Hi,

Working on animation (using the example in the tutorial), I bumpt into a problem
with specifying and finding ini files. When I follow the tutorial and add POVRAY
to the command line, I get an error message:

Preset INI file is 'C:\PROGRAM FILES2\POV-RAY FOR WINDOWS
V3.6\RENDERER\QUICKRES.INI', section is '[800x600, No AA]'.
Preset source file is 'C:\Program Files2\POV-Ray for Windows
v3.6\scenes\testfile.pov'.
Rendering using command line 'POVRAY'.
Could not find file 'POVRAY.ini'
Cannot open INI file 'POVRAY'.
Cannot process command-line due to a parse error.
This is not a valid command-line. Check the command-line for syntax errors,
correct them, and try again!

With the file myopts.ini I got the same. I coudn't find where to save your ini
files in the tutorial, so I've tried it in, among others, the renderer folder
and in the ini folder, but it doesn't work.

If I leave alone the ini files, and just add +kff20 to the command line, povray
hangs itself...

Does anybody know whats wrong (i'm using vista btw)? Thanks very much!

P.S. are there sites or books that have "POV-ray for dummies". I know nearly
everything is discribed in the tutorial, but it always asumes a certain basic
level of knowledge of language, strings, floats, functions, settings, etc,
which I don't have. I can't find where to begin to learn the basics I need for
the more complex scenes and move on from there... I'm glad I can post questions
here, but would like to be able to solve things myself.

Post a reply to this message

"joost_1972" <joo### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> Working on animation (using the example in the tutorial), I bumpt into a problem
> with specifying and finding ini files. When I follow the tutorial and add POVRAY
> to the command line, I get an error message:
>
> Preset INI file is 'C:\PROGRAM FILES2\POV-RAY FOR WINDOWS
> V3.6\RENDERER\QUICKRES.INI', section is '[800x600, No AA]'.
> Preset source file is 'C:\Program Files2\POV-Ray for Windows
> v3.6\scenes\testfile.pov'.
> Rendering using command line 'POVRAY'.
> Could not find file 'POVRAY.ini'
> ...

This seems to me just a misunderstanding.

There are two ways to run POV-Ray specifying options:

(A) You can start POV-Ray, enter the options in the edit box to the right of the
resolution dropdown window, and click on the "Run" icon.

(B) You can open a Windows command prompt, and type "POVRAY" followed by the
options you want to specify, which will launch POV-Ray (provided you have set
the proper PATH environment variable or have navigated to the POV-Ray binary
directory).

I presume you chose variant (A), while the author of the tutorial you followed
may have presumed the use of variant (B).


Note that when you have an INI file open for editing in POV-Ray, you can just
click "Run" to have POV-Ray start it - you don't even need to specify its name
in that "command options" edit box.


You should save your own INI file in the same directory you saved your scene
file in.


Note however that if an option doesn't work in the "command options" edit box,
it is likely to fail in an INI file just the same.

> If I leave alone the ini files, and just add +kff20 to the command line, povray
> hangs itself...

.... which is definitely a bug. POV-Ray isn't supposed to hang; it should either
(a) do its job, or (b) abort rendering "gracefully" with a proper error message
(or, at worst, (c) terminate itself with a proper error message).

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joost_1972 schrieb:
> ...
> P.S. are there sites or books that have "POV-ray for dummies". 
> 

Hi, I bought a german book "3D-Welten" by Toni Lama a couple of months 
ago. It explains Povray in detail and relates to other 3D-Software as 
Terragen as well.

CU
Punk-T

Post a reply to this message

joost_1972 nous illumina en ce 2009-05-16 09:21 -->
> Hi,
> 
> Working on animation (using the example in the tutorial), I bumpt into a problem
> with specifying and finding ini files. When I follow the tutorial and add POVRAY
> to the command line, I get an error message:
> 
> Preset INI file is 'C:\PROGRAM FILES2\POV-RAY FOR WINDOWS
> V3.6\RENDERER\QUICKRES.INI', section is '[800x600, No AA]'.
> Preset source file is 'C:\Program Files2\POV-Ray for Windows
> v3.6\scenes\testfile.pov'.
> Rendering using command line 'POVRAY'.
> Could not find file 'POVRAY.ini'
> Cannot open INI file 'POVRAY'.
> Cannot process command-line due to a parse error.
> This is not a valid command-line. Check the command-line for syntax errors,
> correct them, and try again!
> 
> With the file myopts.ini I got the same. I coudn't find where to save your ini
> files in the tutorial, so I've tried it in, among others, the renderer folder
> and in the ini folder, but it doesn't work.
> 
> If I leave alone the ini files, and just add +kff20 to the command line, povray
> hangs itself...
> 
> Does anybody know whats wrong (i'm using vista btw)? Thanks very much!
> 
> P.S. are there sites or books that have "POV-ray for dummies". I know nearly
> everything is discribed in the tutorial, but it always asumes a certain basic
> level of knowledge of language, strings, floats, functions, settings, etc,
> which I don't have. I can't find where to begin to learn the basics I need for
> the more complex scenes and move on from there... I'm glad I can post questions
> here, but would like to be able to solve things myself.
> 
> 
POV-Ray 3.6 on Vista needs to be installed in another folder than "program 
files". Vista forbid you from altering ini files located there. POV-Ray need to 
change povray.ini for each scene that you render.

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Hi, thanks everyone for the quick replies,

@clipka: I see what i've been doing wrong. You're right about the fail, using
the ini file it stills hangs. Knowing it's not me and my ini file but a bug,
i've searched further on this site and luckily found a fix (changing the
properties of povengin.exe).

@Alain: I had already bumpt into that problem earlier and relocated pov ray to
programfiles2 folder.

@Punk-T: I've looked into the book on google-books, but it handles about the
same area as the tutorial. I'm looking for a book that goes on were the tutorial
ends: the more mathmatical side: calcutating with vectors, using complex macro's
etc. Untill i've mastered that I'm thinking of using another program (blender or
so) for my more complex objects (which aren't many luckily) and seeing if i can
import them into my pov-ray scene.
If anyone has good advice for which program is easiest to use with povray, I'd
like to hear it :-)

Thanks, Joost

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"joost_1972" <joo### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> If anyone has good advice for which program is easiest to use with povray, I'd
> like to hear it :-)

Reading "easiest to use", I can't help but think "Wings3D"!

It's a 3D mesh modeller that is free, includes POV export, and is *very* easy to
learn.

To me the key feature was the two UI modes it offers; the standard mode provides
only a subset of the program's functionality, but that subset is very
well-chosen, and makes the UI mind-bogglingly easy to grasp. Once you've gotten
used to it, it's again quite easy to move on to the "advanced menus" mode, and
start to explore all the additional functionality it provides.

I have no doubt that Blender is a more powerful tool, but Wings3D can get you
pretty far, too. And while I've heard of plenty people who found Blender's UI
*particularly* difficult to grasp (including myself), I've never heard of
anyone who found Wings3D particularly limited in functionality.


If you don't want to go for meshes, but stick with POV's primitives and CSG
instead, Bishop3D and Moray seem to be the most popular ones, and both are said
to be quite good, although Bishop3D is officially still in public beta phase.

AFAIK Moray is still shareware, but is currently undergoing transition to free
open source software.

Bishop3D, on the other hand, is in public beta phase, and as such currently
available for free, but will eventually be shareware. Beta testers are welcome,
and I gather they will be rewarded with a free license for the release, so maybe
you may want to give it a try, and give them feedback about how well their
product is suited for beginners?

(There's nothing like having your product tested by a beginner - they tend to
have a much fresher view on things than experienced users, who are often kind
of "blinded" by their experience... let alone that beginners also stumble into
pitfalls which experienced users just instinctively "jump over" without even
being aware of it.)

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"clipka" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>
> Reading "easiest to use", I can't help but think "Wings3D"!
>

I've downloaded Wings3D, played around a bit, and that looks just what I need.
At first glance Bishop seems a bit more than i'm looking for, I only want it to
make a few objects, and Wings3D seems fine for that. I especially like the
export option to a .pov file (the less I have to fiddle myself, the better, as
shown by my ini-file troubles....).

Thanks again for the quick and helpful advice.

Joost

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