POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.programming : PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl Server Time
28 Mar 2024 05:44:34 EDT (-0400)
  PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl (Message 1 to 7 of 7)  
From: Bruno Cabasson
Subject: PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl
Date: 27 Feb 2022 06:55:00
Message: <web.621b65ab50be6c547283012224d82e4@news.povray.org>
[sorry, I pressed the 'post message' by accident ...]
Hi There!

+------------------+
| PART 1 : general |
+------------------+

I am a bit sad to see that the golden age of POV-Ray is behind us. POV-Ray
remains a great thing, still unequaled. My deepest wish concerning it is that it
finds a new interest among the community but also outside it.

A new interest in at least 3 respects.

First, as a powerful language. I found nothing equivalent and THAT compact to
describe scenes. As a language, using POV-ray and taking advantage of all its
syntactic capabilities is all about programming. This is its strength, praised
by all of us. But it is also a weak point because 3D artists are not programmers
(to my opinion). So, if the language itself were more 'accessible' to the many,
perhaps artists would be less reluctant to dive into POV-Ray. To give it a new
interest, making the language itself more 'attractive' would serve POV-Ray's
purpose. That's where my object-oriented attempt with the still embryionic PROOF
 kicks in. I'll explain the main ideas below.

Second, it is an extremely good renderer. Provided you have been POVing for
years, you can generate the best images ever. Now, with modern machines,
rendering time is less of a great concern, even without using GPUs.

Third, POV-Ray lacks all kinds of libraries : objects, materials, templates,
animation oriented features, .... It also lacks on-line tutorials. This could
make it more popular.

I can see one opening towards the 3D people : Blender. There is an interface
between POV-Ray sdl and Blender. Blender is sooo much widespread that it could
help our purpose (and that of Blender also. Presently, I cannot see how.

Also, we still have among us a bunch of masters. They could help promoting if
ever they happend to appear again...


+------------------+
| PART 2 : classes |
+------------------+

Well, that being said, here is a quick glance at PROOF.


    +------------------------+
    | PART 2.1 : sample code |
    +------------------------+

After having #include'ed the appropriate definitions (currently, I have :
primitives.inc, collections.inc, oocore.inc for the basic OO featues), I can
write this, as a syntactic example without any other interest :

[START]
// == class MyClass =========================
#declare MyClass = class
(
    "MyClass", // Name of the class
    no,        // No parent class
    None,
    array      // properties
    {
        array mixed {"property1", TYPES._int_},
        array mixed {"property2", TYPES._string_}
    },
    array    // Methods
    {
        "method1",
        "method2"
    }
)

// Define 2 overloaded constructors used through the 'new()' macro in
"oocore.inc".
// Default constructor, with signature number = 0.
//
// new_MyClass(this, property1, property2)
#macro new_MyClass(this, optional params_dict)
    #ifdef (local.params_array)
        #local this.property1 = check(params_dict.property1, TYPES._int_);
        #local this.property2 = check(params_dict.property2, TYPES._string_);
    #else
        #local this.property1 = 0;
        #local this.property2 = "default string";
    #end
#end

// Overloaded constructor #1, with signature number = 1.
// new_1_MyClass(this, property1, property2, _offset)
#macro new_1_MyClass(this, optional params_dict)
    // By hand : check parameter types, then link methods to the class to get
the instance.
    #local p1 = check(params_dict.property1, TYPES._int_);
    #local p2 = check(params_dict.property2, TYPES._string_);
    #local offset_ = check(params_dict.offset_, TYPES._vector_);

    #local this.property1 = p1 + vlength(offset_);
    #local this.property2 = concat(p2, " ", vstr(5, offset_, ",", 0, 0));
#end


// Instance dump method, used through the 'dump' macro in "oocore.inc".
#macro MyClass_dump(this, indent_level)
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level], "instance of \"", this.class.classname,
"\"\n")
    #debug "{\n"
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".class : ", this.class.classname,
"\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property1 : ", str(this.property1,
0, 0), "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property2 : ", this.property2, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method1() : ", this.method1, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method2() : ", this.method2, "\n")
    #debug "}\n"
#end


// Default 'method1' method, used through the 'call' macro in oocore.inc".
// MyClass_method1(this, p1, p2)
#macro MyClass_method1(this, optional params_dict)
    #local p1 = check(params_dict.property1, TYPES._int_);
    #local p2 = check(params_dict.property2, TYPES._string_);

    #debug concat("==> ", this.method1, "(p1 = ", str(p1, 0, 0), " (int), p2 =
", p2, " (string))\n")

    #debug "executing ...\n"
    #debug concat("this.property1 = ", str(this.property1, 0, 0), "\n")
    #debug concat("this.property2 = \"", this.property2, "\"\n")

    #debug concat("<== ", this.method1, "\n")
#end


// Overloaded 'method1' method #1, used through the 'call' macro in oocore.inc".
// MyClass_method1_1(this, p1, p2, p3)
#macro MyClass_method1_1(this, optional params_dict)
    #local p1 = check(params_dict.property1, TYPES._int_);
    #local p2 = check(params_dict.property2, TYPES._string_);
    #local p3 = check(params_dict.pigment_, TYPES._pigment_);

    #debug concat("==> ", this.method1, "_1(p1 = ", str(p1, 0, 0), " (int), p2 =
\"", p2, "\" (string), p3 = pigment {})\n")

    #debug "executing ...\n"
    #debug concat("this.property1 = ", str(this.property1, 0, 0), "\n")
    #debug concat("this.property2 = \"", this.property2, "\"\n")

    #debug concat("<== ", this.method1, "\n")
#end

// Default 'method2' method, used through the 'call' macro in oocore.inc".
// MyClass_method2(this, p1)
#macro MyClass_method2(this, optional params_dict)
    #local p1 = check(params_dict.p1, TYPES._vector_);

    #debug concat("==> ", this.method2, "(p1 = <", vstr(3, p1, ", ", 0, 0), ">
(vector)\n")

    #debug "executing ...\n"

    #debug concat("this.property1 = ", str(this.property1, 0, 0), "\n")
    #debug concat("this.property2 = \"", this.property2, "\"\n")

    #debug concat("<== ", this.method2, "\n")
#end
// ===========================================

// Using MyClass
describe(MyClass,)

// Get 2 instances of MyClass, using the 2 provided constructors.
#declare my_instance = new(MyClass, 0, dictionary {.property1 : 0, .property2 :
"text"});
dump(my_instance,)

#declare my_instance2 = new(MyClass, 1, dictionary {.property1 : 0, .property2 :
"text", .offset_ : x + y});
dump(my_instance2, )

// Call all the versions of the overloaded 'method1' method of class 'MyClass'.
call(my_instance.method1,, my_instance, dictionary {.property1 : 0, .property2 :
"text"})
call(my_instance.method1, 1, my_instance, dictionary {.property1 : 0, .property2
: "text", .pigment_ : pigment{Yellow}})

// Call all 'method3' method of class 'MyClass'.
call(my_instance.method2,, my_instance, dictionary {.p1 : <0, 1, 3>})


// == class Derived =========================
#declare Derived = class
(
    "Derived",
    yes,  // has a parent class
    MyClass, // Parent class
    array
    {
        array mixed {"property3", TYPES._vector_} // added property
    },
    array
    {
        "method3" // added method
    }
)

describe(Derived,)

// Instance dump method., used through the 'dump' macro in "oocore.inc".
#macro new_Derived(this, optional params_dict)
    #debug "==> new_Derived()\n"

    super(this,, params_dict)

    #ifdef (local.params_array)
        #local offset_ = check(params_dict.offset_, TYPES._vector_);
    #else
        #local offset_ = 0;
    #end
    #local this.property1 = this.property1 + vlength(offset_);
    #local this.property2 = concat(this.property2, " ", str(2*vlength(offset_),
0, 4));
    #local this.property3 = offset_;

    #debug "<== new_Derived()\n"
#end

#macro Derived_dump(this, indent_level)
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level], "instance of \"", this.class.classname,
"\"\n")
    #debug "{\n"
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".class : ", this.class.classname,
"\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property1 : ", str(this.property1,
0, 0), "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property2 : ", this.property2, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property3 : <", vstr(3,
this.property3, ", ", 0, 6), ">\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method1() : ", this.method1, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method2() : ", this.method2, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method3() : ", this.method3, "\n")
    #debug "}\n"
#end

#macro Derived_method2(this, params_dict)
    #debug "Derived_method2()\n"
#end

#macro Derived_method3(this, params_dict)
    #debug "Derived_method3()\n"
#end
// ===========================================

#declare my_derived_intance = new(Derived,, dictionary {.propery1 : 33,
..property2 : "zorg", .offset_ : <0,1,2>});
dump(my_derived_intance,)


// == class Derived2 =========================
#declare Derived2 = class
(
    "Derived2",
    yes,
    Derived,
    array {}, // no more properties
    array {}  // no more methods
)

describe(Derived2,)

// Instance dump method., used through the 'dump' macro in "oocore.inc".
#macro new_Derived2(this, optional params_dict)
    #debug "==> new_Derived2()\n"

    super(this,, params_dict)

    #debug "<== new_Derived2()\n"
#end

#macro Derived2_dump(this, indent_level)
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level], "instance of \"", this.class.classname,
"\"\n")
    #debug "{\n"
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".class : ", this.class.classname,
"\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property1 : ", str(this.property1,
0, 0), "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property2 : ", this.property2, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".property3 : <", vstr(3,
this.property3, ", ", 0, 6), ">\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method1() : ", this.method1, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method2() : ", this.method2, "\n")
    #debug concat(indent[indent_level+1], ".method3() : ", this.method3, "\n")
    #debug "}\n"
#end

#macro Derived2_method3(this, optional params_dict)
    #debug "Derived2_method3()\n"
#end

// ===========================================

#declare my_derived2_intance = new(Derived2,, dictionary {.property1 : 33,
..property2 : "zorg", .offset_ : <0,1,2>});
dump(my_derived2_intance, 0)
call(my_derived2_intance.method3,, my_derived2_intance,)

#debug concat("isinstance(my_derived2_intance, Derived2) : ",
str(instanceof(my_derived2_intance, Derived2), 0, 0), "\n")
#debug concat("isinstance(my_derived2_intance, Derived) : ",
str(instanceof(my_derived2_intance, Derived), 0, 0), "\n")
#debug concat("isinstance(my_derived2_intance, MyClass) : ",
str(instanceof(my_derived2_intance, MyClass), 0, 0), "\n")

// == class Junk =============================
#declare Junk = class
(
    "Junk",
    yes,
    Derived,
    array {}, // no more properties
    array {}  // no more methods
)

#macro Junk_dump(this, indent_level)
    Derived_dump(this, indent_level)
#end

#macro new_Junk(this, optional params_dict)
    super(this,, params_array)
#end

#debug concat("isinstance(my_derived2_intance, Junk) : ",
str(instanceof(my_derived2_intance, Junk), 0, 0), "\n")

describe(Junk,)

#declare my_junk = new(Junk,,)
dump(my_junk,)

[END]

    +-------------------+
    | PART 2.2 : output |
    +-------------------+

I find all this quite compact. It could be better if the native Sdl had some
specific features. But it does the job as it is. The output of the above code is
teh following :

class MyClass
{
    .classname : MyClass
    .property1 : int
    .property2 : string
    .method1()
    .method2()
}
instance of "MyClass"
{
    .class : MyClass
    .property1 : 0
    .property2 : default string
    .method1() : MyClass_method1
    .method2() : MyClass_method2
}
instance of "MyClass"
{
    .class : MyClass
    .property1 : 1
    .property2 : text 1,1,0,0,0
    .method1() : MyClass_method1
    .method2() : MyClass_method2
}
==> MyClass_method1(p1 = 0 (int), p2 = text (string))
executing ...
this.property1 = 0
this.property2 = "default string"
<== MyClass_method1
==> MyClass_method1_1(p1 = 0 (int), p2 = "text" (string), p3 = pigment {})
executing ...
this.property1 = 0
this.property2 = "default string"
<== MyClass_method1
==> MyClass_method2(p1 = <0, 1, 3> (vector)
executing ...
this.property1 = 0
this.property2 = "default string"
<== MyClass_method2
class Derived
{
    .classname : Derived
    .parent :
        class MyClass
        {
            .classname : MyClass
            .property1 : int
            .property2 : string
            .method1()
            .method2()
        }
    .property3 : vector
    .method3()
}
==> new_Derived()
<== new_Derived()
instance of "Derived"
{
    .class : Derived
    .property1 : 0
    .property2 : default string 0.0000
    .property3 : <0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000>
    .method1() : MyClass_method1
    .method2() : Derived_method2
    .method3() : Derived_method3
}
class Derived2
{
    .classname : Derived2
    .parent :
        class Derived
        {
            .classname : Derived
            .parent :
                class MyClass
                {
                    .classname : MyClass
                    .property1 : int
                    .property2 : string
                    .method1()
                    .method2()
                }
            .property3 : vector
            .method3()
        }
}
==> new_Derived2()
==> new_Derived()
<== new_Derived()
<== new_Derived2()
instance of "Derived2"
{
    .class : Derived2
    .property1 : 0
    .property2 : default string 0.0000
    .property3 : <0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000>
    .method1() : MyClass_method1
    .method2() : Derived_method2
    .method3() : Derived2_method3
}
Derived2_method3()
isinstance(my_derived2_intance, Derived2) : 1
isinstance(my_derived2_intance, Derived) : 1
isinstance(my_derived2_intance, MyClass) : 1
isinstance(my_derived2_intance, Junk) : 0
class Junk
{
    .classname : Junk
    .parent :
        class Derived
    .parent :
        class Derived
        {
            .classname : Derived
            .parent :
                class MyClass
                {
                    .classname : MyClass
                    .property1 : int
                    .property2 : string
                    .method1()
                    .method2()
                }
            .property3 : vector
            .method3()
        }
}
==> new_Derived()
<== new_Derived()
instance of "Junk"
{
    .class : Junk
    .property1 : 0
    .property2 : default string 0.0000
    .property3 : <0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000>
    .method1() : MyClass_method1
    .method2() : Derived_method2
    .method3() : Derived_method3
}

+---------------------------+
| PART 3 : object in scenes |
+---------------------------+

Now, we have classes and some OO features. I went a bit further with objects in
scenes (spheres, boxes, and all others). I designed a set of classes for that
puspose, and the use of them leads to a quite compact code. The definitions are
in a specific include file. As a teaser,, here is a code fragment :

describe(Sphere,)
#declare my_sphere = new
(
    Sphere,,
    dictionary {.center : 1.2*x, .radius_ : 1}
)
setmods
(
    my_sphere,
    dictionary
    {
        .texture_ : pigment {Red},
    }
)
setfinish(my_sphere, finish {specular 0.8 roughness 0.002})
setnormal(my_sphere, normal {crackle 2 scale 0.3})
dump(my_sphere,)
spawn(my_sphere)
dump(my_sphere,)

And let there be the sphere !!

As such, classes for object have no real interest if you just drop objects in
your scene. But, with classes and object-orientedness, one can go further and
implement behaviours, design pattens ...

This post was quite long, therefore, I'll tell more in a next one.

Bruno


Post a reply to this message

From: jr
Subject: Re: PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl
Date: 1 Mar 2022 12:35:00
Message: <web.621e5803dad3a7bbed36e5cb6cde94f1@news.povray.org>
hi,

"Bruno Cabasson" <bru### [at] cabassoncom> wrote:
> [sorry, I pressed the 'post message' by accident ...]
> Hi There!

just a couple of comments and questions.


> ...
> After having #include'ed the appropriate definitions (currently, I have :
> primitives.inc, collections.inc, oocore.inc for the basic OO featues),

I've re-read the post a couple of times, am curious about and try to wrap my
head round the .. substance.  I think it would be very helpful if you could post
a zip with the includes and two or three demonstrations of the OO features,
aimed perhaps at the (snipped, sorry) "3D artists".


> I can write this, as a syntactic example without any other interest :
>
> [START]
> // == class MyClass =========================
> #declare MyClass = class
> (
>     "MyClass", // Name of the class
>     no,        // No parent class
>     None,
>     array      // properties
>     {
>         array mixed {"property1", TYPES._int_},
>         array mixed {"property2", TYPES._string_}
>     },
>     array    // Methods
>     {
>         "method1",
>         "method2"
>     }
> )
> ... here is a code fragment :
> describe(Sphere,)
> #declare my_sphere = new
> (
>     Sphere,,
>     dictionary {.center : 1.2*x, .radius_ : 1}
> )
> setmods
> (
>     my_sphere,
>     dictionary
>     {
>         .texture_ : pigment {Red},
>     }
> )
> setfinish(my_sphere, finish {specular 0.8 roughness 0.002})
> setnormal(my_sphere, normal {crackle 2 scale 0.3})
> dump(my_sphere,)
> spawn(my_sphere)
> dump(my_sphere,)
>
> And let there be the sphere !!

Q - what is the state of the documentation?  because the above isn't exactly
"self-descriptive", I feel I'd want a (detailed) reference to hand.

also, as a potential user I think that's a lot of code to go from object
creation to the "instance".  perhaps the raw OO syntax could/should be hidden
inside wrappers ("syntactic sugar" :-)).


> As such, classes for object have no real interest if you just drop objects in
> your scene. But, with classes and object-orientedness, one can go further and
> implement behaviours, design pattens ...
>
> This post was quite long, therefore, I'll tell more in a next one.

please.  and some "hands-on" example code perhaps?


regards, jr.


Post a reply to this message

From: Bruno Cabasson
Subject: Re: PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl
Date: 1 Mar 2022 18:50:00
Message: <web.621eb00cdad3a7bba03119e524d82e4@news.povray.org>
"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> hi,
>
> "Bruno Cabasson" <bru### [at] cabassoncom> wrote:
> > [sorry, I pressed the 'post message' by accident ...]
> > Hi There!
>
> just a couple of comments and questions.
>
>
> > ...
> > After having #include'ed the appropriate definitions (currently, I have :
> > primitives.inc, collections.inc, oocore.inc for the basic OO featues),
>
> I've re-read the post a couple of times, am curious about and try to wrap my
> head round the .. substance.  I think it would be very helpful if you could post
> a zip with the includes and two or three demonstrations of the OO features,
> aimed perhaps at the (snipped, sorry) "3D artists".
>
>
> > I can write this, as a syntactic example without any other interest :
> >
> > [START]
> > // == class MyClass =========================
> > #declare MyClass = class
> > (
> >     "MyClass", // Name of the class
> >     no,        // No parent class
> >     None,
> >     array      // properties
> >     {
> >         array mixed {"property1", TYPES._int_},
> >         array mixed {"property2", TYPES._string_}
> >     },
> >     array    // Methods
> >     {
> >         "method1",
> >         "method2"
> >     }
> > )
> > ... here is a code fragment :
> > describe(Sphere,)
> > #declare my_sphere = new
> > (
> >     Sphere,,
> >     dictionary {.center : 1.2*x, .radius_ : 1}
> > )
> > setmods
> > (
> >     my_sphere,
> >     dictionary
> >     {
> >         .texture_ : pigment {Red},
> >     }
> > )
> > setfinish(my_sphere, finish {specular 0.8 roughness 0.002})
> > setnormal(my_sphere, normal {crackle 2 scale 0.3})
> > dump(my_sphere,)
> > spawn(my_sphere)
> > dump(my_sphere,)
> >
> > And let there be the sphere !!
>
> Q - what is the state of the documentation?  because the above isn't exactly
> "self-descriptive", I feel I'd want a (detailed) reference to hand.
>
> also, as a potential user I think that's a lot of code to go from object
> creation to the "instance".  perhaps the raw OO syntax could/should be hidden
> inside wrappers ("syntactic sugar" :-)).
>
>
> > As such, classes for object have no real interest if you just drop objects in
> > your scene. But, with classes and object-orientedness, one can go further and
> > implement behaviours, design pattens ...
> >
> > This post was quite long, therefore, I'll tell more in a next one.
>
> please.  and some "hands-on" example code perhaps?
>
>
> regards, jr.

Thanks for reading! I did not provide all my stuff because the post was already
very long. It was just to show the principle. My work is in very, very, very
very early stage and barely a POC. I can provide a WIP just so that the examples
work.

Let me work a little more on it, add more comments in the code, and I publish
all I have so far.

Regards

Bruno


Post a reply to this message

From: kennebel
Subject: Re: PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl
Date: 5 Mar 2022 20:45:00
Message: <web.622410a2dad3a7bbace99571a96b55c3@news.povray.org>
"Bruno Cabasson" <bru### [at] cabassoncom> wrote:
> But it is also a weak point because 3D artists are not programmers
> (to my opinion). So, if the language itself were more 'accessible' to the many,
> perhaps artists would be less reluctant to dive into POV-Ray. To give it a new
> interest, making the language itself more 'attractive' would serve POV-Ray's
> purpose.

I am genuinely curious if you have worked with digital artists before.

2 jobs ago for me, I ran the IT department for a small digital art studio. Had
about 25 artists doing 2D and 3D work. For our software inventory we had Maya,
3DS Max, Adobe Creative Suite, ZBrush, Unity 3D, and so many plug ins (around
200 or so covering effects, pipeline management, and other utilities). The
company did a mix of legal cases, marketing, movie work (as a secondary
studio), and other things.

Any conversation with the artists, if it didn't start with how the tool worked
with their Wacom tablet and special smart pens, was a non-starter. The tablet
was closest to the artist, keyboard was in between the tablet and monitor (not
easy to type on, for occasional shortcuts), the mouse was pushed off to the
side. It was amazing how much work they could do with the smart pen buttons and
the buttons on the tablet.

Basically at no point will a language change entice the artistic folks
unfortunately. The artists have tens of thousands of hours on their tablets,
practically extensions of their will, and all of the plugins available for the
other tools. Tools like Blender that are similar to what they already use has
almost no adoption because it lacks the pipeline and plugins.

I really like the direction of your ideas for extending the language. I would
like to see new changes like this to be a super set of the SDL. Meaning, like
C++ or Typescript, you can use the classic SDL (c or javascript), or you can use
the advanced syntax for more complex efforts.


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From: Bruno Cabasson
Subject: Re: PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl
Date: 6 Mar 2022 12:20:00
Message: <web.6224ece3dad3a7bb7283012224d82e4@news.povray.org>
"kennebel" <jac### [at] kennebelcom> wrote:
> "Bruno Cabasson" <bru### [at] cabassoncom> wrote:
> > But it is also a weak point because 3D artists are not programmers
> > (to my opinion). So, if the language itself were more 'accessible' to the many,
> > perhaps artists would be less reluctant to dive into POV-Ray. To give it a new
> > interest, making the language itself more 'attractive' would serve POV-Ray's
> > purpose.
>
> I am genuinely curious if you have worked with digital artists before.
>
> 2 jobs ago for me, I ran the IT department for a small digital art studio. Had
> about 25 artists doing 2D and 3D work. For our software inventory we had Maya,
> 3DS Max, Adobe Creative Suite, ZBrush, Unity 3D, and so many plug ins (around
> 200 or so covering effects, pipeline management, and other utilities). The
> company did a mix of legal cases, marketing, movie work (as a secondary
> studio), and other things.
>
> Any conversation with the artists, if it didn't start with how the tool worked
> with their Wacom tablet and special smart pens, was a non-starter. The tablet
> was closest to the artist, keyboard was in between the tablet and monitor (not
> easy to type on, for occasional shortcuts), the mouse was pushed off to the
> side. It was amazing how much work they could do with the smart pen buttons and
> the buttons on the tablet.
>
> Basically at no point will a language change entice the artistic folks
> unfortunately. The artists have tens of thousands of hours on their tablets,
> practically extensions of their will, and all of the plugins available for the
> other tools. Tools like Blender that are similar to what they already use has
> almost no adoption because it lacks the pipeline and plugins.
>
> I really like the direction of your ideas for extending the language. I would
> like to see new changes like this to be a super set of the SDL. Meaning, like
> C++ or Typescript, you can use the classic SDL (c or javascript), or you can use
> the advanced syntax for more complex efforts.

Hi! Thanks for your comments. Indeed.

As a former software engineer in the space industry for 30 years, I did not work
with 3D artists. Just POVing for fun for years (since ... I do not remember) and
having an eye to 3D world, watching tutorials by curiousity and intellectual
challenge.

A few years back, I was thinking about writing some Python classes, close to
Sdl, that could permit you to describe your scenes and, in fine, generate POV
code. The quite new dictionary data structure gave me the idea that it could
eventually be possible to describe classes and  instances with dictionaries in
Sdl itself. So I had it a try.

Currently, I am unit-testing my core PROOF code. Then, I will try to write some
illustrative examples of how to use classes to improve and extend POV obects as
well as their behaviour. For example, I can imagine classes that helps you
visualize Bounding Boxes (if useful), place your objects in your scenes (use of
trace(), which cannot be done outside the parser without rewriting intersection
test code), implement animation features like attach timelines to properties,
event-driven behaviours (through subscriptions for example ...), whatsoever. I
am also thinking of a basic physics package ... why not.

In addition, having MegaPOV's motion blur, UberPOV's unbiased radiosity
(no_cache keyword) would increase the scope of POV-Sdl compared to other 3D
softwares. Also, some practical tools like the old 'spilin' spline generator
would be welcome if shipped (with due credits) with POV-Ray (or integrated to
it).

Again, what I can write in POV-Sdl, the parser could do it natevly with
apropriate evolutions.

Regards

    Bruno

PS : A few time ago, many of us were thinking of GPU computing. This has been
discussed many times.


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From: kennebel
Subject: Re: PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl
Date: 6 Mar 2022 13:50:00
Message: <web.62250192dad3a7bbace99571a96b55c3@news.povray.org>
"Bruno Cabasson" <bru### [at] cabassoncom> wrote:
....
> Currently, I am unit-testing my core PROOF code. Then, I will try to write some
> illustrative examples of how to use classes to improve and extend POV obects as
> well as their behaviour. For example, I can imagine classes that helps you
> visualize Bounding Boxes (if useful), place your objects in your scenes (use of
> trace(), which cannot be done outside the parser without rewriting intersection
> test code), implement animation features like attach timelines to properties,
> event-driven behaviours (through subscriptions for example ...), whatsoever. I
> am also thinking of a basic physics package ... why not.
....
> Again, what I can write in POV-Sdl, the parser could do it natevly with
> apropriate evolutions.

These all sound like great ideas.

I was worried I might sound negative in my comments, just my experiences with
artists.

One of the reasons I like your ideas is that being a developer and extreme long
time POV-Ray user myself, having more logic expression sounds great for complex
scene generation.


Post a reply to this message

From: Bruno Cabasson
Subject: Re: PROOF : Pov Ray Object Oriented Features : an attempt on classes in Sdl
Date: 23 Mar 2022 05:54:39
Message: <623aee5f$1@news.povray.org>
Le 06/03/2022 à 19:46, kennebel a écrit :
> "Bruno Cabasson" <bru### [at] cabassoncom> wrote:
> ....
>> Currently, I am unit-testing my core PROOF code. Then, I will try to write some
>> illustrative examples of how to use classes to improve and extend POV obects as
>> well as their behaviour. For example, I can imagine classes that helps you
>> visualize Bounding Boxes (if useful), place your objects in your scenes (use of
>> trace(), which cannot be done outside the parser without rewriting intersection
>> test code), implement animation features like attach timelines to properties,
>> event-driven behaviours (through subscriptions for example ...), whatsoever. I
>> am also thinking of a basic physics package ... why not.
> ....
>> Again, what I can write in POV-Sdl, the parser could do it natevly with
>> apropriate evolutions.
> 
> These all sound like great ideas.
> 
> I was worried I might sound negative in my comments, just my experiences with
> artists.
> 
> One of the reasons I like your ideas is that being a developer and extreme long
> time POV-Ray user myself, having more logic expression sounds great for complex
> scene generation.
> 

Hi.

See my last WIP in p.b.s-f (2 posts).

Regards

-- 
L'absence de virus dans ce courrier électronique a été vérifiée par le logiciel
antivirus Avast.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus


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