So I too wrote some code to take SVG paths

<path fill="#FFFFFF" stroke="#000000" d="M0.006,425.273c0,0,73.236,
0.886,99.318,0.886c1.832,0,0.336,7.079,1.885,7.079c3.344,0,7.095,
0,9.39,0c2.021,0,2.188-3.735,2.534-8.951c3.129-47.258,19.139-288.661,
24.509-362.653c0.089-1.222-2.8-2.541-3.9-3.077c-1.229-0.599,0.042
-10.216,1.104-10.432c1.796-0.365,3.896-1.994,3.991-3.327c1.675-23.507,
2.175-28.84,2.965-41.648c0.178-2.879-11.252-3.759-11.504-0.885c-6.73,
76.88-27.813,321.803-32.638,377.871c-0.637,7.399-8.103,10.412-10.99,
10.51c-28.866,0.979-86.664,1-86.664,1"/>

and output POV lathes

lathe {
bezier_spline
52,
<0,7.965>,<0,7.965>,<73.236,7.07901>,<99.318,7.07901>,
<99.318,7.07901>,<101.15,7.07901>,<99.654,0>,<101.203,0>,
<101.203,0>,<104.547,0>,<108.298,0>,<110.593,0>,
<110.593,0>,<112.614,0>,<112.781,3.73499>,<113.127,8.95099>,
<113.127,8.95099>,<116.256,56.209>,<132.266,297.612>,<137.636,371.604>,
<137.636,371.604>,<137.725,372.826>,<134.836,374.145>,<133.736,374.681>,
<133.736,374.681>,<132.507,375.28>,<133.778,384.897>,<134.84,385.113>,
<134.84,385.113>,<136.636,385.478>,<138.736,387.107>,<138.831,388.44>,
<138.831,388.44>,<140.506,411.947>,<141.006,417.28>,<141.796,430.088>,
<141.796,430.088>,<141.974,432.967>,<130.544,433.847>,<130.292,430.973>,
<130.292,430.973>,<123.562,354.093>,<102.479,109.17>,<97.654,53.102>,
<97.654,53.102>,<97.017,45.703>,<89.551,42.69>,<86.664,42.592>,
<86.664,42.592>,<57.798,41.613>,<0.0,41.592>,<0.0,41.592>
}

Which means I can design an outline in an vector drawing package like
Illustrator, and then render the resulting lathe in POV.

Attached are a couple of test images using this.

Cheers,
Edouard.

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Attachments:
Download 'lathe-1.jpg' (161 KB) Download 'glasses-wip.jpg' (114 KB)

Preview of image 'lathe-1.jpg'

Preview of image 'glasses-wip.jpg'

Edouard Poor <pov### [at] edouardinfo> wrote:
[snip]
> Which means I can design an outline in an vector drawing package like
> Illustrator, and then render the resulting lathe in POV.
>
> Attached are a couple of test images using this.

I like the first one especially - are the chips bumpmapped? Very convincing if
so.

Just in case you didn't know - Inkscape (an open-source vector editor) can
output POV-Ray splines directly. It defaults to prisms but it's a few seconds'
work to change them to lathes.

Bill

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Bill Pragnell wrote:
> Edouard Poor <pov### [at] edouardinfo> wrote:
> [snip]
>> Which means I can design an outline in an vector drawing package like
>> Illustrator, and then render the resulting lathe in POV.
>>
>> Attached are a couple of test images using this.
> 
> I like the first one especially - are the chips bumpmapped? Very convincing if
> so.

I was surprised that it looked good - I just put in a crackle just as a 
placeholder until I could come up with something nice, but it turned out 
looking really nice itself:

normal {
	crackle
	slope_map {
		[ 0.0	<1,0> ]
		[ 0.6	<1,0> ]
		[ 0.6	<1,-1> ]
		[ 1.0	<0,0> ]
	}
}

> Just in case you didn't know - Inkscape (an open-source vector editor) can
> output POV-Ray splines directly. It defaults to prisms but it's a few seconds'
> work to change them to lathes.

Ahh, no, I had no idea it could do that. Still I'm a Adobe Illustrator 
and Photoshop fan from way back, so I'm happy to stick with what I know 
for now (I've tried Inkscape in the past, but there wasn't a native UI 
Mac OS X version last time I looked). Thanks for the pointer though!

> Bill

Cheers,
Edouard.

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Edouard Poor <pov### [at] edouardinfo> wrote:
> I was surprised that it looked good - I just put in a crackle just as a
> placeholder until I could come up with something nice, but it turned out
> looking really nice itself:

I'll have to remember that one, cheers.

> > Just in case you didn't know - Inkscape (an open-source vector editor) can
> > output POV-Ray splines directly. It defaults to prisms but it's a few seconds'
> > work to change them to lathes.
> Ahh, no, I had no idea it could do that. Still I'm a Adobe Illustrator
> and Photoshop fan from way back, so I'm happy to stick with what I know

Fair enough. It takes some tweaking to get lathe cross-sections right no matter
what you use!

> (I've tried Inkscape in the past, but there wasn't a native UI
> Mac OS X version last time I looked). Thanks for the pointer though!

Nothing wrong with the X11 interface in my book, but if you prefer the native
interface with more powerful tools then I really can't fault you! :-)

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