> Ok.. First off, it can't 'run' POV files. It can only take images and
> compress them into a video stream. So, what you need to do is run the
> clockdemo.ini file inside POVRay. The ini file includes the information
> needed to tell POVRay how many frames to create, etc. These frames will
> probably be called something like clockdemo1.bmp, clockdemo2.bmp, etc.
> You need to select the clockdemo1.bmp file in TMPGEnc, since that is the
> 'first' image in the sequence you want to make into a movie. TMPGEnc will
> then run you through a series of screens for various settings, unless you
> know what you are doing, ignore these. Finally it will reach a screen
> with the 'output file'. This will likely be something like clockdemo.mpg,
> so unless you want to name it something else, you can also leave that
> alone. TMPGEnc should then read in each file one at a time, until it
> reaches that last bmp file with clockdemo in its name, followed by a
> number. Really simple. ;)
>
> Now, as for the .ini files in povray. Most do not include a line
> specifying the 'type' to produce. This means that unless you have done
> what I did and edited povray.ini to change the default to png (I did this
> because I don't have the space for the 100+ images some animations
> generate), it will default to the 'system' type, which in windows is
> .bmp. If you change this default in povray.ini or in the clockdemo.ini,
> then of course the file you tell TMPGEnc to start with will be a .png
> file instead. However, if you use this type, you 'must' install the vfpng
> files I mentioned first, since TMPGEnc doesn't know how to read them
> without it. If you have lots of drive space (like an 80GB drive or
> something), then this is going to be a lot less of an issue than for me.
> lol In that case, you can probably stick with .bmp and be OK. At least as
> long as you eventually delete all the original images after you have a
> mpg video you like. ;) lol

That's odd. I'm using POV-ray version 3.5. The tutorial that came with
version 3.5 said that the older versions required the manual creation of
separate frames in a sequence, each frame with its own name. The tutorial
said that the new version I'm NOW using doesn't require that, anymore. The
tutorial said that I do not need a separate batch script and no external
sequencing programs. Apparently, the command line can be used to activate
an internal animation sequence that causes POV-ray to automatically handle
the animation loop details for me. All I'd need to put into the ini file
are "Initial_Frame=1 Final_Frame=20" if I wanted to generate 20 frames for
the animation. I could also have the option of putting "Initial_Clock=0.0
Final_Clock=2.0" if I wanted the clock to cycle through values other than
the default of just 0.0-1.0. Then, I also have a third option of adding
"Subset_Start_Frame=7 Subset_End_Frame=12" if I wanted to view just frames
7-12 in an animation of about 20 frames. After that, I just render the
whole animation at once. I don't think your explanation coincides with the
version of POV-ray I'm using. Do you recognize any of the stuff I put up
above?

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