Hi!

I'm kinda new to POVRay but I've been working on some objects for a while.
I was planning to use kpovmodeler, but now
that I'm going to make the actual scene, I just can't import the objects!
When I try importing a .pov file, i get a lot of problems, including
"unexpected token 'include'" and when I try to add the .inc file, i get a
"Undefined identifier "mesh2"" warning.
Can I modify the files so that kpovmodeler accepts it (I can render the
objects with povray, the problem is with kpov, not the files)??? Or maybe I
should use another tool/GUI?

Thanks!

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Cesar <ces### [at] terracombr> wrote:
> Can I modify the files so that kpovmodeler accepts it (I can render the
> objects with povray, the problem is with kpov, not the files)??? Or maybe I
> should use another tool/GUI?

  There exists no program which can completely read and interpret
POV-Ray files correctly (besides POV-Ray itself, of course).
  I don't know what kind of importer kpovmodeler has, but I'm quite
sure it probably can import only extremely basic scenes (and probably
from very early versions of POV-Ray only).

  If you wonder why this is so, some reasons are explained here:
http://tag.povray.org/povQandT/filesQandT.html#povtootherformatsdifficulty

-- 
#macro N(D)#if(D>99)cylinder{M()#local D=div(D,104);M().5,2pigment{rgb M()}}
N(D)#end#end#macro M()<mod(D,13)-6mod(div(D,13)8)-3,10>#end blob{
N(11117333955)N(4254934330)N(3900569407)N(7382340)N(3358)N(970)}//  - Warp -

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Thanks for answering! This is interesting. Anyway, what scene production
"pipeline" would you suggest? For example: create or conver to .foo files
and use FOOModeler to compose your scene and export to POVRay.

You think I should give up on GUIs and type the scene using a text editor? I
think it's a lot harder (for example, how do I know one weird object is
touching the other if I can't see it. It sounds a lot harder...) But if
it's the best way...

>   There exists no program which can completely read and interpret
> POV-Ray files correctly (besides POV-Ray itself, of course).
>   I don't know what kind of importer kpovmodeler has, but I'm quite
> sure it probably can import only extremely basic scenes (and probably
> from very early versions of POV-Ray only).
>
>   If you wonder why this is so, some reasons are explained here:
> http://tag.povray.org/povQandT/filesQandT.html#povtootherformatsdifficulty

Post a reply to this message

Cesar wrote:
> Thanks for answering! This is interesting. Anyway, what scene production
> "pipeline" would you suggest? For example: create or conver to .foo files
> and use FOOModeler to compose your scene and export to POVRay.

Moray is the only modeller to have attracted loyal proponents and over a 
long period.

> 
> You think I should give up on GUIs and type the scene using a text editor? I
> think it's a lot harder (for example, how do I know one weird object is
> touching the other if I can't see it. It sounds a lot harder...) But if
> it's the best way...
> 

It is entirely personal and relative to the subject being modeled.  The 
placement problem for irregular shapes is certainly one solved more 
easily with GUI modelers.  Scripters on the other hand like the ability 
to specify the exact dimensions of shapes and devise geometric means to 
predict their contact points if at all possible.  The beauty of 
scripting is that it is theoritically possible to conpletely plan and 
encode a scene and have it render perfectly the first time! 
...theoretically.

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But there must be people rendering directly in povray and modeling with some
other software, exporting the scene or something. I was just wondering what
would that software be.

Anyway, I think I'll give scripting a try. Where can I find a full
specification of the POVRay programming language?


Jim Charter <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote:
> Cesar wrote:
> > Thanks for answering! This is interesting. Anyway, what scene production
> > "pipeline" would you suggest? For example: create or conver to .foo files
> > and use FOOModeler to compose your scene and export to POVRay.
>
> Moray is the only modeller to have attracted loyal proponents and over a
> long period.
>
> >
> > You think I should give up on GUIs and type the scene using a text editor? I
> > think it's a lot harder (for example, how do I know one weird object is
> > touching the other if I can't see it. It sounds a lot harder...) But if
> > it's the best way...
> >
>
> It is entirely personal and relative to the subject being modeled.  The
> placement problem for irregular shapes is certainly one solved more
> easily with GUI modelers.  Scripters on the other hand like the ability
> to specify the exact dimensions of shapes and devise geometric means to
> predict their contact points if at all possible.  The beauty of
> scripting is that it is theoritically possible to conpletely plan and
> encode a scene and have it render perfectly the first time!
> ...theoretically.

Post a reply to this message

"Cesar" <ces### [at] terracombr> wrote in message
news:web.420ca592a03e141b3f9b269f0@news.povray.org...
> But there must be people rendering directly in povray and modeling with
some
> other software, exporting the scene or something. I was just wondering
what
> would that software be.

Moray allows you to use a GUI to generate povray sdl directly, other
programs (e.g. poser) allow you to export models to an interim format that
can then be converted to, generally, a mesh2 file.

Moray, afaik, is the only program that allows you to model and then render
in povray w/o any interim conversion steps...

> Anyway, I think I'll give scripting a try. Where can I find a full
> specification of the POVRay programming language?

The documentation provided with povray has a complete specification for the
SDL, as well as tutorial and advanced help sections.

Post a reply to this message

Cesar wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> I'm kinda new to POVRay but I've been working on some objects for a while.
> I was planning to use kpovmodeler, but now
> that I'm going to make the actual scene, I just can't import the objects!
> When I try importing a .pov file, i get a lot of problems, including
> "unexpected token 'include'" and when I try to add the .inc file, i get a
> "Undefined identifier "mesh2"" warning.
> Can I modify the files so that kpovmodeler accepts it (I can render the
> objects with povray, the problem is with kpov, not the files)??? Or maybe I
> should use another tool/GUI?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
Cesar,

I'm still very new to POV as well and I've been searching around for something 
that will do what you are talking about.  I've loved Moray because of it's 
compatibility and one stop shopping for both object and texture editing.  Sadly 
I spend my available cash on other things and don't like using a program I love 
but can't afford to register.  When I finally decide to save my pennies, Moray 
will be modeler of choice.

That said, I've had great success using Art of Illusion java modeler to create 
objects.  The interface is a little bare bones, but relatively intuitive for 
creating objects.  It outputs mesh files for POV just fine, but I've found that 
the texture editor isn't quite useful.  I like to create the objects assign a 
basic texture and then hand code a better texture in the SDL.  In fact I like 
the combination of GUI roughing and then hand tweaking.  That allows me to 
create scenes easily enough to not get frustrated but also allows me to learn a 
little bit about what things do.

Good Luck,
Tony

PS... you can find AOI at www.artofillusion.org.

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