I know how to animate using the POVRAY.INI file.  The problem is that I
have one file that I want to ONLY RUN ONCE!!!!! as it generates my INC
of positions for my animation.  Then I have a file that I want to run
several times as it ticks through the frames.

Twice this morning, I have forgotten to edit my POVRAY.INI file back to
make pov only run more than one frame.  Thus, after a long computation,
it rewrites the whole thing over from scratch!

Q: Is there someway within the file to set up the number of frames?  Do
I have to edit POVRAY.INI each time?

The docs again on this issue seem to be preaching to the coders.  >:-p
I see  phrases that I'm used to editing in my POVRAY.INI file, but no
indication of where to type or use the phrases.

Post a reply to this message

I really like the whole flocking thing you are doing so
(of course) I grabbed the source when you posted it.

I was surprised to see how you were using POV as a
generic programming language to generate frames.  I
might have chosen one of the more conventional ways
to do this (C, C++, Java, VB, etc.) for the extra power
these languages provide.  I expect there will be folks
who disagree with me, but I think the POV language
is best suited to scene description, not complex math
for animations.  You have proven that it works, but it
still seems like a strange match to me.

That said I would separate the generation from the
rendering by using two completely different systems
and leave your ini file set up for rendering only.

Not helpful, but opinionated :-)    Keep 'em coming!

Greg M. Johnson <"gregj;-)56590"@aol.c;-)om> wrote in message
news:37beb57a@news.povray.org...
> I know how to animate using the POVRAY.INI file.  The problem is that I
> have one file that I want to ONLY RUN ONCE!!!!! as it generates my INC
> of positions for my animation.  Then I have a file that I want to run
> several times as it ticks through the frames.
>
> Twice this morning, I have forgotten to edit my POVRAY.INI file back to
> make pov only run more than one frame.  Thus, after a long computation,
> it rewrites the whole thing over from scratch!
>
> Q: Is there someway within the file to set up the number of frames?  Do
> I have to edit POVRAY.INI each time?
>
> The docs again on this issue seem to be preaching to the coders.  >:-p
> I see  phrases that I'm used to editing in my POVRAY.INI file, but no
> indication of where to type or use the phrases.
>

Post a reply to this message

I'm only fluent in Pov.  Barely conversant in Java. In high school and
college, was exposed to Basic and FORTRAN.
What's C? (only half in jest!)

That's the boat I am in. Okay, perhaps I'll try to set this up in Java, but I
kind of lost all respect for and got disgusted with the anal retentiveness of
its inventor and set my Java books aside.........

Spock wrote:

> I really like the whole flocking thing you are doing so
> (of course) I grabbed the source when you posted it.
>
> I was surprised to see how you were using POV as a
> generic programming language to generate frames.  I
> might have chosen one of the more conventional ways
> to do this (C, C++, Java, VB, etc.) for the extra power
> these languages provide.  I expect there will be folks
> who disagree with me, but I think the POV language
> is best suited to scene description, not complex math
> for animations.  You have proven that it works, but it
> still seems like a strange match to me.
>
> That said I would separate the generation from the
> rendering by using two completely different systems
> and leave your ini file set up for rendering only.
>
> Not helpful, but opinionated :-)    Keep 'em coming!
>
> Greg M. Johnson <"gregj;-)56590"@aol.c;-)om> wrote in message
> news:37beb57a@news.povray.org...
> > I know how to animate using the POVRAY.INI file.  The problem is that I
> > have one file that I want to ONLY RUN ONCE!!!!! as it generates my INC
> > of positions for my animation.  Then I have a file that I want to run
> > several times as it ticks through the frames.
> >
> > Twice this morning, I have forgotten to edit my POVRAY.INI file back to
> > make pov only run more than one frame.  Thus, after a long computation,
> > it rewrites the whole thing over from scratch!
> >
> > Q: Is there someway within the file to set up the number of frames?  Do
> > I have to edit POVRAY.INI each time?
> >
> > The docs again on this issue seem to be preaching to the coders.  >:-p
> > I see  phrases that I'm used to editing in my POVRAY.INI file, but no
> > indication of where to type or use the phrases.
> >

Post a reply to this message

Could you use the clock value in a test to determine if this is the
first run and as such is now time to save those values?

"Greg M. Johnson" wrote:

> I'm only fluent in Pov.  Barely conversant in Java. In high school and
> college, was exposed to Basic and FORTRAN.
> What's C? (only half in jest!)
>
> That's the boat I am in. Okay, perhaps I'll try to set this up in Java, but I
> kind of lost all respect for and got disgusted with the anal retentiveness of
> its inventor and set my Java books aside.........
>
> Spock wrote:
>
> > I really like the whole flocking thing you are doing so
> > (of course) I grabbed the source when you posted it.
> >
> > I was surprised to see how you were using POV as a
> > generic programming language to generate frames.  I
> > might have chosen one of the more conventional ways
> > to do this (C, C++, Java, VB, etc.) for the extra power
> > these languages provide.  I expect there will be folks
> > who disagree with me, but I think the POV language
> > is best suited to scene description, not complex math
> > for animations.  You have proven that it works, but it
> > still seems like a strange match to me.
> >
> > That said I would separate the generation from the
> > rendering by using two completely different systems
> > and leave your ini file set up for rendering only.
> >
> > Not helpful, but opinionated :-)    Keep 'em coming!
> >
> > Greg M. Johnson <"gregj;-)56590"@aol.c;-)om> wrote in message
> > news:37beb57a@news.povray.org...
> > > I know how to animate using the POVRAY.INI file.  The problem is that I
> > > have one file that I want to ONLY RUN ONCE!!!!! as it generates my INC
> > > of positions for my animation.  Then I have a file that I want to run
> > > several times as it ticks through the frames.
> > >
> > > Twice this morning, I have forgotten to edit my POVRAY.INI file back to
> > > make pov only run more than one frame.  Thus, after a long computation,
> > > it rewrites the whole thing over from scratch!
> > >
> > > Q: Is there someway within the file to set up the number of frames?  Do
> > > I have to edit POVRAY.INI each time?
> > >
> > > The docs again on this issue seem to be preaching to the coders.  >:-p
> > > I see  phrases that I'm used to editing in my POVRAY.INI file, but no
> > > indication of where to type or use the phrases.
> > >

Post a reply to this message

Batch file is the only method that comes to mind for me, to set the
povray.ini to the one you need. This is no good though since it
requires a change yourself as well anyway. The lack of INI keywords in
POV or INC files (or other way around) is a well known limitation, for
those that know about it already. Writing out to a povray.ini from the
POV file, no, this wouldn't go right from within a scene parsing.
There's my "no help", except I would think just selecting a secondary
INI manually having all the overriding choices in each would be okay
for those not absent-minded (like me... unlike me...whatever).

Bob

> Spock said:
>  I would separate the generation from the
> rendering by using two completely different systems
> and leave your ini file set up for rendering only.
>
> Greg M. Johnson <"gregj;-)56590"@aol.c;-)om> wrote in message
> news:37beb57a@news.povray.org...
> > I know how to animate using the POVRAY.INI file.  The problem is
that I
> > have one file that I want to ONLY RUN ONCE!!!!! as it generates my
INC
> > of positions for my animation.  Then I have a file that I want to
run
> > several times as it ticks through the frames.
> >
> > Twice this morning, I have forgotten to edit my POVRAY.INI file
back to
> > make pov only run more than one frame.  Thus, after a long
computation,
> > it rewrites the whole thing over from scratch!
> >
> > Q: Is there someway within the file to set up the number of
frames?  Do
> > I have to edit POVRAY.INI each time?
> >
> > The docs again on this issue seem to be preaching to the coders.
>:-p
> > I see  phrases that I'm used to editing in my POVRAY.INI file, but
no
> > indication of where to type or use the phrases.
> >
>
>

Post a reply to this message

Huh! I was sure that I was using a sort of cave-man's approach, something
a bit obtuse and unnecessary, by altering POVRAY.INI each time.  I thought
I saw an example years ago where someone was creating a separate INI file
for each animation, and so thought I was not using the standard practice.

Is this "secondary INI file" algorithm in the docs?  I suspect not?

Bob Hughes wrote:

> Batch file is the only method that comes to mind for me, to set the
> povray.ini to the one you need. This is no good though since it
> requires a change yourself as well anyway. The lack of INI keywords in
> POV or INC files (or other way around) is a well known limitation, for
> those that know about it already. Writing out to a povray.ini from the
> POV file, no, this wouldn't go right from within a scene parsing.
> There's my "no help", except I would think just selecting a secondary
> INI manually having all the overriding choices in each would be okay
> for those not absent-minded (like me... unlike me...whatever).
>
> Bob
>
> > Spock said:
> >  I would separate the generation from the
> > rendering by using two completely different systems
> > and leave your ini file set up for rendering only.
> >
> > Greg M. Johnson <"gregj;-)56590"@aol.c;-)om> wrote in message
> > news:37beb57a@news.povray.org...
> > > I know how to animate using the POVRAY.INI file.  The problem is
> that I
> > > have one file that I want to ONLY RUN ONCE!!!!! as it generates my
> INC
> > > of positions for my animation.  Then I have a file that I want to
> run
> > > several times as it ticks through the frames.
> > >
> > > Twice this morning, I have forgotten to edit my POVRAY.INI file
> back to
> > > make pov only run more than one frame.  Thus, after a long
> computation,
> > > it rewrites the whole thing over from scratch!
> > >
> > > Q: Is there someway within the file to set up the number of
> frames?  Do
> > > I have to edit POVRAY.INI each time?
> > >
> > > The docs again on this issue seem to be preaching to the coders.
> >:-p
> > > I see  phrases that I'm used to editing in my POVRAY.INI file, but
> no
> > > indication of where to type or use the phrases.
> > >
> >
> >

Post a reply to this message

Not sure if we are all talking about the same thing here,
but I normally have a separate ini file for each animation
(of course they all look similar but not the same) and I
just run the ini file instead of the pov file to produce the
animation.  If I had a setup stage I would create a new
ini file with different information and run that instead.

Here is the ini file from my latest bubble animation which
I call (not too surprisingly) "Bubbles11.ini":

    Antialias=on
    ;Quality=0
    Input_File_Name=Bubbles11.pov
    Initial_Frame=1
    Final_Frame=120
    Initial_Clock=0
    Final_Clock=1
    Width=1152
    Height=864
    ;Subset_Start_Frame=16
    ;Subset_End_Frame=120
    Cyclic_Animation=on
    Pause_when_Done=off

I would still like to play with your flocking algorithm
to see what variations on a theme I can come up with
but I will likely re-write it in Java (mostly by way of
learning what it does :-)

Greg M. Johnson <"gregj;-)56590"@aol.c;-)om> wrote in message
news:37bee886@news.povray.org...
> Huh! I was sure that I was using a sort of cave-man's approach, something
> a bit obtuse and unnecessary, by altering POVRAY.INI each time.  I thought
> I saw an example years ago where someone was creating a separate INI file
> for each animation, and so thought I was not using the standard practice.
>
> Is this "secondary INI file" algorithm in the docs?  I suspect not?
>
> Bob Hughes wrote:
>
> > Batch file is the only method that comes to mind for me, to set the
> > povray.ini to the one you need. This is no good though since it
> > requires a change yourself as well anyway. The lack of INI keywords in
> > POV or INC files (or other way around) is a well known limitation, for
> > those that know about it already. Writing out to a povray.ini from the
> > POV file, no, this wouldn't go right from within a scene parsing.
> > There's my "no help", except I would think just selecting a secondary
> > INI manually having all the overriding choices in each would be okay
> > for those not absent-minded (like me... unlike me...whatever).
> >
> > Bob
> >
> > > Spock said:
> > >  I would separate the generation from the
> > > rendering by using two completely different systems
> > > and leave your ini file set up for rendering only.
> > >
> > > Greg M. Johnson <"gregj;-)56590"@aol.c;-)om> wrote in message
> > > news:37beb57a@news.povray.org...
> > > > I know how to animate using the POVRAY.INI file.  The problem is
> > that I
> > > > have one file that I want to ONLY RUN ONCE!!!!! as it generates my
> > INC
> > > > of positions for my animation.  Then I have a file that I want to
> > run
> > > > several times as it ticks through the frames.
> > > >
> > > > Twice this morning, I have forgotten to edit my POVRAY.INI file
> > back to
> > > > make pov only run more than one frame.  Thus, after a long
> > computation,
> > > > it rewrites the whole thing over from scratch!
> > > >
> > > > Q: Is there someway within the file to set up the number of
> > frames?  Do
> > > > I have to edit POVRAY.INI each time?
> > > >
> > > > The docs again on this issue seem to be preaching to the coders.
> > >:-p
> > > > I see  phrases that I'm used to editing in my POVRAY.INI file, but
> > no
> > > > indication of where to type or use the phrases.
> > > >
> > >
> > >
>

Post a reply to this message

Greg M. Johnson wrote:
> 

I don't know if this answers your question or helps you with your problem but
first of all: I never edit the povray.ini-file, I make inifiles for each
seperate animation. Then if you want to do the basic calculation only once, in
the first frame just put in an #if-statement (#if (clock=0)....#end).

Hope this helps,

Remco

Post a reply to this message

Time to eat my words (yum).  I rewrote your flocking
algorithm in Java and it was tough.  Simple little things
like subtracting two vectors or normalizing a vector
are not supported in the language (like they are in POV)
so you have to write them yourself.

Not only that but you lose access to some of the great
utility inc files like Colefax's clock mod or splines.

I guess my respect for the POV language has gone up a
notch or two.  Just had to try the alternative to be sure.

Spock <spo### [at] homecom> wrote in message news:37bec13f@news.povray.org...
> I really like the whole flocking thing you are doing so
> (of course) I grabbed the source when you posted it.
>
> I was surprised to see how you were using POV as a
> generic programming language to generate frames.  I
> might have chosen one of the more conventional ways
> to do this (C, C++, Java, VB, etc.) for the extra power
> these languages provide.  I expect there will be folks
> who disagree with me, but I think the POV language
> is best suited to scene description, not complex math
> for animations.  You have proven that it works, but it
> still seems like a strange match to me.

Post a reply to this message

SO, are YOU going to post YOUR code?  I'm especially interested in the .java
so I can make my own future modifications!

Spock wrote:

> Time to eat my words (yum).  I rewrote your flocking
> algorithm in Java and it was tough.  Simple little things
> like subtracting two vectors or normalizing a vector
> are not supported in the language (like they are in POV)
> so you have to write them yourself.
>
> Not only that but you lose access to some of the great
> utility inc files like Colefax's clock mod or splines.
>
> I guess my respect for the POV language has gone up a
> notch or two.  Just had to try the alternative to be sure.
>
> Spock <spo### [at] homecom> wrote in message news:37bec13f@news.povray.org...
> > I really like the whole flocking thing you are doing so
> > (of course) I grabbed the source when you posted it.
> >
> > I was surprised to see how you were using POV as a
> > generic programming language to generate frames.  I
> > might have chosen one of the more conventional ways
> > to do this (C, C++, Java, VB, etc.) for the extra power
> > these languages provide.  I expect there will be folks
> > who disagree with me, but I think the POV language
> > is best suited to scene description, not complex math
> > for animations.  You have proven that it works, but it
> > still seems like a strange match to me.

Post a reply to this message