I have been using Pov Ray now for a few weeks concentrating on learning
syntax.  I have seen its results and capabilities before however since i
have played about with 3d art for several years now.  I am simply amazed at
some of the photorealistic results using hdri and radiosity can offer.

At current however i am trying to render a scene with a transparent
background.  I am using the +UA command line switch and "no_image" for
anything like a plane or background.  Now my render in Pov is an image say
with my oject perfectly rendered with a trans. bg.  However when i go to
open the image file in say Adobe elements (editor) the image has a black
bg, and I cant seem to separate it.  Thats rendering to bmp format.  I have
also tried outputing as Targa format but same thing happens.  What am i
doing wrong.  My goal here is to take that object and layer it onto a bg
image in the iamge editor.  Also could i just use the image as my
background in Pov?  How would I do that though, as an image map?  I have
tried that i think but how do i tell Pov Ray where to look for the image?

Well thats enough for now...thanks alot.


<C>

Post a reply to this message

clarkking wrote:

> At current however i am trying to render a scene with a transparent
> background.  I am using the +UA command line switch and "no_image" for
> anything like a plane or background. 

You don't need any background object

> bg, and I cant seem to separate it.  Thats rendering to bmp format.  I have
> also tried outputing as Targa format but same thing happens. 

Try PNG (+FN) and see if it that works

Post a reply to this message

"clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
> I have been using Pov Ray now for a few weeks concentrating on learning
> syntax.  I have seen its results and capabilities before however since i
> have played about with 3d art for several years now.  I am simply amazed at
> some of the photorealistic results using hdri and radiosity can offer.
>
> At current however i am trying to render a scene with a transparent
> background.  I am using the +UA command line switch and "no_image" for
> anything like a plane or background.  Now my render in Pov is an image say
> with my oject perfectly rendered with a trans. bg.  However when i go to
> open the image file in say Adobe elements (editor) the image has a black
> bg, and I cant seem to separate it.  Thats rendering to bmp format.  I have
> also tried outputing as Targa format but same thing happens.  What am i
> doing wrong.
'twould seem you haven't played enough with *2d* art. ;-) To save
transparency you need an alpha channel, it is present in PNGs and some
Targas, AFAIK. BMP doesn't have it, so your image editor will read the
pigment and output black or white depending if it reads 0,0,0 as black or
white.
>  My goal here is to take that object and layer it onto a bg
> image in the iamge editor.  Also could i just use the image as my
> background in Pov?  How would I do that though, as an image map?  I have
> tried that i think but how do i tell Pov Ray where to look for the image?
Respectively yes, yes and Library_Path (or +L, see
http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/220/).
>
> Well thats enough for now...thanks alot.
>
>
> <C>

Post a reply to this message

"Grassblade" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> "clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
> > I have been using Pov Ray now for a few weeks concentrating on learning
> > syntax.  I have seen its results and capabilities before however since i
> > have played about with 3d art for several years now.  I am simply amazed at
> > some of the photorealistic results using hdri and radiosity can offer.
> >
> > At current however i am trying to render a scene with a transparent
> > background.  I am using the +UA command line switch and "no_image" for
> > anything like a plane or background.  Now my render in Pov is an image say
> > with my oject perfectly rendered with a trans. bg.  However when i go to
> > open the image file in say Adobe elements (editor) the image has a black
> > bg, and I cant seem to separate it.  Thats rendering to bmp format.  I have
> > also tried outputing as Targa format but same thing happens.  What am i
> > doing wrong.
> 'twould seem you haven't played enough with *2d* art. ;-) To save
> transparency you need an alpha channel, it is present in PNGs and some
> Targas, AFAIK. BMP doesn't have it, so your image editor will read the
> pigment and output black or white depending if it reads 0,0,0 as black or
> white.
> >  My goal here is to take that object and layer it onto a bg
> > image in the iamge editor.  Also could i just use the image as my
> > background in Pov?  How would I do that though, as an image map?  I have
> > tried that i think but how do i tell Pov Ray where to look for the image?
> Respectively yes, yes and Library_Path (or +L, see
> http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/220/).
> >
> > Well thats enough for now...thanks alot.
> >
> >
> > <C>

Thank you both it works of course.

I would really like to learn more about using HDRI light maps to light my
scenes and objects.  Can i do that with the current version of POV?  I have
seen online Mega POV and i have downloaded it.  but does it just run in the
background to the main POV 3.6 windows console?  I am a beginner with hdri
for sure so some comprehensive tutoials would be wonderful.


Thanks again!

Post a reply to this message

"clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
> "Grassblade" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> > "clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
> > > I have been using Pov Ray now for a few weeks concentrating on learning
> > > syntax.  I have seen its results and capabilities before however since i
> > > have played about with 3d art for several years now.  I am simply amazed at
> > > some of the photorealistic results using hdri and radiosity can offer.
> > >
> > > At current however i am trying to render a scene with a transparent
> > > background.  I am using the +UA command line switch and "no_image" for
> > > anything like a plane or background.  Now my render in Pov is an image say
> > > with my oject perfectly rendered with a trans. bg.  However when i go to
> > > open the image file in say Adobe elements (editor) the image has a black
> > > bg, and I cant seem to separate it.  Thats rendering to bmp format.  I have
> > > also tried outputing as Targa format but same thing happens.  What am i
> > > doing wrong.
> > 'twould seem you haven't played enough with *2d* art. ;-) To save
> > transparency you need an alpha channel, it is present in PNGs and some
> > Targas, AFAIK. BMP doesn't have it, so your image editor will read the
> > pigment and output black or white depending if it reads 0,0,0 as black or
> > white.
> > >  My goal here is to take that object and layer it onto a bg
> > > image in the iamge editor.  Also could i just use the image as my
> > > background in Pov?  How would I do that though, as an image map?  I have
> > > tried that i think but how do i tell Pov Ray where to look for the image?
> > Respectively yes, yes and Library_Path (or +L, see
> > http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/220/).
> > >
> > > Well thats enough for now...thanks alot.
> > >
> > >
> > > <C>
>
> Thank you both it works of course.
>
> I would really like to learn more about using HDRI light maps to light my
> scenes and objects.  Can i do that with the current version of POV?  I have
> seen online Mega POV and i have downloaded it.  but does it just run in the
> background to the main POV 3.6 windows console?  I am a beginner with hdri
> for sure so some comprehensive tutoials would be wonderful.
>
>
> Thanks again!


Well when I use the +UA and +FN switches i get what i wanted but it seems
like a have lost my reflections and some surface props of my object.  The
reflections remain while I use no_image for the planes objects, but the
reflections seems to be lost when i use the +UA switch, why?

Post a reply to this message

"clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:

> I would really like to learn more about using HDRI light maps to light my
> scenes and objects.  Can i do that with the current version of POV?  I have
> seen online Mega POV and i have downloaded it.  but does it just run in the
> background to the main POV 3.6 windows console?  I am a beginner with hdri
> for sure so some comprehensive tutoials would be wonderful.
>
>
> Thanks again!

You can't with the current POV (3.6). 3.7 will have HDR support, but is
still in testing.  The best bet is megaPOV for now.  MegaPOV runs as it's
own stand alone console/window, but you need to have POV installed.

For lighting with HDR, there are two different options.  One is using
radiosity, which some people have had success with.  The other is setting
up discrete light sources based on a sampling of the HDR.  For the latter,
you can have a look at the HDR Lightdome generating macro that I recently
posted.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time to set up any kind of comprehensive
tutorial on this, but I (or others) are certanly willing to assist or
answer any questions you may have.

If you do a search on the forums, you should be able to find some previous
discussions about HDR that may be of interest and explain some things.

-tgq

Post a reply to this message

"clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
> Well when I use the +UA and +FN switches i get what i wanted but it seems
> like a have lost my reflections and some surface props of my object.  The
> reflections remain while I use no_image for the planes objects, but the
> reflections seems to be lost when i use the +UA switch, why?

You may need to post some of your code to fully demonstrate what the problem
is that you are having, to be able to help you determine the cause.

-tgq

Post a reply to this message

"clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
> "clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
> > Thank you both it works of course.
> >
> > I would really like to learn more about using HDRI light maps to light my
> > scenes and objects.  Can i do that with the current version of POV?  I have
> > seen online Mega POV and i have downloaded it.  but does it just run in the
> > background to the main POV 3.6 windows console?  I am a beginner with hdri
> > for sure so some comprehensive tutoials would be wonderful.
> >
No, Pov-ray currently doesn't support Hdr, but Megapov does. I only have
experience with Windows MegaPOV: you can install it in a different location
and run it separately from POV. I am myself sort of starting to look toward
hdr, but I don't have any experience. There's a link to a tutorial in this
thread:
http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.tutorials/thread/%3C459aa983%241%40news.povray.org%3E/
> >
> > Thanks again!
>
>
> Well when I use the +UA and +FN switches i get what i wanted but it seems
> like a have lost my reflections and some surface props of my object.  The
> reflections remain while I use no_image for the planes objects, but the
> reflections seems to be lost when i use the +UA switch, why?
It is possible +UA could have either some sort of limitation or possibly a
bug. EagleSun rendered a planet Earth both with +UA and with a background
and some stuff just isn't right. See
http://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.images/thread/%3Cweb.45d12f3355e01ed18fafdc490%40news.povray.org%3E/?mtop=7

Post a reply to this message

Grassblade <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> No, Pov-ray currently doesn't support Hdr

  POV-Ray 3.7 does.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

clarkking nous apporta ses lumieres en ce 2007/06/26 15:32:
> "Grassblade" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>> "clarkking" <cla### [at] sbcglobalnet> wrote:
>>> I have been using Pov Ray now for a few weeks concentrating on learning
>>> syntax.  I have seen its results and capabilities before however since i
>>> have played about with 3d art for several years now.  I am simply amazed at
>>> some of the photorealistic results using hdri and radiosity can offer.
>>>
>>> At current however i am trying to render a scene with a transparent
>>> background.  I am using the +UA command line switch and "no_image" for
>>> anything like a plane or background.  Now my render in Pov is an image say
>>> with my oject perfectly rendered with a trans. bg.  However when i go to
>>> open the image file in say Adobe elements (editor) the image has a black
>>> bg, and I cant seem to separate it.  Thats rendering to bmp format.  I have
>>> also tried outputing as Targa format but same thing happens.  What am i
>>> doing wrong.
>> 'twould seem you haven't played enough with *2d* art. ;-) To save
>> transparency you need an alpha channel, it is present in PNGs and some
>> Targas, AFAIK. BMP doesn't have it, so your image editor will read the
>> pigment and output black or white depending if it reads 0,0,0 as black or
>> white.
>>>  My goal here is to take that object and layer it onto a bg
>>> image in the iamge editor.  Also could i just use the image as my
>>> background in Pov?  How would I do that though, as an image map?  I have
>>> tried that i think but how do i tell Pov Ray where to look for the image?
>> Respectively yes, yes and Library_Path (or +L, see
>> http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/220/).
>>> Well thats enough for now...thanks alot.
>>>
>>>
>>> <C>
> 
> Thank you both it works of course.
> 
> I would really like to learn more about using HDRI light maps to light my
> scenes and objects.  Can i do that with the current version of POV?  I have
> seen online Mega POV and i have downloaded it.  but does it just run in the
> background to the main POV 3.6 windows console?  I am a beginner with hdri
> for sure so some comprehensive tutoials would be wonderful.
> 
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> 
Normal POV-Ray don't support HDR. BUT, megapov does, as does the current 1.7BETA 
version.

Please remember that the v1.7x are beta, development versions that have an 
expiry date. The expiry date is there to prevent bug repost about versions that 
are to old and whose bugs may be solved in more recent versions.

-- 
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
You know you've been raytracing too long when you hope that you can render your 
ideas on your PC before you die.
Sven Rudolph (Germany)

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