I know that you can make 3D animated models with POV-Ray, and save them to
disk (as a targa, then use DTA on them).  What I want to know is how can I
then load those animated models into my C or C++ program and animate them
as needed?  Can these also be viewed with different camera angles within
the program (like Quake's enemies as they appear to the player)?
Basically I want to make an animated character just like in a 2D game,
where all the frames of the 2D animation (bitmaps) are read into the
program, then blitted to the screen.  Only in 3D.  Is this possible with
POV-Ray or some other renderer/modeler?  Thanks for your time, guys.
-----------------------------------------------
Clint Allen
Amateur C/C++ programmer, computer fanatic
Tech Support Rep, Dell Computer Corp.
Backup address:  c_a### [at] hotmailcom
ICQ UIN:  8662422
Do your part to reduce net clog -- send PLAIN TEXT e-mail!

Post a reply to this message

POV-Ray is NOT a modelling program. You can not make models with POV but
rendered images. It is like a camera that takes photos. You tell POV-Ray
by a scripting languages what it shall "photograph" i.e. render.

Therefore the output is a 2-D image or a 2-D film. This output can be
used in a 3-D environment only as a texture. Of course you can create
characters in a 3-D game from bitmaps as is had been done in "Doom" or
"Duke Nukem 3D" if you remember these. In "Quake" the characters are
really 3-D, made from polygons. They are rendered in real time during
the game and therefore they can be seen from any angle not only from
eight pre-painted angles like in "Doom".

So you can pre-render characters and other stuff with POV-Ray which is
then included in the game as a bitmap like in Doom (perspective 3-D), or
in Diablo, Ultima 8: Pagan (isometric 3-D).

It is not possible to use POV for making real 3-D characters as they are

renderer not a modeller.

Roy

Post a reply to this message