"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] earthlinknet> wrote:

> It confused ME as well, when I first came across it.  Don't know why...
> something about "A being  -A".  Of course you're right. But it just "looks"
> odd at first glance (well, to a non-mathematician...)

Actually, let me rephrase my reply in more general terms, as this is a topic
I've given a fair amount of thought to...

IMHO, far too many parts of the POV docs read like sections from a dry
MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOK.  (Ugh!!!) I think this has a psychological "numbing"
effect on new users. (I count myself in that group!) It has been a  *LONG*
time since I attended high-school and university, and it has taken me
awhile to resurrect the required math knowledge in order to make real use
of POV. Though I'm glad I did, I don't believe this needs to be so; because
with a few well-turned phrases of non-mathematical English (or whatever
language you choose), POV's pure math-like descriptions of its functions
could be made far easier to understand, especially for the beginner.

I personally think that the POV SDL is one of the brightest lights in the
CGI universe...so MANY things can be done with it (especially with its
unofficial patched versions like MEGA-POV.)  But the preponderance of
"unadorned math" in the POV docs can certainly be offputting. I'll bet that
there are lots of potential POV "converts" out there who have decided that
learning to use POV is  just not worth the effort.  And that's unfortunate,
because they'll never realize what they're missing!

Ken

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