if any of these, for Blender real time mode?
> >
> > (have a try at Cycles viewport rendered mode to get an idea of required usage)
>
> or also Blender Internal which has this mode too, being closer to POV in its
> architecture.

This is just a similarity between the name of a feature in POV-Ray and Blender
and has absolutely  nothing to do with Blender at all!

[Thorsten Froehlich] Re: Clockless_Animation [3220 days 6 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 16:50:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 26.06.2017 um 21:32 schrieb Thorsten Froehlich:
>
> >> I've opened at github issue. See:
> >>
> >> https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301
> >
> > .... which should just be closed because you reported something that works
> > exactly as designed. The mode is for developers to specify exact behavior in a
> > hands-on manner with one on one support, and not for users without such
> > guidance. The "solution" should probably be to disable that option from being
> > accepted by a condictional compile as well ;-)
>
> Actually, the issue should be left open until it is resolved.
>
> In my book, the first step in resolving it would be to document what the
> real-time rendering mode is for anyway (even if that documentation would
> just be a line saying "not intended for normal users", that would be an
> improvement over the current situation).
>
> As demonstrated, it would also be helpful to document that clockless
> animation and real-time rendering are two entirely(?) different things.

Well, here is the background:
For the Mac 3.6 version I was looking for an Easter Egg to hide in the about box
of POV-Ray for Mac. With some modifications to the, back then single threaded,
code, I was able to pull that off by feeding a custom camera setup as well as a
fixed scene (not parsed but hardcoded structures without texturing) into the
core. Chris played with a variant for Windows.

Now when 3.7 development was far enough along, Intel asked Chris for a demo as
back then POV-Ray was one of the few very efficient multithreaded visual
applications. However, we had since moved to a message based system for
rendering. So he needed to add hooks (the RTR_HACK) to bypass the message
passing. That is also why nothing happens when one trys to use that feature.

In order to control the hack, he had added real-time rendering option.

However, he also still needed a way to control the camera. As the goal was to
use a regular scene file, he had the idea to just allow multiple camera
definitions as the camera object is pretty much independent of the scene file.
This is where the clockless animation comes in. It basically permits multiple
cameras, which are selected based on the frame number.

As far as I recall, you need to enable that option plus the animation feature
with frame numbers, and POV-Ray will render the scene...

[William F Pokorny] Re: Clockless_Animation [3220 days 11 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 12:39:52 GMT

On 06/26/2017 03:28 PM, Thorsten Froehlich wrote:
> "muyu" <lsy### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> I would like to generate animation using a very big file. It took a lot of time
>> in sparsing. Each time, only the camera position will change.  As I see,
>> Clockless_Animation may be the function to save the time cost.
>>
>> I set the following in .ini file:
>> Real_Time_Raytracing = on
>> Clockless_Animation = on
>>
>>
>> I add several camera positions, but there is in the DSL. The rendering runs
>> without stop and no output.
>>
>> I guess that I missed some information. Thanks in advance.
> 
> You are mixing up two things. The real-time raytracing "feature" is just a demo
> mode on Windows, and was never meant to be used for anything useful other than
> showing how powerful modern processors are, i.e. on a computer at at least
> tradeshow booth.
> 
> The clockless animation on the other hand is a useful features that allows you
> to move the camera in a scene without reparsing. While it was developed for the
> demo mode at first, and that is probably where you got the idea to use both
> settings together, but really, you just need to disable the real-time rendering
> option (which effectively just screws up internal options and their logic to
> bypass certain code needed for proper rendering). Then, the clockless animation
> shoudl work as documented as long as you have a camera for each frame in your
> scene as described in the docs.
> 
> 
Thanks for the information. I tried the clockless option apart from the 
real time rendering option without success. Results just posted at:

https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301

Am I missing how to make clockless animation (no scene reload) work on 
linux?

Bill P.

[Mr] Re: Clockless_Animation [3220 days 15 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 08:30:01 GMT

"Mr" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

> > animation and real-time rendering are two entirely(?) different things.
>
> What should I use, if any of these, for Blender real time mode?
>
> (have a try at Cycles viewport rendered mode to get an idea of required usage)

or also Blender Internal which has this mode too, being closer to POV in its
architecture.

[Mr] Re: Clockless_Animation [3220 days 15 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 08:25:01 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 26.06.2017 um 21:32 schrieb Thorsten Froehlich:
>
> >> I've opened at github issue. See:
> >>
> >> https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301
> >
> > .... which should just be closed because you reported something that works
> > exactly as designed. The mode is for developers to specify exact behavior in a
> > hands-on manner with one on one support, and not for users without such
> > guidance. The "solution" should probably be to disable that option from being
> > accepted by a condictional compile as well ;-)
>
> Actually, the issue should be left open until it is resolved.
>
> In my book, the first step in resolving it would be to document what the
> real-time rendering mode is for anyway (even if that documentation would
> just be a line saying "not intended for normal users", that would be an
> improvement over the current situation).
>
> As demonstrated, it would also be helpful to document that clockless
> animation and real-time rendering are two entirely(?) different things.

What should I use, if any of these, for Blender real time mode?

(have a try at Cycles viewport rendered mode to get an idea of required usage)

[clipka] Re: Clockless_Animation [3221 days 4 hours ago]

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:46:15 GMT

Am 26.06.2017 um 21:32 schrieb Thorsten Froehlich:

>> I've opened at github issue. See:
>>
>> https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301
> 
> .... which should just be closed because you reported something that works
> exactly as designed. The mode is for developers to specify exact behavior in a
> hands-on manner with one on one support, and not for users without such
> guidance. The "solution" should probably be to disable that option from being
> accepted by a condictional compile as well ;-)

Actually, the issue should be left open until it is resolved.

In my book, the first step in resolving it would be to document what the
real-time rendering mode is for anyway (even if that documentation would
just be a line saying "not intended for normal users", that would be an
improvement over the current situation).

As demonstrated, it would also be helpful to document that clockless
animation and real-time rendering are two entirely(?) different things.

[Thorsten Froehlich] Re: Clockless_Animation [3221 days 4 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:35:00 GMT

William F Pokorny <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> On 06/24/2017 02:44 PM, Le_Forgeron wrote:
> > Le 24/06/2017 Ã  15:08, William F Pokorny a Ã©crit :
> ...
> >
> >  From old memory, IIRC, there is no output file when you use the realtime
> > rendering mode. NEVER.
> >
> > The relevant code was tagged as experimental, and you need multiple
> > camera declared during the parsing (no #if /#else..., just many cameras).
> >
> > And you need to compile with RTR_HACK defined, not something done by
> > default on Unix. (in fact, this define was only visible in the windows
> > virtual front-end... )
> >
> >
> Thanks for the testing and background Bob & JÃ©rÃ´me.
>
> I've opened at github issue. See:
>
> https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301

.... which should just be closed because you reported something that works
exactly as designed. The mode is for developers to specify exact behavior in a
hands-on manner with one on one support, and not for users without such
guidance. The "solution" should probably be to disable that option from being
accepted by a condictional compile as well ;-)

[Thorsten Froehlich] Re: Clockless_Animation [3221 days 4 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 19:30:00 GMT

"muyu" <lsy### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> I would like to generate animation using a very big file. It took a lot of time
> in sparsing. Each time, only the camera position will change.  As I see,
> Clockless_Animation may be the function to save the time cost.
>
> I set the following in .ini file:
> Real_Time_Raytracing = on
> Clockless_Animation = on
>
>
> I add several camera positions, but there is in the DSL. The rendering runs
> without stop and no output.
>
> I guess that I missed some information. Thanks in advance.

You are mixing up two things. The real-time raytracing "feature" is just a demo
mode on Windows, and was never meant to be used for anything useful other than
showing how powerful modern processors are, i.e. on a computer at at least
tradeshow booth.

The clockless animation on the other hand is a useful features that allows you
to move the camera in a scene without reparsing. While it was developed for the
demo mode at first, and that is probably where you got the idea to use both
settings together, but really, you just need to disable the real-time rendering
option (which effectively just screws up internal options and their logic to
bypass certain code needed for proper rendering). Then, the clockless animation
shoudl work as documented as long as you have a camera for each frame in your
scene as described in the docs.

[muyu] Re: Clockless_Animation [3222 days 9 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sun, 25 Jun 2017 14:30:00 GMT

William F Pokorny <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> On 06/24/2017 02:44 PM, Le_Forgeron wrote:
> > Le 24/06/2017 Ã  15:08, William F Pokorny a Ã©crit :
> ...
> >
> >  From old memory, IIRC, there is no output file when you use the realtime
> > rendering mode. NEVER.
> >
> > The relevant code was tagged as experimental, and you need multiple
> > camera declared during the parsing (no #if /#else..., just many cameras).
> >
> > And you need to compile with RTR_HACK defined, not something done by
> > default on Unix. (in fact, this define was only visible in the windows
> > virtual front-end... )
> >
> >
> Thanks for the testing and background Bob & JÃ©rÃ´me.
>
> I've opened at github issue. See:
>
> https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301
>
> Bill P.

Thanks a lot. Hopefully this feature will work soon.

Shouyang

[William F Pokorny] Re: Clockless_Animation [3223 days 2 hours and 18 minutes ago]

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 21:28:05 GMT

On 06/24/2017 02:44 PM, Le_Forgeron wrote:
> Le 24/06/2017 Ã  15:08, William F Pokorny a Ã©crit :
...
> 
>  From old memory, IIRC, there is no output file when you use the realtime
> rendering mode. NEVER.
> 
> The relevant code was tagged as experimental, and you need multiple
> camera declared during the parsing (no #if /#else..., just many cameras).
> 
> And you need to compile with RTR_HACK defined, not something done by
> default on Unix. (in fact, this define was only visible in the windows
> virtual front-end... )
> 
> 
Thanks for the testing and background Bob & JÃ©rÃ´me.

I've opened at github issue. See:

https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues/301

Bill P.

[omniverse] Re: Clockless_Animation [3223 days 4 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 19:10:00 GMT

William F Pokorny <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> On 06/23/2017 12:03 PM, muyu wrote:
> > I would like to generate animation using a very big file. It took a lot of time
> > in sparsing. Each time, only the camera position will change.  As I see,
> > Clockless_Animation may be the function to save the time cost.
> >
> > I set the following in .ini file:
> > Real_Time_Raytracing = on
> > Clockless_Animation = on
> >
> >
> > I add several camera positions, but there is in the DSL. The rendering runs
> > without stop and no output.

> I, like you, have never been able to get this option to work. I just
> pulled the demo scene from:
>
> http://www.oyonale.com/modeles.php?lang=en&page=54
>
> and tried again. I get a blank screen on Ubuntu and stats that indicate
> a single fame rendered though the screen is black. If I render without
> the +rtr +kla command line versions of your options I get a valid render
> preview and output file.
>
> IIRC, most testing of this tentative feature was done on windows so
> perhaps it works there?
>
> This feature isn't that useful without screen capture (win32 only I
> think when it worked) or some method to modify the scene via keyboard
> input say as a sort of modeling aid. Windows had to be pretty small too,
> if I remember, to get decent frame rates.

I tried the example file on windows 10 with 3.7.1 release candidate 1 and it
does render the window at a good frame rate up to 320 x 240 resolution for me.
Unfortunately I forgot to check for an output file of any kind before I left
home.

[Le Forgeron] Re: Clockless_Animation [3223 days 5 hours and 2 minutes ago]

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 18:44:06 GMT

Le 24/06/2017 Ã  15:08, William F Pokorny a Ã©crit :
> On 06/23/2017 12:03 PM, muyu wrote:
>> I would like to generate animation using a very big file. It took a
>> lot of time
>> in sparsing. Each time, only the camera position will change.  As I see,
>> Clockless_Animation may be the function to save the time cost.
>>
>> I set the following in .ini file:
>> Real_Time_Raytracing = on
>> Clockless_Animation = on
>>
>>
>> I add several camera positions, but there is in the DSL. The rendering
>> runs
>> without stop and no output.
>>
>> I guess that I missed some information. Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Best regards
>>
>> Shouyang
>>
> 
> I, like you, have never been able to get this option to work. I just
> pulled the demo scene from:
> 
> http://www.oyonale.com/modeles.php?lang=en&page=54
> 
> and tried again. I get a blank screen on Ubuntu and stats that indicate
> a single fame rendered though the screen is black. If I render without
> the +rtr +kla command line versions of your options I get a valid render
> preview and output file.
> 
> IIRC, most testing of this tentative feature was done on windows so
> perhaps it works there?
> 
> This feature isn't that useful without screen capture (win32 only I
> think when it worked) or some method to modify the scene via keyboard
> input say as a sort of modeling aid. Windows had to be pretty small too,
> if I remember, to get decent frame rates.

From old memory, IIRC, there is no output file when you use the realtime
rendering mode. NEVER.

The relevant code was tagged as experimental, and you need multiple
camera declared during the parsing (no #if /#else..., just many cameras).

And you need to compile with RTR_HACK defined, not something done by
default on Unix. (in fact, this define was only visible in the windows
virtual front-end... )

[William F Pokorny] Re: Clockless_Animation [3223 days 10 hours and 38 minutes ago]

Sat, 24 Jun 2017 13:08:13 GMT

On 06/23/2017 12:03 PM, muyu wrote:
> I would like to generate animation using a very big file. It took a lot of time
> in sparsing. Each time, only the camera position will change.  As I see,
> Clockless_Animation may be the function to save the time cost.
> 
> I set the following in .ini file:
> Real_Time_Raytracing = on
> Clockless_Animation = on
> 
> 
> I add several camera positions, but there is in the DSL. The rendering runs
> without stop and no output.
> 
> I guess that I missed some information. Thanks in advance.
> 
> Best regards
> 
> Shouyang
> 

I, like you, have never been able to get this option to work. I just 
pulled the demo scene from:

http://www.oyonale.com/modeles.php?lang=en&page=54

and tried again. I get a blank screen on Ubuntu and stats that indicate 
a single fame rendered though the screen is black. If I render without 
the +rtr +kla command line versions of your options I get a valid render 
preview and output file.

IIRC, most testing of this tentative feature was done on windows so 
perhaps it works there?

This feature isn't that useful without screen capture (win32 only I 
think when it worked) or some method to modify the scene via keyboard 
input say as a sort of modeling aid. Windows had to be pretty small too, 
if I remember, to get decent frame rates.

Bill P.

[muyu] Clockless_Animation [3224 days 7 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:05:00 GMT

I would like to generate animation using a very big file. It took a lot of time
in sparsing. Each time, only the camera position will change.  As I see,
Clockless_Animation may be the function to save the time cost.

I set the following in .ini file:
Real_Time_Raytracing = on
Clockless_Animation = on


I add several camera positions, but there is in the DSL. The rendering runs
without stop and no output.

I guess that I missed some information. Thanks in advance.



Best regards

Shouyang

[William F Pokorny] Re: [3270 days 7 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Mon, 8 May 2017 16:05:20 GMT

On 05/08/2017 08:09 AM, Zachary1234 wrote:
>
> -Can I be given an example of "command line animation rendering via file"
> command prompt entry?
>
>
A set of demo animations is shipped with POV-Ray and can be found in the 
directory <install_location>/scenes/animations. You can find the current 
master development versions on line at:

https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/tree/master/distribution/scenes/animations

If you were in a local directory with copies of the splinefollow 
directory files you could render the animation frames with the commands:

povray splinefollow.pov +kf0.1666 +kff20 +kc declare=fp=0

or

povray splinefollow.ini

Bill P.

[Stephen] Re: [3270 days 10 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Mon, 8 May 2017 12:55:01 GMT

On 5/8/2017 1:09 PM, Zachary1234 wrote:
> -Does POV-Ray support animation rendering?
>

Yes.

> -Does POV-Ray support keyframe, timeline (interpolation) animation rendering
> from Blender 3D models?
>

No PovRay is a renderer and the windows version comes with a text 
editor. That is it. You have to do the hard work yourself. Or use the 
PovRay exporter that comes with Blender.

> -Does POV-Ray include equivalent support for Marked Freestyle Line Edges in
> Blender 3D?
>

No, PovRay uses mathematical primitives. It can handle meshes and 
heightfields But not like Blender.

> -If POV-Ray does support those previous from Blender3D, does it support command
> line, background animation rendering?
>

I can say yes to that. :)

> -Given that I can use plugin support to export my animation to different formats
> from Blender 3D, what would be the ideal file format for my keyframe, 3D
> animation model?
>

To use PovRay. You need to export and render each frame separately. You 
can use Blender to do this.

  scene

> -Can I be given an example of "command line animation rendering via file"
> command prompt entry?
>
>
I don't do that thing, myself. So I can't help there.
There should be examples in the Help and Tutorial files.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Zachary1234] [3270 days 11 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Mon, 8 May 2017 12:10:01 GMT

-Does POV-Ray support animation rendering?

-Does POV-Ray support keyframe, timeline (interpolation) animation rendering
from Blender 3D models?

-Does POV-Ray include equivalent support for Marked Freestyle Line Edges in
Blender 3D?

-If POV-Ray does support those previous from Blender3D, does it support command
line, background animation rendering?

-Given that I can use plugin support to export my animation to different formats
from Blender 3D, what would be the ideal file format for my keyframe, 3D
animation model?

-Can I be given an example of "command line animation rendering via file"
command prompt entry?

[Kenneth] Re: re Cassini [3278 days 21 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sun, 30 Apr 2017 01:50:01 GMT

Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> Thirty years of Saturn, at 2 years per second, rendered in 2005.  The
> textures are procedural, but partially based on real measurements.

Looks really nice. It took me several views to notice the 'darkening' of
Saturn's atmosphere, when seen against the rings. A nice touch! That makes it
look much more realistic.
>
> Then and now, I knew very little about MPEG compression, so I don't know
> if this is optimal.

Yeah-- Mpeg 1, Mpeg 2 (DVDs), Mpeg 3(?), Mpeg 4/AVC h2.64; we need to be
scientists to keep it all straight. I use the latter almost exclusively now...
except when I don't, ha  (AVI videos with Mpeg 3 or 4... I think...)

[Stephen] Re: re Cassini [3281 days 2 hours and 34 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:12:03 GMT

On 4/27/2017 9:57 PM, Cousin Ricky wrote:
> Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
>> Thirty years of Saturn, at 2 years per second, rendered in 2005.  The
>> textures are procedural, but partially based on real measurements.
>> Opposition surge was not modeled.
>>
>> Then and now, I knew very little about MPEG compression, so I don't know
>> if this is optimal.
>
> Would it be possible for a moderator to cancel this thread?  I accidentally
> posted it to the wrong newsgroup.  When I try to delete the OP from my
> newsreader (Thunderbird), it only deletes my local copy.
>
>
>
Not now I've replied to it and if there was a moderator now uncle Ken 
has gone.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Stephen] Re: re Cassini [3281 days 2 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:09:54 GMT

On 4/27/2017 9:38 PM, Cousin Ricky wrote:
> Thirty years of Saturn, at 2 years per second, rendered in 2005.  The
> textures are procedural, but partially based on real measurements.
> Opposition surge was not modeled.
>

That's a nice animation. I had forgotten how oblate Saturn is. Thanks 
for reminding me.

> Then and now, I knew very little about MPEG compression, so I don't know
> if this is optimal.

You and me both. I remember posting an uncompressed image about the same 
time. And getting slagged off for it. No names, no pack drill but I'm 
pointing an elbow at you Warp. :P

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Cousin Ricky] Re: re Cassini [3281 days 2 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:00:03 GMT

Cousin Ricky <ric### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> Thirty years of Saturn, at 2 years per second, rendered in 2005.  The
> textures are procedural, but partially based on real measurements.
> Opposition surge was not modeled.
>
> Then and now, I knew very little about MPEG compression, so I don't know
> if this is optimal.

Would it be possible for a moderator to cancel this thread?  I accidentally
posted it to the wrong newsgroup.  When I try to delete the OP from my
newsreader (Thunderbird), it only deletes my local copy.

[Cousin Ricky] re Cassini [3281 days 3 hours and 13 minutes ago]

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 20:32:49 GMT

Thirty years of Saturn, at 2 years per second, rendered in 2005.  The 
textures are procedural, but partially based on real measurements. 
Opposition surge was not modeled.

Then and now, I knew very little about MPEG compression, so I don't know 
if this is optimal.

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Brahistochrone test, now at higher resolutio... [3293 days 17 hours and 3 minutes ago]

Sat, 15 Apr 2017 06:43:21 GMT

On 14-4-2017 23:28, jhu wrote:
> http://i.imgur.com/FC7VwJo.gifv
>
>

Nice!

It seems to me that the second ball suddenly leaves the track on the 
horizontal stretch.

-- 
Thomas

[jhu] Brahistochrone test, now at higher resolutions a... [3294 days 2 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Fri, 14 Apr 2017 21:30:01 GMT

http://i.imgur.com/FC7VwJo.gifv

[jhu] Re: When a renderfarm is not an option... [3296 days 16 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 07:00:01 GMT

Another option: people here can help you render. Give us the files and let us
know which frames to render. I have a dual E5 2670 machine and many more
machines available.

[jhu] Brachistochrone test [3296 days 17 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 05:55:01 GMT

http://i.imgur.com/Aj4f89v.gifv

[rodv92] Re: When a renderfarm is not an option... [3309 days 2 hours and 1 minute ago]

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 21:45:01 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "rodv92" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>
> > So i will render the scene with ambient light only and media and nothing else
> > and the rest without media but with everything else, including light sources.
> > and then composite all the frames.
>
> I wonder if you could render that first part with a transparent background, and
> then use something like screen.inc and light groups to have that rendered media
> image visible, but not interacting much with the rest of the scene (use a
> separate light group with shadowless light source to illuminate it)
>
> Then you could eliminate a separate compositing process from your workflow.
>
> Haven't ever tried it, don't know if it will work or give you the image quality
> that you want - just thinking out loud.
>
> If the media needs to "shift" due to parallax, I think Rune had some sort of
> trick that might do what you need...
> The "illusion" include file.
> http://runevision.com/3d/include/
>
> I've never used it, so I may very well be mistaken about what it actually does.
> Or I'm thinking about someone else's 3d-faking technique entirely.

Hi, i managed to "damage control" the project by using no media interaction and
no media attenuation on lights.
Since my media is already so luminous, it wont be really obvious.
I will compensate the variations of lightsources induced on media (imagine a
lamp with a  light regulator) with an artefact : avariation of the emission
and/or extinction of the media (for scattering) along the change of lightsource
luminosity or something along these lines.

However, compositing may help in case of an unexpected slowdown situation.

[Bald Eagle] Re: When a renderfarm is not an option... [3317 days 9 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 14:15:01 GMT

"rodv92" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

> So i will render the scene with ambient light only and media and nothing else
> and the rest without media but with everything else, including light sources.
> and then composite all the frames.

I wonder if you could render that first part with a transparent background, and
then use something like screen.inc and light groups to have that rendered media
image visible, but not interacting much with the rest of the scene (use a
separate light group with shadowless light source to illuminate it)

Then you could eliminate a separate compositing process from your workflow.

Haven't ever tried it, don't know if it will work or give you the image quality
that you want - just thinking out loud.

If the media needs to "shift" due to parallax, I think Rune had some sort of
trick that might do what you need...
The "illusion" include file.
http://runevision.com/3d/include/

I've never used it, so I may very well be mistaken about what it actually does.
Or I'm thinking about someone else's 3d-faking technique entirely.

[rodv92] Re: When a renderfarm is not an option... [3317 days 9 hours and 46 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 14:00:00 GMT

"Mr" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> "rodv92" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > Hello group, i am currently preparing a demo project.
> > the animation will be 12000 frames @ 25fps, 640*480, no AA.
> >
> > It would take at least 70 days on my server, and it would make me blow up my
> > deadline.
> >
> > A renderfarm @ 0.014 EUR/Ghzh would do the trick in 1h37 min best case scenario.
> > but would cost 1165 EUR.
> >
> > A bit expensive...
> >
> > So basically, I thought of using povray as the modelling environment, and THEN
> > converting the project to another renderer raster or hybrid with GPU
> > acceleration and buy a decent GPU card for a quarter of this price tag.
> >
> > My question is : do you know any decent tool to convert POV files to another
> > render format with a quite good fidelity in respect to the original render
> > output ?
> >
> > It is too late for me to switch my modelling to another platform.
> > An by the way, i like pov-ray a lot and would be lost in a complex project on
> > another platform if i had to refactor/re-engineer by hand.
> >
> > Your help would be much appreciated on this issue.
>
> Hi, you should definitely give up the constraint that prevents you from learning
> new tools, Too many constraints still leave you one thing to try in POV: +RTR
> for real time rendering mode that is still there as an experimental feature I
> believe.
>
> Other than that, the main thing is to use compositing, so as not to duplicate
> unnecessary parts of rendered images. Blender can do that. but if you have less
> time, stick to editing (simpler to learn than compositing, that will still allow
> you to extend in time and overlay images.
>
> About the POV to Blender importer, well it's very new.

thanks.
Nice suggestion.
I am quite new at professional animation techniques...

I will probably go for compositing.
The problem indeed is the effect on render times of a light source on media.
So i will render the scene with ambient light only and media and nothing else
and the rest without media but with everything else, including light sources.
and then composite all the frames.

Way to go.

Rod.

[Stephen] Re: When a renderfarm is not an option... [3317 days 13 hours and 29 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 10:16:58 GMT

On 3/22/2017 8:52 AM, Mr wrote:
> Other than that, the main thing is to use compositing, so as not to duplicate
> unnecessary parts of rendered images. Blender can do that. but if you have less
> time, stick to editing (simpler to learn than compositing, that will still allow
> you to extend in time and overlay images.

Yes, manage your project. Don't render all the frames in a static part 
of the animation. And consider reducing the quality settings to get a 
faster rendering time.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Mr] Re: When a renderfarm is not an option... [3317 days 14 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:55:00 GMT

"rodv92" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Hello group, i am currently preparing a demo project.
> the animation will be 12000 frames @ 25fps, 640*480, no AA.
>
> It would take at least 70 days on my server, and it would make me blow up my
> deadline.
>
> A renderfarm @ 0.014 EUR/Ghzh would do the trick in 1h37 min best case scenario.
> but would cost 1165 EUR.
>
> A bit expensive...
>
> So basically, I thought of using povray as the modelling environment, and THEN
> converting the project to another renderer raster or hybrid with GPU
> acceleration and buy a decent GPU card for a quarter of this price tag.
>
> My question is : do you know any decent tool to convert POV files to another
> render format with a quite good fidelity in respect to the original render
> output ?
>
> It is too late for me to switch my modelling to another platform.
> An by the way, i like pov-ray a lot and would be lost in a complex project on
> another platform if i had to refactor/re-engineer by hand.
>
> Your help would be much appreciated on this issue.

Hi, you should definitely give up the constraint that prevents you from learning
new tools, Too many constraints still leave you one thing to try in POV: +RTR
for real time rendering mode that is still there as an experimental feature I
believe.

Other than that, the main thing is to use compositing, so as not to duplicate
unnecessary parts of rendered images. Blender can do that. but if you have less
time, stick to editing (simpler to learn than compositing, that will still allow
you to extend in time and overlay images.

About the POV to Blender importer, well it's very new.

[Stephen] Re: When a renderfarm is not an option... [3318 days 3 hours and 29 minutes ago]

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:17:01 GMT

On 3/21/2017 7:22 PM, rodv92 wrote:
> Hello group, i am currently preparing a demo project.
> the animation will be 12000 frames @ 25fps, 640*480, no AA.
>
>

[Snip]

> It is too late for me to switch my modelling to another platform.
> An by the way, i like pov-ray a lot and would be lost in a complex project on
> another platform if i had to refactor/re-engineer by hand.
>
> Your help would be much appreciated on this issue.
>

There are few programs that can import PovRay SDL. I can only think of 
two and one used PovRay as its renderer.
There is Blender and there is an importer under development. I don't 
know the status of it. Someone else might be able to tell you.
But you need to take time to learn it. I think it might be complex.

Sorry to be the first to say it. :-(

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[rodv92] When a renderfarm is not an option... [3318 days 4 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 19:25:00 GMT

Hello group, i am currently preparing a demo project.
the animation will be 12000 frames @ 25fps, 640*480, no AA.

It would take at least 70 days on my server, and it would make me blow up my
deadline.

A renderfarm @ 0.014 EUR/Ghzh would do the trick in 1h37 min best case scenario.
but would cost 1165 EUR.

A bit expensive...

So basically, I thought of using povray as the modelling environment, and THEN
converting the project to another renderer raster or hybrid with GPU
acceleration and buy a decent GPU card for a quarter of this price tag.

My question is : do you know any decent tool to convert POV files to another
render format with a quite good fidelity in respect to the original render
output ?

It is too late for me to switch my modelling to another platform.
An by the way, i like pov-ray a lot and would be lost in a complex project on
another platform if i had to refactor/re-engineer by hand.

Your help would be much appreciated on this issue.

[dick balaska] Re: Tales from a Renderfarm [3342 days 4 hours and 20 minutes ago]

Sat, 25 Feb 2017 19:26:25 GMT

Am 2017-02-12 02:44, also sprach dick balaska:

> I realized that once upon a time I said, "I can't wait to see a 1080p
> version of my animation!",
>
> Err, I wonder if I should kill it and start again
> at 23.976fps.  That's the bluray standard, anyway.
>
> Bleh, yes. I will kill it and start over. It's only a week's worth of
> renders.  I will take this time to upgrade the farm's povray again.
>

I now have 3.5 minutes of 1080p video (175MB).  I'm not loving the 
motion. When paused, it looks gorgeous on my 24" 1920x1200 screen, but 
movement is jerky. I notice it especially doesn't like when a line of 
solid color moves against another solid color (you know, typical 
computer animation stuff). My 720p version in full screen VLC stands up 
pretty well to it.  The stills aren't as crisp, but the motion is 
superior. *sigh*

-- 
dik

[clipka] Re: Shed version 2 [3345 days 7 hours and 7 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Feb 2017 16:39:14 GMT

Am 22.02.2017 um 01:05 schrieb Klewlis:

> This actually makes me wonder why this works:
>     #declare a=2;
> 
>     #for (i, 1.5, 241.5, 16)
>         #declare a=a+1;
>         #if (frame_number>a)
>             object {Stud
>                 rotate z*90
>                 #if (i<240)
>                     translate <i, 0, 140.375>
>                 #else
>                     translate <i-1.5, 0, 140.375>
>                 #end
>             }
>         #end
>     #end
> 
> (I am not complaining, I am glad it works.)  It seems that each time the file is
> parsed, "i" would be initialized to 1.5, but instead it is incremented by 16.

As a matter of fact, /both/ happens in each frame; the latter even
multiple times.

So in frame #1 you get:

    frame_number = 1
    a = 2
    i = 1.5
        a = 3
        test if frame_number(=1) > a(=3) -> no
    i = 17.5
        a = 4
        test if frame_number(=1) > a(=4) -> no
    i = 33.5
        a = 5
        test if frame_number(=1) > a(=5) -> no
    i = 49.5
        a = 6
        test if frame_number(=1) > a(=6) -> no
    ...etc...

Then, in frame #2, you get:

    frame_number = 2
    a = 2
    i = 1.5
        a = 3
        test if frame_number(=2) > a(=3) -> no
    i = 17.5
        a = 4
        test if frame_number(=2) > a(=4) -> no
    i = 33.5
        a = 5
        test if frame_number(=2) > a(=5) -> no
    i = 49.5
        a = 6
        test if frame_number(=2) > a(=6) -> no
    ...etc...

Later, in frame #3, you get:

    frame_number = 3
    a = 2
    i = 1.5
        a = 3
        test if frame_number(=3) > a(=3) -> no
    i = 17.5
        a = 4
        test if frame_number(=3) > a(=4) -> no
    i = 33.5
        a = 5
        test if frame_number(=3) > a(=5) -> no
    i = 49.5
        a = 6
        test if frame_number(=3) > a(=6) -> no
    ...etc...

At last, in frame #4, you get:

    frame_number = 4
    a = 2
    i = 1.5
        a = 3
        test if frame_number(=4) > a(=3) -> yes
            insert a Stud at i=1.5
    i = 17.5
        a = 4
        test if frame_number(=4) > a(=4) -> no
    i = 33.5
        a = 5
        test if frame_number(=4) > a(=5) -> no
    i = 49.5
        a = 6
        test if frame_number(=4) > a(=6) -> no
    ...etc...

In frame #5, you get:

    frame_number = 5
    a = 2
    i = 1.5
        a = 3
        test if frame_number(=5) > a(=3) -> yes
            insert a Stud at i=1.5
    i = 17.5
        a = 4
        test if frame_number(=5) > a(=4) -> yes
            insert a Stud at i=17.5
    i = 33.5
        a = 5
        test if frame_number(=5) > a(=5) -> no
    i = 49.5
        a = 6
        test if frame_number(=5) > a(=6) -> no
    ...etc...

... and so forth.

[Bald Eagle] Re: Shed version 2 [3345 days 11 hours and 1 minute ago]

Wed, 22 Feb 2017 12:45:00 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

> Just before this code, I do: #declare b=0, so each time POV parses the file, b
> is initialized to 0.  During the first 35 frames b=1 because of this.

Yes, I had a little voice telling me I ought to suggest looking at that part,
but it got overridden.   :(

> This actually makes me wonder why this works:
>     #declare a=2;
>
>     #for (i, 1.5, 241.5, 16)
>         #declare a=a+1;
>         #if (frame_number>a)
>             object {Stud
>                 rotate z*90
>                 #if (i<240)
>                     translate <i, 0, 140.375>
>                 #else
>                     translate <i-1.5, 0, 140.375>
>                 #end
>             }
>         #end
>     #end
>


Frame number increases with each frame, and so even if 'a' stays static, frame
number remains greater than a.

(Remember that it's always good practice to use capitalized varible names to
avoid conflicts with 'internal' POV-Ray names.)

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3345 days 23 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Wed, 22 Feb 2017 00:10:01 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> "Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>
> > OK, I suspect the problem is in the fact that I am running the animation from an
> > ..ini file.  This would be the same problem I had with the #while command.
>
> I would not have guessed that would be a / the problem
>

Actually, the problem is not in the Switch/Range.  The problem is in the other
coding I used.

#switch (frame_number)
    #range (1, 35)
        #declare b=b+1;
        object { SunLight
            rotate x*(b/2)
        }
    #break
    #range (36, 60)
        object { SunLight
            rotate x*(b/2)
        }
    #break
    #range (61, 282)
        #declare b=b+1;
        object { SunLight
            rotate x*(b/2)
        }
    #break
#end

Just before this code, I do: #declare b=0, so each time POV parses the file, b
is initialized to 0.  During the first 35 frames b=1 because of this.

This actually makes me wonder why this works:
    #declare a=2;

    #for (i, 1.5, 241.5, 16)
        #declare a=a+1;
        #if (frame_number>a)
            object {Stud
                rotate z*90
                #if (i<240)
                    translate <i, 0, 140.375>
                #else
                    translate <i-1.5, 0, 140.375>
                #end
            }
        #end
    #end

(I am not complaining, I am glad it works.)  It seems that each time the file is
parsed, "i" would be initialized to 1.5, but instead it is incremented by 16.

Thank you;
Ken

[Bald Eagle] Re: Shed version 2 [3346 days 5 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Tue, 21 Feb 2017 17:55:00 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

> OK, I suspect the problem is in the fact that I am running the animation from an
> ..ini file.  This would be the same problem I had with the #while command.

I would not have guessed that would be a / the problem

from the docs:
frame_number

If you rather want to define the action in POV-Ray animated scenes depending
upon the integer frame numbers, this identifier can be used. It reads the number
of the frame currently being rendered.

#if(frame_number=1)
  //stuff for first image or frame
#end
#if(frame_number=2)
  //stuff for second image or frame
#end
#if(frame_number=n)
  //stuff for n th image or frame
#end

My Torus animation in pbi animations was done, but using the clock value.

have a look at this and see if it helps:
http://news.povray.org/povray.bugreports/thread/%3C4f64d135$1@news.povray.org%3E/

Also, when I have problems like you're having, I find it useful to make
extensive use of the debug stream and make absolutely sure that the value I
THINK Pov-Ray is using are the actual values that it's working with.

I might even go so far as to work with a "fake" animation scene file that
doesn't do anything - or at least very little, and render it with a very small
image size to speed up debugging.
You might even consider putting your debug values as text objects in the scene -
it helps a lot when odd, unexpected things happen - all the data is right there
in the image frame.

I'm at work right now and don't have a copy of my torus animation file handy  :(

I'll see if I can remember to make a copy tonight.

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3348 days 8 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:35:01 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> >
> > So 0 to 0.1 will be Clock1, which goes from Clock*10 = 0 to Clock*10 = 1
> > Then the next range block gets rendered from 0.11 to 0.2
> > (Clock-0.1)*10 = 0 to (Clock-0.1)*10 = 1
> >
> > Just an idea - I honestly haven't played with Chris Colefax's ClockMod macros,
> > so I can't say if that's any easier / better.
>
> #switch (frame_number)
>     #range (1, 35)
>         #declare b=b+1;
>         object { SunLight
>             rotate x*(b/2)
>         }
>     #break
>     #range (36, 60)
>         object { SunLight
>             rotate x*(b/2)
>         }
>     #break
>     #range (61, 282)
>         #declare b=b+1;
>         object { SunLight
>             rotate x*(b/2)
>         }
>     #break
> #end
>
> Do you see anything wrong with this code?  It doesn't appear to be working. The
> idea is that the shadows movement gives the perception of time passing, but no
> movement during camera transitions.  I also tried it without the #break at the
> end of each range.  POV-Ray isn't issuing any complaints about the code.

OK, I suspect the problem is in the fact that I am running the animation from an
..ini file.  This would be the same problem I had with the #while command.

Ken

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3348 days 9 hours and 1 minute ago]

Sun, 19 Feb 2017 14:45:01 GMT

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
>
> So 0 to 0.1 will be Clock1, which goes from Clock*10 = 0 to Clock*10 = 1
> Then the next range block gets rendered from 0.11 to 0.2
> (Clock-0.1)*10 = 0 to (Clock-0.1)*10 = 1
>
> Just an idea - I honestly haven't played with Chris Colefax's ClockMod macros,
> so I can't say if that's any easier / better.

#switch (frame_number)
    #range (1, 35)
        #declare b=b+1;
        object { SunLight
            rotate x*(b/2)
        }
    #break
    #range (36, 60)
        object { SunLight
            rotate x*(b/2)
        }
    #break
    #range (61, 282)
        #declare b=b+1;
        object { SunLight
            rotate x*(b/2)
        }
    #break
#end

Do you see anything wrong with this code?  It doesn't appear to be working. The
idea is that the shadows movement gives the perception of time passing, but no
movement during camera transitions.  I also tried it without the #break at the
end of each range.  POV-Ray isn't issuing any complaints about the code.

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3350 days 10 hours and 15 minutes ago]

Fri, 17 Feb 2017 13:30:58 GMT

On 2/17/2017 11:54 AM, Mr wrote:
> Now it's committed back to trunk (ou can get a snapshot here:
>
https://git.blender.org/gitweb/gitweb.cgi/blender-addons.git/tree/refs/heads/master:/render_povray
>
> Does it solve your issue?

It might have or it might be that I got my knickers in a twist with the 
addon folders over the versions.
Following my usual quick and dirty backup methods. I copied the folder 
to the parent folder as a copy. When I updated render_povray it was the 
same and the material tab was empty. Then I moved the backup folders and 
it works the way it should.
Thanks and sorry for the confusion.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Mr] Re: What to do with walls. [3350 days 11 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Fri, 17 Feb 2017 11:55:01 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 2/15/2017 10:19 AM, Mr wrote:
> > Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> >> On 2/11/2017 6:46 PM, LanuHum wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> unpack zip file
> >>> move the "povray" folder to
> >>> if installer blender-278:
> >>> C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\AppData\Roaming\Blender
> >>> Foundation\Blender\2.78\scripts\addons
> >>> if zip file blender-278:
> >>> \path\to\blender-2.78x-windowsxx\2.78\scripts\addons
> >>>
> >>> Blender start. Go to user preferences -> add-ons -> render -> check
> >>> Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
> >>> If error -> uncheck official addon, save user setting and restart Blender and
> >>> check Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Thank you that worked. I got it installed and working.
> >> I did an upgrade to Blender 2.78b to get a clean copy of the official
> >> exporter. I still have a problem with the Physics tab. Selecting a mesh
> >> and clicking the "bouncing ball" icon. There is nothing there. No
> >> buttons for the different types of physics systems. A blank underneath
> >> the properties. Both in your version and in the official one.
> >>
> >> I will think about it while I get more experience using the Blender
> >> Renderer. I need to know how it should work first.
> >>
> >> Thanks for your time.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> Regards
> >>       Stephen
> >
> > Maybe you noticed that once you set things up in Blender Internal and switch
> > back to POV your physics still export properly?
>
> No, I did not notice that before. Thanks for pointing it out.
> When I press the animation button. Nothing happens except the UV/image
> editor window sits there. Unless I set the output to a movie format when
> it renders the frames (then deletes them) but no movie file is saved. At
> least I could not find the unique name I used.
>
> > It's a good thing to start
> > learning Blender internal, as the official exporter has some intent to emulate
> > it.
> >
> There is a lot of learning in Blender. The rigid body physics is similar
> to Poser physics so that is okay. The animation module layout is not
> intuitive, to me. And the UV mapping. I am getting the hang of it but it
> does not seem right that you wrap a spherical mapping on a globe,
> initially but set the texture to a flat mapping.
>
> Q. Why do I have to have emission greater than zero to see detail on the
> rendered output when using UV mapping and ambient seems to have no effect?
>
>
> > Thanks for the report! (and proof that we need more)
>
> I am still waiting to get feedback on my previous reports so I can retest.
>
> > It's solved and will be
> > committed to source when I get back to my computer.
> > The below code was missing
> > line 52 of ui.py in render_povray :
> >
> > # wrapping every class 'as is'
> > from bl_ui import properties_physics_common
> > for member in dir(properties_physics_common):
> >      subclass = getattr(properties_physics_common, member)
> >      try:
> >          subclass.COMPAT_ENGINES.add('POVRAY_RENDER')
> >      except:
> >          pass
> > del properties_physics_common
> >
> >
>
>
> I inserted these lines with two blank lines above and below.
> I saw no difference to the Physics tab.
> My ui.py file is now 1680 lines and 79.2 KB
>
>
> --
>
> Regards
>      Stephen

Now it's committed back to trunk (ou can get a snapshot here:
https://git.blender.org/gitweb/gitweb.cgi/blender-addons.git/tree/refs/heads/master:/render_povray

Does it solve your issue?

[clipka] Re: Tales from a Renderfarm [3351 days 8 hours and 14 minutes ago]

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 15:32:07 GMT

Am 16.02.2017 um 03:21 schrieb dick balaska:

> So the i7 is a wee bit faster.  Also, 4 cores means the chip can do 4
> things at once.  The i7 has 2 threads per core; it can sort-of do 8
> things at once, but 2 threads share each FPU, I expect waiting for the
> FPU to be involved.

I think it is realistic to expect hyperthreading to give about 15% more
pixels per unit of time.


> But those scenes with BorderChars, the i7 is actually *slower* than the
> i5.  I would think even if a thread is always waiting on the FPU, it
> should still be minimally 6% (34/32) faster than the i5.
...
> I can't imagine anything you could do different. It's just SDL.  The
> issue has to be deep in the optimization code of the M$ compiler.
> Or ... I blame clipka.

:)

I tend to blame it on different cache sizes. Or different number of CPU
clock ticks required to execute particular instructions. Or differences
in the CPU clock. Or in the branch prediction. Or in the instruction
pipeline depth. Or... well, I guess you get the picture: CPU performance
is an utterly complicated topic.

[Dave Blandston] Re: Tales from a Renderfarm [3351 days 13 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 09:50:00 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> I can't imagine anything you could do different. It's just SDL.  The
> issue has to be deep in the optimization code of the M$ compiler.
> Or ... I blame clipka.

OK I understand now. I thought maybe you had found a bug that I missed. Thank
goodness you didn't!

Regards,
Dave Blandston

[dick balaska] Re: Tales from a Renderfarm [3351 days 21 hours and 25 minutes ago]

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 02:21:18 GMT

Am 2017-02-15 12:20, also sprach Dave Blandston:
> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
>> So huh, it is BorderChars that is slow on my i7. I never could have
>> guessed something scene-specific could do that.
>
> Hi there, I'm not sure exactly what you're describing

i5 = 3.2Ghz, 4 cores
i7 = 3.4Ghz, 4 cores, 8 threads.

So the i7 is a wee bit faster.  Also, 4 cores means the chip can do 4 
things at once.  The i7 has 2 threads per core; it can sort-of do 8 
things at once, but 2 threads share each FPU, I expect waiting for the 
FPU to be involved.

In practice, I see the i7 average running about 80% faster than the i5.
(Looking at the Christmas tree, 26 minutes for i7 vs. 43 minutes for i5.)

But those scenes with BorderChars, the i7 is actually *slower* than the 
i5.  I would think even if a thread is always waiting on the FPU, it 
should still be minimally 6% (34/32) faster than the i5.

but if you identify a
> problem with BorderChars I'll be interested to know about it in case it's
> something that can be fixed.

I can't imagine anything you could do different. It's just SDL.  The 
issue has to be deep in the optimization code of the M$ compiler.
Or ... I blame clipka.

>
> I did notice you're using FontVariationNumber 28 with the sample interior
> object. (It looks great in your animation!)

Thanks!  My problem now is, I did those 3 shots with BorderChars and 
then it goes back to regular boring white characters and my brain says 
"wtf, fix it, dude".

>
> Regards,
> Dave Blandston
>
>

-- 
dik

[Dave Blandston] Re: Tales from a Renderfarm [3352 days 6 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 17:25:00 GMT

dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> So huh, it is BorderChars that is slow on my i7. I never could have
> guessed something scene-specific could do that.

Hi there, I'm not sure exactly what you're describing but if you identify a
problem with BorderChars I'll be interested to know about it in case it's
something that can be fixed.

I did notice you're using FontVariationNumber 28 with the sample interior
object. (It looks great in your animation!) The wavy interior object renders
extremely slowly due to the use of so many sphere_sweeps. You can speed it up a
little by changing the setting of "#local DeltaTheta = 30;" to 45. This will be
perfectly acceptable for your scene.

Regards,
Dave Blandston

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3352 days 11 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 12:35:04 GMT

On 2/15/2017 10:19 AM, Mr wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> On 2/11/2017 6:46 PM, LanuHum wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> unpack zip file
>>> move the "povray" folder to
>>> if installer blender-278:
>>> C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\AppData\Roaming\Blender
>>> Foundation\Blender\2.78\scripts\addons
>>> if zip file blender-278:
>>> \path\to\blender-2.78x-windowsxx\2.78\scripts\addons
>>>
>>> Blender start. Go to user preferences -> add-ons -> render -> check
>>> Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
>>> If error -> uncheck official addon, save user setting and restart Blender and
>>> check Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
>>>
>>
>> Thank you that worked. I got it installed and working.
>> I did an upgrade to Blender 2.78b to get a clean copy of the official
>> exporter. I still have a problem with the Physics tab. Selecting a mesh
>> and clicking the "bouncing ball" icon. There is nothing there. No
>> buttons for the different types of physics systems. A blank underneath
>> the properties. Both in your version and in the official one.
>>
>> I will think about it while I get more experience using the Blender
>> Renderer. I need to know how it should work first.
>>
>> Thanks for your time.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Regards
>>       Stephen
>
> Maybe you noticed that once you set things up in Blender Internal and switch
> back to POV your physics still export properly?

No, I did not notice that before. Thanks for pointing it out.
When I press the animation button. Nothing happens except the UV/image 
editor window sits there. Unless I set the output to a movie format when 
it renders the frames (then deletes them) but no movie file is saved. At 
least I could not find the unique name I used.

> It's a good thing to start
> learning Blender internal, as the official exporter has some intent to emulate
> it.
>
There is a lot of learning in Blender. The rigid body physics is similar 
to Poser physics so that is okay. The animation module layout is not 
intuitive, to me. And the UV mapping. I am getting the hang of it but it 
does not seem right that you wrap a spherical mapping on a globe, 
initially but set the texture to a flat mapping.

Q. Why do I have to have emission greater than zero to see detail on the 
rendered output when using UV mapping and ambient seems to have no effect?


> Thanks for the report! (and proof that we need more)

I am still waiting to get feedback on my previous reports so I can retest.

> It's solved and will be
> committed to source when I get back to my computer.
> The below code was missing
> line 52 of ui.py in render_povray :
>
> # wrapping every class 'as is'
> from bl_ui import properties_physics_common
> for member in dir(properties_physics_common):
>      subclass = getattr(properties_physics_common, member)
>      try:
>          subclass.COMPAT_ENGINES.add('POVRAY_RENDER')
>      except:
>          pass
> del properties_physics_common
>
>


I inserted these lines with two blank lines above and below.
I saw no difference to the Physics tab.
My ui.py file is now 1680 lines and 79.2 KB


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Mr] Re: What to do with walls. [3352 days 13 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 10:20:01 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 2/11/2017 6:46 PM, LanuHum wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > unpack zip file
> > move the "povray" folder to
> > if installer blender-278:
> > C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\AppData\Roaming\Blender
> > Foundation\Blender\2.78\scripts\addons
> > if zip file blender-278:
> > \path\to\blender-2.78x-windowsxx\2.78\scripts\addons
> >
> > Blender start. Go to user preferences -> add-ons -> render -> check
> > Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
> > If error -> uncheck official addon, save user setting and restart Blender and
> > check Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
> >
>
> Thank you that worked. I got it installed and working.
> I did an upgrade to Blender 2.78b to get a clean copy of the official
> exporter. I still have a problem with the Physics tab. Selecting a mesh
> and clicking the "bouncing ball" icon. There is nothing there. No
> buttons for the different types of physics systems. A blank underneath
> the properties. Both in your version and in the official one.
>
> I will think about it while I get more experience using the Blender
> Renderer. I need to know how it should work first.
>
> Thanks for your time.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Regards
>      Stephen

Maybe you noticed that once you set things up in Blender Internal and switch
back to POV your physics still export properly? It's a good thing to start
learning Blender internal, as the official exporter has some intent to emulate
it.

Thanks for the report! (and proof that we need more) It's solved and will be
committed to source when I get back to my computer. The below code was missing
line 52 of ui.py in render_povray :

# wrapping every class 'as is'
from bl_ui import properties_physics_common
for member in dir(properties_physics_common):
    subclass = getattr(properties_physics_common, member)
    try:
        subclass.COMPAT_ENGINES.add('POVRAY_RENDER')
    except:
        pass
del properties_physics_common

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Shed version 2 [3352 days 15 hours and 53 minutes ago]

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 07:53:26 GMT

On 14-2-2017 14:35, Stephen wrote:
> On 2/14/2017 12:23 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> On 14-2-2017 8:51, Stephen wrote:
>
>>> Well you can keep Geert Wilders. We have enough trouble makers of our
>>> own. ;-)
>>>
>>> BTW Good luck on the ides of March. I just noticed the date of your
>>> Elections.
>>> You never know, You and the French may join us in "The Common Market"
>>> Ver 2.0 :-)
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I don't know what is going to happen. It is time for a strategic vote
>> but even then, Mr. W. will probably win... but not to form any
>> government as no coalition will be possible with his 'party'. (His, is
>> not a party s.s. by the way, as he is the only and unique member of the
>> PVV. Interesting isn't it?)
>>
>> Otherwise, following better economical perspectives, Europe is no longer
>> really an issue for these elections. The negative consequences for a
>> Nexit are too strong and few are really interested. It is now all about
>> 'identity' and mosques...
>>
>
> That is what they said here. <Gulp!>
>
>

Yes, I know... :-[ However, I think that the NL situation is a bit 
different.

[we are definitely going ot here]

-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] Re: Shed version 2 [3352 days 23 hours and 37 minutes ago]

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:08:48 GMT

Am 2017-02-14 18:36, also sprach Klewlis:
> Where can this information be found in the help file?  I am interested in other
> Boolean operators as well.

http://www.povray.org/documentation/3.7.0/r3_3.html#r3_3_1_5_3

-- 
dik

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3353 days and 6 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 23:40:01 GMT

"omniverse" <omn### [at] charternet> wrote:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
>
> Not sure what you're wanting to do, so this is only a guess:
>
> #if(frame_number>5&frame_number<11)
>     rotate x*(frame_number*10)
> #end
>
> That confines the rotation to those number of frames.
>
If I remember my programming days the & is a Boolean operator.  I searched every
keyword I could think of and found no hint you could construct a test with both
a lower and upper limit.  I ended up with

#if (frame_number>5)
    #if (frame_number<11)
        rotate x*(frame_number*10)
    #end
#end

I don't know if nesting #if tests eventually causes a problem, but it worked.  I
much prefer to use the & to concatenate the two tests.

Where can this information be found in the help file?  I am interested in other
Boolean operators as well.

The coding shown was just an experiment to see if I could work in a lower and
upper limit.  The actual circumstance is to add temporary bracing to the top of
the walls and then stop rendering it once the ceiling joists and rafters are
added.

Thank you
Ken

[Stephen] Re: Shed version 2 [3353 days 10 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 13:35:19 GMT

On 2/14/2017 12:23 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> On 14-2-2017 8:51, Stephen wrote:

>> Well you can keep Geert Wilders. We have enough trouble makers of our
>> own. ;-)
>>
>> BTW Good luck on the ides of March. I just noticed the date of your
>> Elections.
>> You never know, You and the French may join us in "The Common Market"
>> Ver 2.0 :-)
>>
>>
>
> I don't know what is going to happen. It is time for a strategic vote
> but even then, Mr. W. will probably win... but not to form any
> government as no coalition will be possible with his 'party'. (His, is
> not a party s.s. by the way, as he is the only and unique member of the
> PVV. Interesting isn't it?)
>
> Otherwise, following better economical perspectives, Europe is no longer
> really an issue for these elections. The negative consequences for a
> Nexit are too strong and few are really interested. It is now all about
> 'identity' and mosques...
>

That is what they said here. <Gulp!>


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Shed version 2 [3353 days 11 hours and 23 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 12:23:17 GMT

On 14-2-2017 8:51, Stephen wrote:
> On 2/14/2017 7:40 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> On 13-2-2017 14:18, Stephen wrote:
>>> On 2/13/2017 12:35 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>>>> Nah! in the UK it is always drizzling... :-)
>>>
>>>
>>> You should know. The Netherlands often gets our leftover weather. ;-)
>>>
>>
>> Except this winter. We blow all our unwanted stuff your way ;-)
>>
>
> Well you can keep Geert Wilders. We have enough trouble makers of our
> own. ;-)
>
> BTW Good luck on the ides of March. I just noticed the date of your
> Elections.
> You never know, You and the French may join us in "The Common Market"
> Ver 2.0 :-)
>
>

I don't know what is going to happen. It is time for a strategic vote 
but even then, Mr. W. will probably win... but not to form any 
government as no coalition will be possible with his 'party'. (His, is 
not a party s.s. by the way, as he is the only and unique member of the 
PVV. Interesting isn't it?)

Otherwise, following better economical perspectives, Europe is no longer 
really an issue for these elections. The negative consequences for a 
Nexit are too strong and few are really interested. It is now all about 
'identity' and mosques...

-- 
Thomas

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3353 days 13 hours and 5 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 10:41:20 GMT

On 2/11/2017 6:46 PM, LanuHum wrote:

>
>
> unpack zip file
> move the "povray" folder to
> if installer blender-278:
> C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\AppData\Roaming\Blender
> Foundation\Blender\2.78\scripts\addons
> if zip file blender-278:
> \path\to\blender-2.78x-windowsxx\2.78\scripts\addons
>
> Blender start. Go to user preferences -> add-ons -> render -> check
> Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
> If error -> uncheck official addon, save user setting and restart Blender and
> check Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
>

Thank you that worked. I got it installed and working.
I did an upgrade to Blender 2.78b to get a clean copy of the official 
exporter. I still have a problem with the Physics tab. Selecting a mesh 
and clicking the "bouncing ball" icon. There is nothing there. No 
buttons for the different types of physics systems. A blank underneath 
the properties. Both in your version and in the official one.

I will think about it while I get more experience using the Blender 
Renderer. I need to know how it should work first.

Thanks for your time.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Stephen] Re: Shed version 2 [3353 days 15 hours and 55 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 07:51:17 GMT

On 2/14/2017 7:40 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> On 13-2-2017 14:18, Stephen wrote:
>> On 2/13/2017 12:35 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>>> Nah! in the UK it is always drizzling... :-)
>>
>>
>> You should know. The Netherlands often gets our leftover weather. ;-)
>>
>
> Except this winter. We blow all our unwanted stuff your way ;-)
>

Well you can keep Geert Wilders. We have enough trouble makers of our 
own. ;-)

BTW Good luck on the ides of March. I just noticed the date of your 
Elections.
You never know, You and the French may join us in "The Common Market" 
Ver 2.0 :-)

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Shed version 2 [3353 days 16 hours and 5 minutes ago]

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 07:40:58 GMT

On 13-2-2017 14:18, Stephen wrote:
> On 2/13/2017 12:35 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> Nah! in the UK it is always drizzling... :-)
>
>
> You should know. The Netherlands often gets our leftover weather. ;-)
>

Except this winter. We blow all our unwanted stuff your way ;-)

-- 
Thomas

[dick balaska] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 3 hours and 48 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 19:58:19 GMT

Am 2017-02-13 12:42, also sprach Bald Eagle:
> "Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>> using windows Movie Maker, because I can't afford to buy anything at this time.
>
> I use VideoMach - seems to work well enough for what I want to do most of the
> time.

ffmpeg. It's great. It's the best encoder. Other encoders are losers!  Sad!

> One thing I've done for some step-wise animations is to set up my scene file in
> a Switch-Range-Break block - the main animation clock drives the whole scene and
> determines which range block gets rendered, and then each range section has a
> sub-clock that does its own 0-1.

Yes! To me, this is the secret of animation. Everything gets broken down 
to a movement of 0-1.  Opening a door is 0-1 (0 degrees - 110 degrees) 
and then scaled to fit the scene.  So,

#declare FirstMoveStart = 0.0;
#declare FirstMoveEnd   = 0.1;

#switch (clock)
    #range (FirstMoveStart, FirstMoveEnd)
       #declare I = AniSegment(FirstMoveStart, FirstMoveEnd);
       ...
       #break
#end

#macro AniSegment(_start, _end)
    ((clock-_start)/(_end-_start))
#end

so I becomes 0-1 in that range block

Another helper is
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Move a Vector from, to, increment
#macro MoveV(_from, _to, __i)
	<_from.x+((_to.x-_from.x)*__i),
	 _from.y+((_to.y-_from.y)*__i),
	 _from.z+((_to.z-_from.z)*__i)>
#end

And then, given a starting and end vector, I move between them.
#local V = MoveV(<0,0,0>, <1,1,1>, I)

And one more thing. :)
I always apply acceleration/deceleration to a move. So,
#declare I = AniSegment(FirstMoveStart, FirstMoveEnd);
#declare F = 0.5-(cos(I/2*pi2)/2);

(which is the top left curve here
http://www.buckosoft.com/~dick/pov/curves/ )

This gives a more natural feel to movement.

>
> So 0 to 0.1 will be Clock1, which goes from Clock*10 = 0 to Clock*10 = 1
> Then the next range block gets rendered from 0.11 to 0.2
> (Clock-0.1)*10 = 0 to (Clock-0.1)*10 = 1
>
> Just an idea - I honestly haven't played with Chris Colefax's ClockMod macros,
> so I can't say if that's any easier / better.

I played with them years ago and rejected them. Once you start with them 
you're kind of tied in to that system and I needed more flexibility.

One other thing, I don't actually use clock directly.  I use
#declare myclock = clock * SceneDurationInSeconds;
which gives me more natural timestamps for cues, and I can vary the 
frame rate (number of frames in the scene) independently of the action.

-- 
dik

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 5 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 18:25:01 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 13.02.2017 um 17:46 schrieb Klewlis:
>
> Because you can't loop over frames in your .pov file. POV-Ray already
> does that loop for you, and re-parses the .pov file all over again for
> each frame, with values like frame_number acting as some kind of
> parameter. So in your .pov file you can test which frame is currently
> being rendered, but you cannot actively loop over multiple frames.

That should have been obvious to me, I know POV re-parses the entire scene with
each tick of the clock.

Thank you
Ken

[omniverse] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 5 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 18:25:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Am 13.02.2017 um 17:46 schrieb Klewlis:
> > "Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> >
> >         #while (frame_number<11)
> >             rotate x*(frame_number*10)
> >         #end
>
> Because you can't loop over frames in your .pov file.

As clipka says... or to put it another way, the while loop doesn't terminate
unless given a finite number of iterations.
frame_number<11 is never reached, unless you began at 11.

Not sure what you're wanting to do, so this is only a guess:

#if(frame_number>5&frame_number<11)
    rotate x*(frame_number*10)
#end

That confines the rotation to those number of frames.

Your current animation is more than I expected. I was thinking of the last
camera movement during the whole thing, although I realized it might not be
simple to implement if your wall raisings are only segmented parts put together.

BaldEagle's #switch #range suggestion is good to help with that.

Bob

[Bald Eagle] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 6 hours and 1 minute ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:45:01 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> using windows Movie Maker, because I can't afford to buy anything at this time.

I use VideoMach - seems to work well enough for what I want to do most of the
time.

One thing I've done for some step-wise animations is to set up my scene file in
a Switch-Range-Break block - the main animation clock drives the whole scene and
determines which range block gets rendered, and then each range section has a
sub-clock that does its own 0-1.

So 0 to 0.1 will be Clock1, which goes from Clock*10 = 0 to Clock*10 = 1
Then the next range block gets rendered from 0.11 to 0.2
(Clock-0.1)*10 = 0 to (Clock-0.1)*10 = 1

Just an idea - I honestly haven't played with Chris Colefax's ClockMod macros,
so I can't say if that's any easier / better.

[clipka] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 6 hours and 19 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:27:09 GMT

Am 13.02.2017 um 17:46 schrieb Klewlis:
> "Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> 
> Anyone know why this works:
> 
> camera {
>     location <-240, 100, 118>
>     //direction <0, 0,  3.0>
>     //right x*1.33
>     look_at <0, 50, 118>
> //experimental
>     #if (frame_number>5)
>             rotate x*(frame_number*10)
>     #end
> //#end experimental
> }
> 
> But this doesn't:
> 
> camera {
>     location <-240, 100, 118>
>     //direction <0, 0,  3.0>
>     //right x*1.33
>     look_at <0, 50, 118>
> //experimental
>         #while (frame_number<11)
>             rotate x*(frame_number*10)
>         #end
> //#end experimental
> }

Because you can't loop over frames in your .pov file. POV-Ray already
does that loop for you, and re-parses the .pov file all over again for
each frame, with values like frame_number acting as some kind of
parameter. So in your .pov file you can test which frame is currently
being rendered, but you cannot actively loop over multiple frames.

[Stephen] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 6 hours and 22 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:24:19 GMT

On 2/13/2017 2:19 PM, dick balaska wrote:
> Am 2017-02-13 08:18, also sprach Stephen:
>> On 2/13/2017 12:35 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>>> Nah! in the UK it is always drizzling... :-)
>>
>>
>> You should know. The Netherlands often gets our leftover weather. ;-)
>>
>
> Netherlands second!
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELD2AwFN9Nc
>
>
Very good :-)
And you were second. The second country to throw the founding fathers 
out after England* did.

* My lot (Scotland) kept them bottled them up until they became Rednecks 
before sending them to Texas and similar states.


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[clipka] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 6 hours and 47 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:58:48 GMT

Am 13.02.2017 um 17:38 schrieb Klewlis:

> I really like the camera movement.
> 
> https://youtu.be/a6MPNCVGZm8

Absolutely.

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 6 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:50:00 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:

Anyone know why this works:

camera {
    location <-240, 100, 118>
    //direction <0, 0,  3.0>
    //right x*1.33
    look_at <0, 50, 118>
//experimental
    #if (frame_number>5)
            rotate x*(frame_number*10)
    #end
//#end experimental
}

But this doesn't:

camera {
    location <-240, 100, 118>
    //direction <0, 0,  3.0>
    //right x*1.33
    look_at <0, 50, 118>
//experimental
        #while (frame_number<11)
            rotate x*(frame_number*10)
        #end
//#end experimental
}

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 7 hours and 1 minute ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:45:01 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 2/12/2017 7:39 PM, omniverse wrote:
> > Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a thought...
>
> And a slight movement in the sky would help with a sense of "time going by".
>
> --
>
> Regards
>      Stephen

I have been considering the sky movement from the very start, but I am not going
to work on that until the shed is complete.  Complete build slab to siding to
roof, in one day, (one day in the animation that is).

[Klewlis] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 7 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:40:00 GMT

"omniverse" <omn### [at] charternet> wrote:
> Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a thought... which
> you seemed to be hinting at already. Camera view moving around from wall to wall
> would give it less slideshow feel too.
>
>
> Bob

I really like the camera movement.

https://youtu.be/a6MPNCVGZm8

Ken

[dick balaska] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 9 hours and 26 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 14:19:31 GMT

Am 2017-02-13 08:18, also sprach Stephen:
> On 2/13/2017 12:35 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> Nah! in the UK it is always drizzling... :-)
>
>
> You should know. The Netherlands often gets our leftover weather. ;-)
>

Netherlands second!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELD2AwFN9Nc


-- 
dik

[Stephen] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 10 hours and 28 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 13:18:13 GMT

On 2/13/2017 12:35 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> Nah! in the UK it is always drizzling... :-)


You should know. The Netherlands often gets our leftover weather. ;-)

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 11 hours and 10 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 12:35:36 GMT

On 13-2-2017 9:37, Stephen wrote:
> On 2/13/2017 7:55 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> On 13-2-2017 0:47, Stephen wrote:
>>> On 2/12/2017 9:49 PM, omniverse wrote:
>>>> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>>>>> On 2/12/2017 7:39 PM, omniverse wrote:
>>>>>> Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a
>>>>>> thought...
>>>>>
>>>>> And a slight movement in the sky would help with a sense of "time
>>>>> going by".
>>>>
>>>> Yeah, good idea, makes me think time lapse photography to get a real
>>>> sense of
>>>> actual build time. Although sunrise to sunset would indicate a slow
>>>> build for
>>>> what's there right now, so maybe either sunrise to noon or noon to
>>>> sunset until
>>>> more complete.
>>>> Or am I overthinking this?  ;)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> No, dawn to dusk would be my preference.
>>> A good days work. :-)
>>>
>>
>> With a pause at noon surely? The man needs to eat! ;-)
>>
>
> Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. Sorry. :-)
>
>

Nah! in the UK it is always drizzling... :-)

[or was, before climate change...]

-- 
Thomas

[Stephen] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 15 hours and 8 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 08:37:33 GMT

On 2/13/2017 7:55 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> On 13-2-2017 0:47, Stephen wrote:
>> On 2/12/2017 9:49 PM, omniverse wrote:
>>> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>>>> On 2/12/2017 7:39 PM, omniverse wrote:
>>>>> Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a
>>>>> thought...
>>>>
>>>> And a slight movement in the sky would help with a sense of "time
>>>> going by".
>>>
>>> Yeah, good idea, makes me think time lapse photography to get a real
>>> sense of
>>> actual build time. Although sunrise to sunset would indicate a slow
>>> build for
>>> what's there right now, so maybe either sunrise to noon or noon to
>>> sunset until
>>> more complete.
>>> Or am I overthinking this?  ;)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> No, dawn to dusk would be my preference.
>> A good days work. :-)
>>
>
> With a pause at noon surely? The man needs to eat! ;-)
>

Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. Sorry. :-)


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 15 hours and 50 minutes ago]

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 07:55:59 GMT

On 13-2-2017 0:47, Stephen wrote:
> On 2/12/2017 9:49 PM, omniverse wrote:
>> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>>> On 2/12/2017 7:39 PM, omniverse wrote:
>>>> Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a
>>>> thought...
>>>
>>> And a slight movement in the sky would help with a sense of "time
>>> going by".
>>
>> Yeah, good idea, makes me think time lapse photography to get a real
>> sense of
>> actual build time. Although sunrise to sunset would indicate a slow
>> build for
>> what's there right now, so maybe either sunrise to noon or noon to
>> sunset until
>> more complete.
>> Or am I overthinking this?  ;)
>>
>>
>>
> No, dawn to dusk would be my preference.
> A good days work. :-)
>

With a pause at noon surely? The man needs to eat! ;-)

-- 
Thomas

[Stephen] Re: Shed version 2 [3354 days 23 hours and 59 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 23:47:04 GMT

On 2/12/2017 9:49 PM, omniverse wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> On 2/12/2017 7:39 PM, omniverse wrote:
>>> Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a thought...
>>
>> And a slight movement in the sky would help with a sense of "time going by".
>
> Yeah, good idea, makes me think time lapse photography to get a real sense of
> actual build time. Although sunrise to sunset would indicate a slow build for
> what's there right now, so maybe either sunrise to noon or noon to sunset until
> more complete.
> Or am I overthinking this?  ;)
>
>
>
No, dawn to dusk would be my preference.
A good days work. :-)

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[omniverse] Re: Shed version 2 [3355 days 1 hour and 56 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 21:50:01 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 2/12/2017 7:39 PM, omniverse wrote:
> > Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a thought...
>
> And a slight movement in the sky would help with a sense of "time going by".

Yeah, good idea, makes me think time lapse photography to get a real sense of
actual build time. Although sunrise to sunset would indicate a slow build for
what's there right now, so maybe either sunrise to noon or noon to sunset until
more complete.
Or am I overthinking this?  ;)

[Stephen] Re: Shed version 2 [3355 days 3 hours and 22 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 20:23:50 GMT

On 2/12/2017 7:39 PM, omniverse wrote:
> Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a thought...

And a slight movement in the sky would help with a sense of "time going by".

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[omniverse] Re: Shed version 2 [3355 days 4 hours and 6 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 19:40:01 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> using windows Movie Maker, because I can't afford to buy anything at this time.
>
> 0.5 seconds on each still frame, 15 frames in 0.9 seconds for the tilt-up of the
> walls
>
> the tilt-up is much smoother than I thought it would be.
>
> https://youtu.be/J1R3EnIDCgc
>
> you can see version 1 in the thread /animations/grouping objects for transforms

Looks good! Sure helps add fluidity having movement... hey, a thought... which
you seemed to be hinting at already. Camera view moving around from wall to wall
would give it less slideshow feel too.

Animation doesn't always need a high frame rate anyway, cartoons often use low
frame counts; so 12 per second can be okay. Yours was 16.667 per second for
those fastest parts.

Hmm, on that note... if you do move the camera all the way around it'll require
upping the frame count per second since that's a lot of movement.
Maybe just going from first position to last position (walls to roof) from start
to end could be okay...?

Bob

[Klewlis] Re: grouping objects for transforms [3355 days 5 hours and 31 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 18:15:01 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>If I rotate them in that position, two of them rotate
> out of the scene. I think I could solve this by translating the wall to 0 rotate
> 6 degrees then slide it back between each frame. That is how I am currently
> handling the 90 degree rotation.

see the thread at:
/animations/Shed version 2

for the tilt-up added to the walls

[Klewlis] Shed version 2 [3355 days 6 hours and 21 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 17:25:00 GMT

using windows Movie Maker, because I can't afford to buy anything at this time.

0.5 seconds on each still frame, 15 frames in 0.9 seconds for the tilt-up of the
walls

the tilt-up is much smoother than I thought it would be.

https://youtu.be/J1R3EnIDCgc

you can see version 1 in the thread /animations/grouping objects for transforms

[Klewlis] Re: relativistic travel effects [3355 days 10 hours and 16 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 13:30:00 GMT

clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Then again, that was over 20 years ago...

Hey, watch that.  I remember using POV-Ray 1.somethingoranother.  Can't remember
which version exactly.  But I have not used POV-Ray in 15 or 20 years or more.

[Klewlis] Re: grouping objects for transforms [3355 days 10 hours and 41 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 13:05:00 GMT

"omniverse" <omn### [at] charternet> wrote:
>
> I use 0.08 for 29 frames per second. Probably too fast for your building
> animation.
>
> If you already knew this, or weren't using Movie Maker, it wasn't slower than >me
building walls anyhow. :D

Yes, I was using Movie Maker, but was unaware that you could place your own
value in the duration box. Thank you.

> And although it looks like you got the question answered already, I was thinking
> you might be able to get a rotate in there to raise each wall.
>
>
> Good luck with the construction!
>
> Bob

The original version I built all walls on either the x=0 axis or the y=0 axis
(the little red sphere sticking out of the side of the slab), used 15 frames to
stand them up (6 degrees each frame), then slid the first and third wall across
the slab to the opposite side. Then built the wall that would stay on the
respective axis.  Not very realistic.  Decided to build the wall at the edge
that it would stand on. If I rotate them in that position, two of them rotate
out of the scene. I think I could solve this by translating the wall to 0 rotate
6 degrees then slide it back between each frame. That is how I am currently
handling the 90 degree rotation.

eventually I plan to show temp bracing, gable studs, longer ridge with
outriggers for an overhang, ceiling joists, doors, windows, siding.  Working on
this in my spare time it has taken me two weeks to get this far.  I also plan to
add some frames while my camera is repositioning.

I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.
Ken

[clipka] Re: Tales from a Renderfarm [3355 days 13 hours and 17 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 10:28:52 GMT

Am 12.02.2017 um 08:44 schrieb dick balaska:

> Bleh, yes. I will kill it and start over. It's only a week's worth of
> renders.  I will take this time to upgrade the farm's povray again.
> 
> I visualized povray's git history and chose origin/master (SHA
> 71c1415e). This is the best tag that has the utf8 fix, and I believe it
> makes more sense for me to run this version over a year old version. I
> know it's not a proper tag...  Internally, I called this beta.2a .

Prepare to want to upgrade your farm /again/ in about a week or so ;)

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3355 days 15 hours and 42 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 08:03:30 GMT

On 2/12/2017 12:48 AM, Klewlis wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> I have been playing with Blender Physics. Building things and knocking
>> them down. It is quite fun.
>>
>> https://youtu.be/9Fgd2HWAacA
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Regards
>>       Stephen
>
> Blender Physics?  This is an outside program?  Not part of POV-Ray?
>
> Klewlis
>
>
Yes it is a free program with suit of modelling/animation modules and more.

https://www.blender.org/

There is a team developing a PovRay exporter to render directly using 
PovRay.
Blender Physics is an implementation of Bullet Physics.
http://bulletphysics.org/wordpress/

In the first animation I exported all of the Blender objects and 
converted the OBJ files to Mesh2 using PoseRay. Then I rendered them in 
Pov. The other couple of animations were done using Blender's internal 
renderer.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[dick balaska] Tales from a Renderfarm [3355 days 16 hours and 1 minute ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 07:44:39 GMT

I added some BorderChars to my animation, between the 40-55 second marks.
http://www.buckosoft.com/tteoac/

tl;dr
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I wanted to add some BorderChars to the credits of my animation.
This was a good excercise to actually use povclipse2.  I am pleased with 
that; editing in povclipse2 is superior to pvengine.  Pvengine still has 
a huge leg up on in-program integration with the render engine.
But it is so nice to say "show me a clickable list of all occurrences of 
'StuGuitarExplodeStart' in all files".  My goal is to get back to my 
mushroom-cloud-in-the-kitchen explosion. Anyway...

So I upgraded my farm's povray and then whined that my i7 is slower than 
my i5s.  I went back to 3.7.1-alpha.8353331, which ran 100K frames for 
me in the past, and still my i7 is slower.  Perhaps M$ is punishing me 
for failing to free upgrade from Win8.1 to Win10. [1] ;)

I was annoyed when 8353331.exe crashed. twice. Of course, Windows 
doesn't just terminate the program. No, it puts up a "checking for a 
solution" dialog and then sits there.  So there is a 10 hour frame 
(instead of 45 minutes) that will forever skew my stats.  I am now 
running 3.7.1-alpha.8451792.  I will update to beta.3 when that is released.

I realized that once upon a time I said, "I can't wait to see a 1080p 
version of my animation!",  but I was so happy with the 720p-30fps 
version that I never did that.  So I started that 1080p job up. I'm 
irked because my farm was idle for a year and could have been doing that 
job.  I estimate 5-6 months to render it.

Immediately, I notice that my i7 is running twice as fast as my i5 on 
the old, non BorderChars work.

So huh, it is BorderChars that is slow on my i7. I never could have 
guessed something scene-specific could do that.

I got my first test results from 1080p-30fps.  I tried 60fps and 40fps 
but the x.264 encoder laughed at me.  Hmm, there is very very slight 
video tearing at the motion borders. This is especially noticeable 
during slow movement.  Err, I wonder if I should kill it and start again 
at 23.976fps.  That's the bluray standard, anyway.

Bleh, yes. I will kill it and start over. It's only a week's worth of 
renders.  I will take this time to upgrade the farm's povray again.

I visualized povray's git history and chose origin/master (SHA 
71c1415e). This is the best tag that has the utf8 fix, and I believe it 
makes more sense for me to run this version over a year old version. I 
know it's not a proper tag...  Internally, I called this beta.2a .

So the farm is updated, the frames are deleted, I am cranking through 
the credits at 3358 frames per hour. (Once I open that door, it will 
slow down to 30-60 minutes a frame @ 1920x1080)

-- 
dik

[1] At the time, OpenVPN didn't run on win10 and that is a critical 
program for me.

[omniverse] Re: grouping objects for transforms [3355 days 18 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 05:35:01 GMT

"Klewlis" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> https://youtu.be/XZTQ4M88aKk
>
> tried to keep it short, somewhat boring.  It was a good learning experience.  I
> apologize if you can't view a windows movie.

That's the way I've built walls too. Except it's missing temporary bracing.
;)
Not a criticism but it's a slow build so I wondered if you used Movie Maker
since you said "Windows movie"?

If so, there is a way to put less than 1 second duration for each frame, after
selecting all (Ctrl+A), by just entering a decimal number directly into Video
Tools|Edit|Duration box instead of using the drop-down list.

I use 0.08 for 29 frames per second. Probably too fast for your building
animation.

If you already knew this, or weren't using Movie Maker, it wasn't slower than me
building walls anyhow. :D

And although it looks like you got the question answered already, I was thinking
you might be able to get a rotate in there to raise each wall.

For that you could use ClockMod.inc from Chris Colefax, which allows for easy
ranging of clock values within a single animation (clock 0 to 1).
That way you can specify, for example:

#declare clock_start=0.15; // from 0
#declare clock_end=0.25; // to 1

#include "clockmod.inc"

#declare Wall1Rotate=mclock;

object { Wall1 rotate z*Wall1Rotate*90 }

You would need to use the appropriate axis of rotation, of course. Each wall
requires their own settings, repeat the above using another range of start to
end.

There's also AutoClock macro but I must let you check into all this, if you
haven't already. See Chris Colefax Includes link at:

http://www.povray.org/resources/links/POV-Ray_Include_Macro_and_Object_Files/Include_Files/

Good luck with the construction!

Bob

[Klewlis] Re: What to do with walls. [3355 days 22 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 00:50:00 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> I have been playing with Blender Physics. Building things and knocking
> them down. It is quite fun.
>
> https://youtu.be/9Fgd2HWAacA
>
>
> --
>
> Regards
>      Stephen

Blender Physics?  This is an outside program?  Not part of POV-Ray?

Klewlis

[Klewlis] Re: grouping objects for transforms [3356 days 3 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 20:35:00 GMT

A simple noob animation, why start with the easy stuff?


https://youtu.be/XZTQ4M88aKk

tried to keep it short, somewhat boring.  It was a good learning experience.  I
apologize if you can't view a windows movie.

Thank all for the help.

[LanuHum] Re: What to do with walls. [3356 days 4 hours and 56 minutes ago]

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 18:50:01 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 2/8/2017 7:26 PM, LanuHum wrote:
> > I do not think my version stable.
> > It requires a complete renovation for Constructive Solid Geometry.
> > https://github.com/Lanuhum/BlendPov-alternative
>
>
> I downloaded it and installed the zip file but cannot find it in user
> preferences to activate it.
> Using Blender Ver. 2.78.
> Any tips?
>
> --
>
> Regards
>      Stephen

unpack zip file
move the "povray" folder to
if installer blender-278:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\AppData\Roaming\Blender
Foundation\Blender\2.78\scripts\addons
if zip file blender-278:
\path\to\blender-2.78x-windowsxx\2.78\scripts\addons

Blender start. Go to user preferences -> add-ons -> render -> check
Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.
If error -> uncheck official addon, save user setting and restart Blender and
check Render:Povray with BlendPov-alternative exporter.

If you get a clean file .pov, the failure gives the exporter script.
I will need your file to the scene of the blender

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3356 days 6 hours and 52 minutes ago]

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 16:53:40 GMT

On 2/8/2017 7:26 PM, LanuHum wrote:
> I do not think my version stable.
> It requires a complete renovation for Constructive Solid Geometry.
> https://github.com/Lanuhum/BlendPov-alternative

I downloaded it and installed the zip file but cannot find it in user 
preferences to activate it.
Using Blender Ver. 2.78.
Any tips?

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: What to do with walls. [3356 days 15 hours and 48 minutes ago]

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 07:58:19 GMT

On 10-2-2017 13:38, Stephen wrote:
> On 2/10/2017 12:19 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> On 10-2-2017 12:09, Stephen wrote:
>>> On 2/9/2017 7:56 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>>>> On 8-2-2017 17:20, Stephen wrote:
>>>>> I have been playing with Blender Physics. Building things and knocking
>>>>> them down. It is quite fun.
>>>>>
>>>>> https://youtu.be/9Fgd2HWAacA
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Was that the day Potus was in town?  ;-)
>>>>
>>>
>>> No this last one was during that visit.
>>>
>>> https://youtu.be/g2fC1QSEQfM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> ROFL !
>>
>> Now, be sure to expect the men in black on your doorstep within days! ;-)
>>
>
> Shame that I will never know as I'm not on Twatter. ;-)
>
> To be fair. Mrs Clinton is in there too. You just can't see her for very
> long. So it is fair political comment that the last Presidential
> election split the country and and looks to paint over the words from
> Emma Lazarus's poem.
>
>
> "Give me your tired, your poor,
> Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
> The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
> Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
> I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
>
>

No comments needed. Well done!

-- 
Thomas

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3357 days 11 hours and 7 minutes ago]

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 12:38:47 GMT

On 2/10/2017 12:19 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> On 10-2-2017 12:09, Stephen wrote:
>> On 2/9/2017 7:56 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>>> On 8-2-2017 17:20, Stephen wrote:
>>>> I have been playing with Blender Physics. Building things and knocking
>>>> them down. It is quite fun.
>>>>
>>>> https://youtu.be/9Fgd2HWAacA
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Was that the day Potus was in town?  ;-)
>>>
>>
>> No this last one was during that visit.
>>
>> https://youtu.be/g2fC1QSEQfM
>>
>>
>>
>
> ROFL !
>
> Now, be sure to expect the men in black on your doorstep within days! ;-)
>

Shame that I will never know as I'm not on Twatter. ;-)

To be fair. Mrs Clinton is in there too. You just can't see her for very 
long. So it is fair political comment that the last Presidential 
election split the country and and looks to paint over the words from 
Emma Lazarus's poem.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Thomas de Groot] Re: What to do with walls. [3357 days 11 hours and 27 minutes ago]

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 12:19:22 GMT

On 10-2-2017 12:09, Stephen wrote:
> On 2/9/2017 7:56 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> On 8-2-2017 17:20, Stephen wrote:
>>> I have been playing with Blender Physics. Building things and knocking
>>> them down. It is quite fun.
>>>
>>> https://youtu.be/9Fgd2HWAacA
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Was that the day Potus was in town?  ;-)
>>
>
> No this last one was during that visit.
>
> https://youtu.be/g2fC1QSEQfM
>
>
>

ROFL !

Now, be sure to expect the men in black on your doorstep within days! ;-)

-- 
Thomas

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3357 days 12 hours and 36 minutes ago]

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 11:09:42 GMT

On 2/9/2017 7:56 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> On 8-2-2017 17:20, Stephen wrote:
>> I have been playing with Blender Physics. Building things and knocking
>> them down. It is quite fun.
>>
>> https://youtu.be/9Fgd2HWAacA
>>
>>
>
> Was that the day Potus was in town?  ;-)
>

No this last one was during that visit.

https://youtu.be/g2fC1QSEQfM



-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3357 days 12 hours and 38 minutes ago]

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 11:07:52 GMT

On 2/10/2017 10:31 AM, omniverse wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> On 2/9/2017 1:57 PM, omniverse wrote:
>>
>>> I watched the golf wall destruction over and over, and the flag not falling
>>> shows defiance was my thought.
>>>
>> The flag was the result of me increasing the weight of the flag post to
>> stop the flag tearing away. When the problem was in the animation
>> settings of the flag.
>
> Maybe a direct hit by a golf ball would have toppled it anyhow, as opposed to
> the big slow blocks pushing it around. Those were obviously the powerful force
> there.
>

It is the mass, it is ten tons to the block's one ton and it is all on 
the base. That and it can't be broken.



-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[omniverse] Re: What to do with walls. [3357 days 13 hours and 11 minutes ago]

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 10:35:00 GMT

Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> On 2/9/2017 1:57 PM, omniverse wrote:
>
> > I watched the golf wall destruction over and over, and the flag not falling
> > shows defiance was my thought.
> >
> The flag was the result of me increasing the weight of the flag post to
> stop the flag tearing away. When the problem was in the animation
> settings of the flag.

Maybe a direct hit by a golf ball would have toppled it anyhow, as opposed to
the big slow blocks pushing it around. Those were obviously the powerful force
there.

Bob

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3358 days 3 hours and 51 minutes ago]

Thu, 9 Feb 2017 19:54:35 GMT

On 2/9/2017 1:57 PM, omniverse wrote:
> "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
>> I think we got rid of 2 pallets of OKIdata dot matrix printers a few months ago
>
> My first printer was OKImate (20?) with color ribbon. What a thrill to see color
> printing at home, awful as it was on plain paper. Talk about going back a ways
> in time, 30 years ago!
>

Colour printing, do you mean the black and red ribbons?
The machine I remember was an 80 column golf ball printer.

> I watched the golf wall destruction over and over, and the flag not falling
> shows defiance was my thought.
>
There is something hypnotic about watching these things. Especially in 
slow motion as the frames are rendered.
The flag was the result of me increasing the weight of the flag post to 
stop the flag tearing away. When the problem was in the animation 
settings of the flag.




-- 

Regards
     Stephen

[Stephen] Re: What to do with walls. [3358 days 4 hours and 8 minutes ago]

Thu, 9 Feb 2017 19:38:06 GMT

On 2/9/2017 12:58 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>
>> https://youtu.be/ZTPBP1ZBATo
>
>
> You should seriously reconsider the short description of that video.   :O
>
>

Colour me naive or a simple soul but... ^_^

-- 

Regards
     Stephen