Would someone mind commenting on this? I want to be accurate as I
can for the ranges of POV commands. 

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>POV command reference</title>
<meta name="keywords" content="">
<body>
<h3 align=center>POV texture command reference</h3>

<br clear=left>
<br clear=left>
<br clear=left>
<br clear=left>

A practical minimum (or practical maximum), as used here, means,
if the user exceeded this limit, the differences in the
appearance of the image would be negligible. 
<p><u>Data types</u>
<p>Data types can be: 
<ul>
<li>choice: parameter is limited to 2 or more choices. Choices
can be a numeric or a letter. All choices are listed in the
"practical min" column.
<li>color: a color in one of the following formats:
"rgbft<a,b,c,d,e>"; "color Red"; "NamedColor".
<li>float: a decimal number
<li>integer: a number without a decimal
<li>vector: in the format: <a, b, c> or just a. Each number is a
float. If the format is "a", that is equivalent to <a, a,
a>.
</ul>

<p>+ = almost infinity
<p>
<table border=1>
<tr><th>command <th>data type<th>practical min <th>practical
max<th> Notes
<tr><td><b>PIGMENTS</b><td><td><td>
<tr><td>color map amount<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>rgbtf<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0

<tr><td><b>PATTERNS</b><td><td><td>
<tr><td>agate_turb<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>bump_size<td>float<td>0.0<td>5.0
<tr><td>interpolate<td>choice<td>2,4<td>
<tr><td>mandel iterations<td>float<td>0.0<td>+
<tr><td>pattern amount<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>quilt control0 and control1<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>spiral1, spiral2<td>integer<td>1<td>+
<tr><td>turbulence<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0

<tr><td><td><td><td>
<tr><td><td><td><td>

<tr><td><b>FINISH</b><td><td><td>
<tr><td>ambient<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>brilliance<td>float<td>1.0<td>10.0
<tr><td>diffuse<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>irid<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>irid thickness<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>irid turbulence<td>vector<td>0.0<td>10.0
<tr><td>metallic<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0?
<tr><td>phong<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>phong_size<td>float<td>1.0<td>250.0
<tr><td>reflection<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>reflection_exponent<td>float<td>0.0<td>5.0<td>Requires
reflection_amount.
<tr><td>roughness<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0 <td>Requires specular.
<tr><td>specular<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0

<tr><td><td><td><td>
<tr><td><td><td><td>


<tr><td><b>GENERAL</b><td colspan=3>Commands used in multiple
places.<td><td>
<tr><td>blackhole falloff <td>float<td>0.0<td>100.0
<tr><td>blackhole radius<td>float<td>0.0<td>+
<tr><td>blackhole strength<td>float<td>0.0<td>+
<tr><td>frequency<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>lambda<td>float<td>1.0<td>100.0
<tr><td>octaves<td>integer<td>1<td>10
<tr><td>omega<td>float<td>0.0<td>10.0
<tr><td>phase<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>rotate<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>scale<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>translate<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0

<tr><td><td><td><td>
<tr><td><td><td><td>
<tr><td><td><td><td>

<tr><td><b>INTERIOR/MEDIA</b><td><td><td>
<tr><td>absorption<td>color<td><td>
<tr><td>caustics<td>float<td>0.0<td>10.0
<tr><td>confidence<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
<tr><td>eccentricity <td><td><td><td>Requires scatter type 5.
<tr><td>emission<td>color<td><td>
<tr><td>extinction <td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0<td>Requires any
scatter type.
<tr><td>fade_distance<td>float<td>0.0<td>100.0
<tr><td>fade_power<td>float<td>1.0<td>10.0
<tr><td>intervals<td>integer<td>1<td>+
<tr><td>ior<td>float<td>0.0<td>10.0
<tr><td>ratio<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0<td>Ratio of lit to unlit
areas. .9 = 90% lit.
<tr><td>sample_min<td>integer<td>1<td>+
<tr><td>sample_max<td>integer<td>1<td>+
<tr><td>scatter_type <td>choice<td>1,2,3,5<td>
<tr><td>variance<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0<td>If the variance is
below this threshold, then no more sampling is needed.

<tr><td><td><td><td>
<tr><td><td><td><td>
<tr><td><td><td><td>
<tr><td><td><td><td>


</table>
</body>
</html>

-- 
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Chuck Roberts <cro### [at] alleganisdorg> wrote:
: <li>color: a color in one of the following formats:
: "rgbft<a,b,c,d,e>"; "color Red"; "NamedColor".

  A color can also be "rgb <a,b,c>", "rgbf <a,b,c,d>" or "rgbt <a,b,c,d>".

  You should use < and >

: <li>float: a decimal number

  It can also be: A float in the format: <base>e<exponent>, eg. -1.23e-10,
a float identifier and the return value of a float function.

: <li>vector: in the format: <a, b, c> or just a. Each number is a
: float. If the format is "a", that is equivalent to <a, a,
: a>.

  A vector can also be two, four and five-dimensional.

: <tr><td>rgbtf<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0

  A color component can be larger than 1 and smaller than 0 and still have
a desired and considerable effect in the scene.

: <tr><td>turbulence<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0

  There's no reason why one should limit the turbulence value to 0-1. Negative
values and values larger than 1 can have a desired effect.

: <tr><td>ambient<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0

  Setting the ambient and similar values larger than 1 can have a considerable
effect with things like fog, media, radiosity, etc.

  Some values (such as 100.0) seem quite arbitrarily chosen. Where did you
get those values?

-- 
main(i,_){for(_?--i,main(i+2,"FhhQHFIJD|FQTITFN]zRFHhhTBFHhhTBFysdB"[i]
):_;i&&_>1;printf("%s",_-70?_&1?"[]":" ":(_=0,"\n")),_/=2);} /*- Warp -*/

Post a reply to this message

Chuck Roberts wrote:
> 
> Would someone mind commenting on this? I want to be accurate as I
> can for the ranges of POV commands.
> 

In most cases, the "practical max" does not make any sense (for example
fade_power, fade_distance, rgb(ft)).  Furthermore sometimes even negative values
make sense.  

For things like rotate/translate you should simply write "any value", for scale
0.0 is not allowed.

Anyway it could probably be a quite useful collection for the beginner.  

Christoph

--
Christoph Hormann <chr### [at] gmxde>
Homepage: http://www.schunter.etc.tu-bs.de/~chris/

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Thank you for your valuable comments.

Warp wrote:
> 
> Chuck Roberts <cro### [at] alleganisdorg> wrote:
> : <li>float: a decimal number
> 
>   It can also be: A float in the format: <base>e<exponent>, eg. -1.23e-10,
> a float identifier and the return value of a float function.

What is the float function and how is it used? An example would
be nice. 

> 
> : <li>vector: in the format: <a, b, c> or just a. Each number is a
> : float. If the format is "a", that is equivalent to <a, a,
> : a>.
> 
>   A vector can also be two, four and five-dimensional.

Under what conditions or POV statements would it be 4 or 5
dimensional? (Besides a color with the f and/or t parameters.)

> 
> : <tr><td>rgbtf<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0
> 
>   A color component can be larger than 1 and smaller than 0 and still have
> a desired and considerable effect in the scene.

Thanks. I didn't know that. 

> 
> : <tr><td>turbulence<td>vector<td>0.0<td>1.0
> 
>   There's no reason why one should limit the turbulence value to 0-1. Negative
> values and values larger than 1 can have a desired effect.

Thanks again. 

> 
> : <tr><td>ambient<td>float<td>0.0<td>1.0
> 
>   Setting the ambient and similar values larger than 1 can have a considerable
> effect with things like fog, media, radiosity, etc.
> 
>   Some values (such as 100.0) seem quite arbitrarily chosen. Where did you
> get those values?

They were arbitrary. I can remove the upper limits on some of
those commands.


-- 
See my Free stuff page. It compares free website providers, and
lists free internet access providers.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~robertsc/free.htm

Win98 help file loaded with hints and tips, including securing a
Win 95/98 PC in a classroom setting. VB4 help file with lots of
code and hints. 
At http://www.crosswinds.net/~robertsc/

Post a reply to this message

Chuck Roberts <cro### [at] alleganisdorg> wrote:
: What is the float function and how is it used? An example would
: be nice. 

  It's not THE float function, it's A float function.

  It's any function returning a float value. For example: sin(), cos(),
strlen(), etc.

: Under what conditions or POV statements would it be 4 or 5
: dimensional? (Besides a color with the f and/or t parameters.)

  With the colors at least. I don't remember if there's any other place where
the 4th and 5th components have a meaning.

:>   A color component can be larger than 1 and smaller than 0 and still have
:> a desired and considerable effect in the scene.

: Thanks. I didn't know that. 

  For example, if you set the color of a light source larger than 1, it will
be brighter. It may also have some effect on things like fog, media, etc.

-- 
main(i,_){for(_?--i,main(i+2,"FhhQHFIJD|FQTITFN]zRFHhhTBFHhhTBFysdB"[i]
):_;i&&_>1;printf("%s",_-70?_&1?"[]":" ":(_=0,"\n")),_/=2);} /*- Warp -*/

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"Chuck Roberts" <cro### [at] alleganisdorg> wrote in message
news:39C22E9E.5D30624D@alleganisd.org...

<snip>

It might, in some cases, be worth distinguishing between usable values (for
example colour components greater than 1 or less than 0) and "normal" values
(0-1 in the case of colour comps.).

A new user being told that the range for a colour component is - infinity to
+ infinity is being somewhat led astray.

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You sound like you really know POV. I would be glad if you could
test my material editor for Win 9x when the next beta comes out
(Beta 4). It's at http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/ute/


Chuck


-- 
See my Free stuff page. It compares free website providers, and
lists free internet access providers.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~robertsc/free.htm

Win98 help file loaded with hints and tips, including securing a
Win 95/98 PC in a classroom setting. VB4 help file with lots of
code and hints. 
At http://www.crosswinds.net/~robertsc/

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:
> 
>   With the colors at least. I don't remember if there's any other place where
> the 4th and 5th components have a meaning.
> 

julia_fractal and function parameters in megapov for example.

Christoph

--
Christoph Hormann <chr### [at] gmxde>
Homepage: http://www.schunter.etc.tu-bs.de/~chris/

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Warp wrote:

> Chuck Roberts <cro### [at] alleganisdorg> wrote:
> : <li>color: a color in one of the following formats:
> : "rgbft<a,b,c,d,e>"; "color Red"; "NamedColor".
>
>   A color can also be "rgb <a,b,c>", "rgbf <a,b,c,d>" or "rgbt <a,b,c,d>".
>
>   You should use < and >

Actually you should use < and > because not all the browsers understand
the names, but they all understand the code. (OK, IE and NS understand them, but
there are lots of other browsers out there.)

--
Josh English -- Lexiphanic Lethomaniac
eng### [at] spiritonecom
The POV-Ray Cyclopedia http://www.spiritone.com/~english/cyclopedia/

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Josh English <eng### [at] spiritonecom> wrote:
: Actually you should use < and > because not all the browsers understand
: the names, but they all understand the code.

  Aren't < and > part of the HTML standard? Why should we restrict
ourselves to some browsers which do not support the standard?
  As long as we make strictly standardized HTML, there's no problem. If a
browser doesn't support the standard, it's the headache of the browser,
not the maker of the page.
  And does the HTML standard say that < means '<' (the browser might
not be using the unicode charset)?

-- 
main(i,_){for(_?--i,main(i+2,"FhhQHFIJD|FQTITFN]zRFHhhTBFHhhTBFysdB"[i]
):_;i&&_>1;printf("%s",_-70?_&1?"[]":" ":(_=0,"\n")),_/=2);} /*- Warp -*/

Post a reply to this message

I used < and > in my pages, and someone sent me an email, I beleive, saying
that it was a bad idea. I can't find an email to that effect, so I might have read
that else where. My copy of the HTML4 bible doesn't say that one method is prefered
of the other, and states that you can use the character notation, decimal, or hex to
include the codes.

I wish I could remember where I heard that. That might also have been held over from
HTML 3 or 3.2, which is what I tend to use still, since CSS doesn't work as well as
it's advertised yet.

Josh

Warp wrote:

> Josh English <eng### [at] spiritonecom> wrote:
> : Actually you should use < and > because not all the browsers understand
> : the names, but they all understand the code.
>
>   Aren't < and > part of the HTML standard? Why should we restrict
> ourselves to some browsers which do not support the standard?
>   As long as we make strictly standardized HTML, there's no problem. If a
> browser doesn't support the standard, it's the headache of the browser,
> not the maker of the page.
>   And does the HTML standard say that < means '<' (the browser might
> not be using the unicode charset)?
>
> --
> main(i,_){for(_?--i,main(i+2,"FhhQHFIJD|FQTITFN]zRFHhhTBFHhhTBFysdB"[i]
> ):_;i&&_>1;printf("%s",_-70?_&1?"[]":" ":(_=0,"\n")),_/=2);} /*- Warp -*/

--
Josh English -- Lexiphanic Lethomaniac
eng### [at] spiritonecom
The POV-Ray Cyclopedia http://www.spiritone.com/~english/cyclopedia/

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In article <39C24D2F.23F214EA@spiritone.com> , Josh English 
<eng### [at] spiritonecom>  wrote:

> I wish I could remember where I heard that. That might also have been held
> over from HTML 3 or 3.2, which is what I tend to use still, since CSS doesn't
> work as well as it's advertised yet.

No, the > and < tags have been part of HTML since day one.  They are
listed in RFC 1866 (HTML 2.0 Spec) as well as the first HTML (dated 1992).

So, whatever browser does not support them is surely not a browser designed
for HTML :-)


       Thorsten


Reference:
<http://www.w3.org/History/19921103-hypertext/hypertext/
WWW/MarkUp/MarkUp.html>

____________________________________________________
Thorsten Froehlich, Duisburg, Germany
e-mail: tho### [at] trfde

Visit POV-Ray on the web: http://mac.povray.org

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In article <39c230d5@news.povray.org>, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> 
wrote:

>   With the colors at least. I don't remember if there's any other place 
> where the 4th and 5th components have a meaning.

The julia fractal and in macros. Maybe some other places. MegaPOV uses 
the vector syntax to pass parameters to built-in functions, but that 
syntax won't make it into 3.5.


>   For example, if you set the color of a light source larger than 1, it 
> will be brighter. It may also have some effect on things like fog, media, etc.

And if you make a light source with a negative color, it will make an 
"anti-light" source which darkens anything visible from the light source.
Fog isn't affected by light sources, but media would be.

-- 
Christopher James Huff
Personal: chr### [at] maccom, http://homepage.mac.com/chrishuff/
TAG: chr### [at] tagpovrayorg, http://tag.povray.org/

<><

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Chris Huff <chr### [at] maccom> wrote:
:>   For example, if you set the color of a light source larger than 1, it 
:> will be brighter. It may also have some effect on things like fog, media, etc.

: Fog isn't affected by light sources, but media would be.

  I meant that a color component larger than 1 may have some effect in
fog, media (as the color of the fog/media), etc.

-- 
main(i,_){for(_?--i,main(i+2,"FhhQHFIJD|FQTITFN]zRFHhhTBFHhhTBFysdB"[i]
):_;i&&_>1;printf("%s",_-70?_&1?"[]":" ":(_=0,"\n")),_/=2);} /*- Warp -*/

Post a reply to this message

Josh English wrote:

> I used < and > in my pages, and someone sent me an email, I beleive, saying
> that it was a bad idea. I can't find an email to that effect, so I might have read
> that else where. My copy of the HTML4 bible doesn't say that one method is prefered
> of the other, and states that you can use the character notation, decimal, or hex to
> include the codes.
>
> I wish I could remember where I heard that. That might also have been held over from
> HTML 3 or 3.2, which is what I tend to use still, since CSS doesn't work as well as
> it's advertised yet.

Not from 3 or 3.2

Perhaps from 1.0 or 2.0 browsers. But that's been loooooooooong ago. Besides, < and
> are two of the main ones that were needed.

Post a reply to this message

On 15 Sep 2000 10:46:49 -0400, Warp wrote:
>Josh English <eng### [at] spiritonecom> wrote:
>: Actually you should use < and > because not all the browsers
>: understand the names, but they all understand the code.
>
>  Aren't < and > part of the HTML standard?

Yes.

>  And does the HTML standard say that < means '<'

Yes.

> (the browser might not be using the unicode charset)?

Then it is not standard compliant. The numerical entities alwas refer to
the unicode charset (And yes, I know that Netscape does it wrong).

	hp

-- 
   _  | Peter J. Holzer    | access ist als datenbankserver fraglos noch
|_|_) | Sysadmin WSR       | ungeeigneter als beispielsweise EDIT.COM,
| |   | hjp### [at] wsracat      | und das primaer aufgrund der erzeugung
__/   | http://www.hjp.at/ | falscher erwartungshaltungen. frank paulsen

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I have posted to povray.binaries.utilities an html document.  I guessed
that that was the place to put a file attachment, one of the binaries
anyway.  Too bad I don't have a web site.  Let me know if I broke the rules.

It might be useful.  If not, well, I will just use it myself.  ;-P

rc

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Robert Chaffe wrote:
> 
> I have posted to povray.binaries.utilities an html document.  I guessed
> that that was the place to put a file attachment, one of the binaries
> anyway.  Too bad I don't have a web site.  Let me know if I broke the rules.

You broke no rules. I think your choice of groups was spot on. The
reference you posted is great and I am sure that many who download
it will bennefit from your obvious hard work.

Thank you,

-- 
Ken Tyler

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