Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> In Moray, something which seems to work *every* time(? fingers crossed)
> is using The "Export" option under the "Render" switch, alternatively
> Ctrl+F9 . This bypasses the use of POV-Ray v3.5 and writes the INC, INI,
> and POV group of files from the MDL scene to the POVScn folder. Do *not*
> use the "Export" option under the "File" switch!!
>
> Hope this works for you too. It would solve the present conundrum.
>

[Kenneth wrote:]
>
> I need to try out the 'proper' combination of Moray and POV v3.5, to
> see if that solves my 'export' problem.

Just to follow up: The combination of POV-ray v3.5, Moray v3.5 and Windows 10
shows some really weird and quirky behavior, some of which I discovered purely
by chance.

Assuming that the library paths are stated correctly in Moray's 'Render/Render
Options' dialog box...

1) The only way I can get Moray and POV v3.5 to work consistently together is to
start Moray first. After creating a scene there as an .mdl file, or loading one
of the demo .mdl scenes, I can then hit 'Render/Raytrace' (or F9), which
automatically starts POV 3.5 and renders the scene *in* POV. Great!  But this
works only once: POV-ray needs to be shut down after each Moray-to-POV render.
Otherwise, trying to re-render the Moray scene (or another one) while POV-ray is
still up and running causes POV to hang. It has to be shut down...which then
also causes Moray to hang.

But shutting down POV-ray after each render fixes that, and they both continue
to work together.

2) So far, trying to run POV v3.5 *by itself* in Windows 10 just doesn't work
for me. It loads OK, but trying to render a scene causes it to hang. (Perhaps
I'm not configuring it correctly?)

-------
The biggest quirk has to do with trying to export the Moray scene as an SDL
file-- for later rendering/editing-- by using Moray's 'Render'/'Export' button.
It DOES work, and the SDL/.pov scene file does get written into Moray's POVscn
folder-- but the Windows file explorer shows that folder to be empty! So does a
file search. This is a really strange Windows problem that I have not
encountered before--maybe a registry error due to Moray's very old code? The
only way I can 'see' the contents of that folder is from within POV-ray v3.5
(!), using the typical 'open file' menu. (The folder contents do NOT show up
when running v3.8 or v3.7.) They also appear from within Moray itself.
Otherwise, there seems to be no easy way to see or access those files... for me
at least.

The *workaround* is to open the exported SDL scene in POV-ray 3.5-- without
rendering it there-- then simply copy/paste it into a NEW  external text file or
..pov file, then save it.

In effect, POV v3.5 is now just a temporary 'relay station' for getting the
scene out of Moray and into a more modern version of POV-ray.

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