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20 Apr 2024 00:53:05 EDT (-0400)
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From: Bald Eagle
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 11 Nov 2021 19:10:00
Message: <web.618db04828696f321f9dae3025979125@news.povray.org>
"bubble_person" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Alain Martel <kua### [at] videotronca> wrote:

> > Note : Your area_light is oblique. If you want it to be flat, then, it's
> > size should be something like this :
> > area_light 160*x 200*z 65 65

> For the area_light, I was certainly not clear on the pov-ray documentation and
> examples.  From what I understand, I am creating a box (light box) that is
> parallel with the xy-plan, onto which I'm stretching an array of 100x100 light
> sources.


>
> I am, however, still confused on why the area_light would be tilted.  As you
> mentioned, I want a light parallel to the xy plane, and thought that this was
> the case.

I'm confused also.  I'm not entirely certain that using looks_like will tilt the
area light array.  (I'm not sure of the top of my head how to accurately
visualize the actual area light.)




> Given this example below, my understanding is that my light_box is a box that is
> 160x200x2 units (x,y,z) and collared white.  I then locate my light_source at
> <light_loc_x, light_loc_y,light_loc_z>.  I then use the area_light feature to
> define two points <-10, -10, 10>, <10, 10, 10> from the origin to indicate the
> vectors over which to stretch the light.
>
> #declare light_box = box{ <-80,-100,0>, <80,100,2>
>         pigment{color White}
>        } //end light box
> light_source {
>     <light_loc_x, light_loc_y,light_loc_z>
>     color White
>     area_light <-10, -10, 10>, <10, 10, 10>, 100, 100
>     adaptive 1
>     jitter
>     looks_like { light_box }
>   }

So, a few things, in no particular order or importance:

It's ... weird to be that you're making a box of one size and an area light of
another.  Use the same dimensions.

Also kinda clunky that you're defining location x, y, and z separately, when you
could just declare a vector.

Is your light box visible in the scene? (I can't see it)  If not, can you just
use  a light source without the looks_like attribute?

Just in case you didn't know, when x, y, and z are used outside of function {}
equation definitions, they refer to vectors  (<1, 0, 0>, etc.)
So you can do something like 10*x to get <10, 0, 0>

Also, we have a weird thing in POV-Ray called automatic vector promotion.  They
way it works is, say you are making your light box, and you need two 3D vectors.
 If you are making a unit cube centered at the origin, you can do something
like:
box {-0.5, 0.5}, and the automatic vector promotion will promote --- expand ---
the scalar quantities into the 3D vectors that POV-Ray's parser is expecting for
those parameters.
So what you'd wind up with is the equivalent of:
box {<-0.5, -0.5, -0.5>, <0.5, 0.5, 0.5>}

This can be convenient for certain things, and a real PITA with others (rgbft
color vectors)

I noticed that Kenneth tracked down your core issue - and you may want to try
modeling individual components separately, one by one, in a standalone scene so
that you can see exactly what is going on.  That would have shown you that your
spheres have the default texture, not the one you _thought_ you were using.

You're making a tube filled with stuff that will be in some rotated position.
Rather than rotating every individual component to line up with a rotated tube,
model your tube around the origin, place everything inside it, and then rotate
the whole union {} of everything all at once.

To save a million lines of code, declare your material, ONCE, and then use that
declared material name.

To save even more internal gymnastics, write a loop to make all of your spheres
inside of a union, and then apply that material to the entire union of spheres,
not to each individual sphere.

Think in a hierarchies and flowcharts.

Busy here doing other things and juggling crises, but looking forward to seeing
your progress and answering any questions when time allows.  :)

- Bill


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From: bubble person
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 12 Nov 2021 04:05:00
Message: <web.618e2dd428696f32a6f27af47c94cc22@news.povray.org>
"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> "Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> >
> > ... So in effect, your original five sphere definitions are not even being
> > used; and the ones you did use are simply opaque.
>
> Correction: In your scene, both sets of spheres ARE being rendered at the same
> time... by mistake of course...and they exactly overlap, which is probably why
> you (and I!) were seeing odd results during various experiments. When multiple
> objects occupy the same exact space, POV-ray's built-in precision with its
> calculations can sometimes show one object or the other, or else 'coincident
> surface' speckles or other oddities.

Hello Kenneth,

Thank you for all of your sleuthing and the stripped-down example.  This has
really cleared up a fundamental misunderstanding that I was having about
inserting objects.  I was under the impression that the spheres defined in the
difference{} function were only there to carve out holes.  I didn't realise I
could actually define material properties for those voids.  That's the reason I
defined the bubbles twice, thinking I had to scoop out the region, and then fill
it with a bubble with the desired material properties.  It makes a lot of sense
that I was getting funny results with the doubly-defined bubbles occupying the
same space!

I also appreciate the example of the object definitions. As you can see with my
long-winded scripting, I was pushing my basic knowledge of the program as far as
I could without adding the hierarchical structures that would make it elegant.
haha!  This gives me some good footing to streamline my POV-RAY scripting.

I'll keep everyone updated as I try to make the script cleaner using your
examples and the input of others in the post.

Sincerely,

bubble_person


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From: jr
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 12 Nov 2021 08:10:00
Message: <web.618e677e28696f32d6c295506cde94f1@news.povray.org>
hi,

"bubble_person" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> ...
> Hello Jr.,
> ...

good to see (from yr reply to Kenneth) that "you're sorted" :-).  re voids,
there's also the 'hollow' keyword, which may be of use.
<https://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Hollow_Object_Modifier>


regards, jr.


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From: Kenneth
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 12 Nov 2021 12:25:00
Message: <web.618ea1a828696f324cef624e6e066e29@news.povray.org>
"bubble_person" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>
>
> Hello Kenneth,
>
> Thank you for all of your sleuthing and the stripped-down example...This
> gives me some good footing to streamline my POV-RAY scripting.
>

Glad to help. There are many forum users here who can give you good advice, so
don't hesitate to ask even the most basic questions.

By the way: The 'default' attributes and values for a texture{...} are not
easily found in the documentation, and they're not all in one place for easy
look-up as far as I know. And some have changed over time, depending on which
version of POV-ray you are running.

To put it very simply, POV-Ray's default texture{...} has ALL of the many
possible attributes included in it, behind-the-scenes-- but they are set up so
that you see a simple (bland!) pigment{...}, finish{...},  interior{...} etc.
For older versions, the pigment color is opaque black; for newer versions, it's
opaque white (and I'm not exactly sure when that change occurred-- possibly with
v3.7?).  Those are rgbft <0,0,0,0,0> *or* rgbft <1,1,1,0,0>.

So when you manually specify a specific texture{...} for an object, whatever
attributes and values you include there simply override the built-in 'default'
values-- but any remaining non-specified attributes are still there, at their
defaults. That's why you can specify an object with NO manually-attached
texture{...} yet still see the object in your scene.

Also, take a look at the #default{...} keyword in the docs; it's an easy and
time-saving way of setting up any texture attribute OR full texture near the
beginning of a scene file, which is then used for *every* object in your scene
(and you can then override any of the attributes on a per-object basis, as
needed.) Less typing drudgery!  ;-)


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From: Alain Martel
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 12 Nov 2021 13:34:33
Message: <618eb3b9$1@news.povray.org>
Le 2021-11-11 à 13:19, bubble_person a écrit :
> Alain Martel <kua### [at] videotronca> wrote:
>> Le 2021-11-11 à 08:06, bubble_person a écrit :
>>> Hello Forum,
>>>
>>> I am relatively new to POV-RAY, but have a functional script .
>>>
>>> I am simulating air bubbles in a glass tube full of gel.  I am running into a
>>> funny problem where, if I add too many bubbles to the script, they go from being
>>> transparent and rendered correctly, to a completely opaque, black object through
>>> which no light shines.
>>>
>>> Things that don't seem to work:
>>>
>>> 1) Increasing the  max_trace_level
>>>
>>> 2) I have tried to be sure that the inner surface of the gel is not in contact
>>> with the air bubble by reducing the bubble radius by epsilon (.0001).  Oddly
>>> enough, the script with up to 4 bubbles works only when the two surfaces are
>>> coincident, and subtracting an epsilon value (.0001,.001,.01) causes the bubbles
>>> to turn black, no matter the number.
>>>
>>> I would love your input on this issue as I am stumped.  I cannot figure out why
>>> this renders without issue when I only have a certain number of objects defined.
>>>
>>>
>>> The order of my file:
>>>
>>> In my scene, centered at the origin, I have bubbles, inside of gel, inside of a
>>> glass tube, inside of water, inside of a plexiglass cylinder.
>>>
>>> My code
>>>
>>> 1) I define variables, set trace level, and place the camera
>>>
>>> 2) I create a distributed area light source on a rectangular box
>>>
>>> 3) I define the bubbles I want in the gel
>>>
>>> 4) I create the glass tube into which the gel will sit
>>>
>>> 5) I create the gel region with voids into which the bubbles sit.
>>>
>>> 6) I then add water around the glass tube, and then a plexiglass perimeter.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> The first thing that I would to would be to increase max_trace_level
>> further still. It can go up to 255.
>>
>> Note : Your area_light is oblique. If you want it to be flat, then, it's
>> size should be something like this :
>> area_light 160*x 200*z 65 65
>> adaptive 0 // start with zero, then, increase if needed
>> Size of area_light adjusted to match the light_box dimensions.
>>
>> During testing, you should disable the area_light. It makes testing and
>> debugging faster.
>>
>> The 100 by 100 get silently increased to 129 by 129 when adaptive is
>> used. That increase DO NOT affect the rendering time.
>>
>> Using dispersion 1 is the same as not using dispersion. It must be
>> slightly different than 1. Realistic values are usually in the 1.01 to
>> 1.08. Values less than 1 result in inverted dispersion.
>>
>> You are using fade_power 1000 !? You should use 1 or 1001.
>> Using 1000 may cause some issues.
> 
> Hello Alain,
> 
> Thank you so much for your reply and suggestions.  As you may have noticed, I am
> still in the process of understanding the different features.
> 
> In the case of max_trace_level, I have put this all the way up to the max as you
> suggested, but this did not resolve the issue from my original script.  I'll
> have to keep digging for a solution in that regard.
> 
> For the area_light, I was certainly not clear on the pov-ray documentation and
> examples.  From what I understand, I am creating a box (light box) that is
> parallel with the xy-plan, onto which I'm stretching an array of 100x100 light
> sources.  And as you stated, by adding the adaptive, feature, this gets
> increased when running (Great thing to know!  I wasn't completely clear on what
> happened in the background).
> 
> I am, however, still confused on why the area_light would be tilted.  As you
> mentioned, I want a light parallel to the xy plane, and thought that this was
> the case.
> 
> Given this example below, my understanding is that my light_box is a box that is
> 160x200x2 units (x,y,z) and collared white.  I then locate my light_source at
> <light_loc_x, light_loc_y,light_loc_z>.  I then use the area_light feature to
> define two points <-10, -10, 10>, <10, 10, 10> from the origin to indicate the
> vectors over which to stretch the light.
> 
> #declare light_box = box{ <-80,-100,0>, <80,100,2>
>          pigment{color White}
>         } //end light box
> light_source {
>      <light_loc_x, light_loc_y,light_loc_z>
>      color White
>      area_light <-10, -10, 10>, <10, 10, 10>, 100, 100
>      adaptive 1
>      jitter
>      looks_like { light_box }
>    }
> 
> 
The size vectors of an area_light define the 2D dimentions of the 
area_light. A line going from the origin to one of them will be parallel 
to the side of the area_light.

Simple length are used for a light array with sides parallel to the axis.
Two non-zero component are used for an array parallel to one of the 
major planes but rotated/sheared.
Three non-zero components will define an array that is not parallel to 
any of the planes.

Normally, we use simple lengts parameters, each in line with one of the 
axis.

In the present example, the vectors are diagonal. They pass through the 
origin <0,0,0> and the defined points, or <-10, -10, 10> and <10, 10, 10>.

It goes from <-10, -10, 10> to <0, 0, 0> to <10, 10, 10>.
This is perpendicular to the X-Z plane, and at 45° from the X-Y plane.

If you want an area_light parallel to the X-Z plane, then, the vectors 
need their Y components to be zero.

light_source {
     <light_loc_x, light_loc_y,light_loc_z>
     color White
     area_light <-10, 0, 10>, <10, 0, 10>, 100, 100
     adaptive 1
     jitter
     looks_like { light_box }
   }
Defines an area_light parallel to the Z-X plane, rotated 45°.

light_source {
     <light_loc_x, light_loc_y,light_loc_z>
     color White
     area_light <-10, -10, 0>, <10, 10, 0>, 100, 100
     adaptive 1
     jitter
     looks_like { light_box }
   }
Defines a LINEAR light array as the two vectors are colinear. It won't, 
but should, generate at least a warning.


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From: Alain Martel
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 12 Nov 2021 13:40:12
Message: <618eb50c$1@news.povray.org>
Le 2021-11-12 à 12:19, Kenneth a écrit :

> To put it very simply, POV-Ray's default texture{...} has ALL of the many
> possible attributes included in it, behind-the-scenes-- but they are set up so
> that you see a simple (bland!) pigment{...}, finish{...},  interior{...} etc.
> For older versions, the pigment color is opaque black; for newer versions, it's
> opaque white (and I'm not exactly sure when that change occurred-- possibly with
> v3.7?).  Those are rgbft <0,0,0,0,0> *or* rgbft <1,1,1,0,0>.
> The change occurred between 3.7 and 3.8.


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 13 Nov 2021 08:27:46
Message: <618fbd52$1@news.povray.org>
Op 11-11-2021 om 19:19 schreef bubble_person:
> Finally, with the fade_power, how is 1000 bad, but 1 or 1001 good?  I did a
> little copy-pasting of this part from an example, so I had not really asked
> myself what realistic values should be.
> 
Alain is right about the fade_power of 1001. However, when I wanted to 
find again the location of this in the wiki pages to help your 
understanding of it - surprisingly - I was unable to find it! I am sure 
it was there, somewhere, in the documentation...

-- 
Thomas


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From: Mr
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 16 Nov 2021 05:55:00
Message: <web.61938d5b28696f3216086ed03f378f2@news.povray.org>
Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> Op 11-11-2021 om 19:19 schreef bubble_person:
> > Finally, with the fade_power, how is 1000 bad, but 1 or 1001 good?  I did a
> > little copy-pasting of this part from an example, so I had not really asked
> > myself what realistic values should be.
> >
> Alain is right about the fade_power of 1001. However, when I wanted to
> find again the location of this in the wiki pages to help your
> understanding of it - surprisingly - I was unable to find it! I am sure
> it was there, somewhere, in the documentation...
>
> --
> Thomas

Generally, when this occurs, the bit of information, is rather in release logs
instead of doc, if you do find it in one or the other, please share, so that we
can update or ignore. Meanwhile, I added some of Alain's guidelines to
dispersion page in the wiki which are developing a bit further than current doc,
so if a native speaker wants to restyle, do not hesitate and add your
improvements in the page's discussion:
https://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Interior#Dispersion

Thanks for your patience


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 16 Nov 2021 07:57:47
Message: <6193aacb$1@news.povray.org>
Op 16-11-2021 om 11:52 schreef Mr:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> Op 11-11-2021 om 19:19 schreef bubble_person:
>>> Finally, with the fade_power, how is 1000 bad, but 1 or 1001 good?  I did a
>>> little copy-pasting of this part from an example, so I had not really asked
>>> myself what realistic values should be.
>>>
>> Alain is right about the fade_power of 1001. However, when I wanted to
>> find again the location of this in the wiki pages to help your
>> understanding of it - surprisingly - I was unable to find it! I am sure
>> it was there, somewhere, in the documentation...
>>
>> --
>> Thomas
> 
> Generally, when this occurs, the bit of information, is rather in release logs
> instead of doc, if you do find it in one or the other, please share, so that we
> can update or ignore. Meanwhile, I added some of Alain's guidelines to
> dispersion page in the wiki which are developing a bit further than current doc,
> so if a native speaker wants to restyle, do not hesitate and add your
> improvements in the page's discussion:
> https://wiki.povray.org/content/Reference:Interior#Dispersion
> 
I am not sure. In the 'Attenuation' section of 'Dispersion & Caustics', 
there is that mention about "If you set fade_power in the interior of an 
object at 1000 or above, a realistic exponential attenuation function 
will be used". I guess that the '1001' value comes from there.

This brings the following question: What is the difference between 
fade_power 2 and fade_power 1001, as both, in the docs/wiki, are 
described as 'exponential'?

Finally, in:
https://news.povray.org/povray.binaries.images/thread/%3C4f2654d6%241%40news.povray.org%3E/

Ive tells us: "note that this "fade_power 1001" statement is an old (and 
really dirty as it lacks any logic) hack that is part of POV-Ray since 
ages to turn realistic fade power calculation on."

Food for thoughts?

-- 
Thomas


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From: Kenneth
Subject: Re: Transparent Objects Become Black
Date: 16 Nov 2021 15:00:00
Message: <web.61940bee28696f324cef624e6e066e29@news.povray.org>
Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>
> This brings the following question: What is the difference between
> fade_power 2 and fade_power 1001, as both, in the docs/wiki, are
> described as 'exponential'?

I did a search through old newsgroups too, and found a useful comment by Alain
posted Dec 18 2017 (with my own comments in brackets, which I hope are correct):

"For a material [i.e., showing light attenuation inside a translucent object]
you should use fade_power 1 or fade_power 1001 to get a more realistic result.
Fade_power 2 is for light attenuation over a distance in empty space." [i.e., in
POV-ray's 'air' or external space, not *inside* an object.]

So there is a difference in how and when fade_power is used, apparently.

>
> Ive tells us: "note that this "fade_power 1001" statement is an old (and
> really dirty as it lacks any logic) hack that is part of POV-Ray since
> ages to turn realistic fade power calculation on."
>

I saw that one too. :-) And here's a later comment by Clipka, dated Oct 27 2012:

"...realistic fading for interiors is exponential rather than
linear; specify a fade_power value of 1000 or greater (1001 is often
used, but it doesn't really matter), POV-Ray will then enable
exponential fading."

It seems that fade_power 1001 has been used for quite a long time. It's in a
section of code in a post by Ross on September 11 2003 entitled "glass objects".

Personally, I have not yet run a comparative test of values <1000 vs. 1000 vs.
1001 vs. some higher value, so I can't comment on the expected effects. It seems
that a value of 1001 *or higher* turns on the 'exponential' fading, not
specifically 1001. What that exponent *is*, I don't know; I guess it's derived
by the in-built equation mentioned in the docs:
            Attenuation = exp(-depth/fade_dist)

??


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