I have previously used POV unders Windows and got on quite well with it.
I am new to Linux and thought having POV on it would encourage me
to use it. I installed the system following the instructions provided.

I created very simple scene (copied from 'Ray Tracing Creations') and
ran this command line:

  x-povray +W120 +H90 +Ifirst.pov +Ofirst.tga +V (also from the book)

Everything appeared to work but the resulting TGA could not be opened
with any image viewers under Linux or Windows. The same appears to be
true of PNG and JPG. I didn't try anything else.

Also, is x-povray supposed to give me a nice image to look at while its
working? Perhaps my test was too small/quick for this.

Thanks for any help.


Arnold the Aardvark

Post a reply to this message

Arnold the Aardvark wrote:

> I have previously used POV unders Windows and got on quite well with it.
> I am new to Linux and thought having POV on it would encourage me
> to use it. I installed the system following the instructions provided.
> 
> I created very simple scene (copied from 'Ray Tracing Creations') and
> ran this command line:
> 
>   x-povray +W120 +H90 +Ifirst.pov +Ofirst.tga +V (also from the book)
> 

This looks fine so far...

> Everything appeared to work but the resulting TGA could not be opened
> with any image viewers under Linux or Windows. The same appears to be
> true of PNG and JPG. I didn't try anything else.

... but my guess is that POV-Ray actually did not save the image in TGA 
format. If you do not especially specify the file format with the command 
line or an .ini file POV-Ray takes the 'system default'... and this is PPM 
with unix OS. You can set the output file format using the swith +F... e.g. 
+FT or +FC for getting un/compressed targa. See the docs about this. Also 
note that the -o switch just specifies the name and has nothing to do with 
the file format; actually you better leave it away, then POV automatically 
sets the appropriate file format extension.

> 
> Also, is x-povray supposed to give me a nice image to look at while its
> working? Perhaps my test was too small/quick for this.

Yes, it is. Maybe you need to set the '+D' switch. It's best to make a 
default .ini file with the basic settings, e.g. I have a file 'pov31.ini' 
which contains:

Display_Gamma = 2.4
Library_Path=/home/micha/povsources/include/
Output_File_Name= /home/micha/povpics/
-w320
-h240
+D
+FC

and then use on the command line:
x-povray pov31.ini -i myscenefile.pov

> 
> Thanks for any help.

Hope this helps.

- Micha

Post a reply to this message

Micha Riser wrote:

> Yes, it is. Maybe you need to set the '+D' switch. It's best to make a
> default .ini file with the basic settings, e.g. I have a file 'pov31.ini'
> which contains:
>
> Display_Gamma = 2.4
> Library_Path=/home/micha/povsources/include/
> Output_File_Name= /home/micha/povpics/
> -w320
> -h240
> +D
> +FC
>
> and then use on the command line:
> x-povray pov31.ini -i myscenefile.pov

I often like to add these when I'm working on a scene:

 +SP128 +EP8

That gives a nice mosaic at the begining.


--
Wind the Frog!

Post a reply to this message

Arnold the Aardvark <aar### [at] notthistubulidentatademoncouk> wrote:
:   x-povray +W120 +H90 +Ifirst.pov +Ofirst.tga +V (also from the book)

  Instead of having to write all this, you could write this to your
$HOME/.povrayrc file:

+fn +d +v +mb3

  Then you can render the image with just:

x-povray -i first -w120 -h90

  It will create a PNG with the same name as the pov file (ie. "first.png").

-- 
#macro N(D,I)#if(I<6)cylinder{M()#local D[I]=div(D[I],104);M().5,2pigment{
rgb M()}}N(D,(D[I]>99?I:I+1))#end#end#macro M()<mod(D[I],13)-6,mod(div(D[I
],13),8)-3,10>#end blob{N(array[6]{11117333955,
7382340,3358,3900569407,970,4254934330},0)}//                     - Warp -

Post a reply to this message

> Arnold the Aardvark

any relation to C64 character of similar name?


--
Rick

Kitty5 WebDesign - http://Kitty5.com
POV-Ray News & Resources - http://Povray.co.uk
TEL : +44 (01270) 501101 - FAX : +44 (01270) 251105 - ICQ : 15776037

PGP Public Key
http://pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x231E1CEA

Post a reply to this message

> any relation to C64 character of similar name?

If so then only indirectly because that's where someone else got it from.
I heard the name at college and it amused me - a weird animal and
comical alliteration all at once. I always use it in newsgroups because
I am a little sad.

Arnold the Aardvark a.k.a. Alan Chambers

Post a reply to this message

Thanks. I think you hit the nail on the head. I'll see when I get home.

Arnold the Aardvark

Post a reply to this message

On Fri, 7 Sep 2001 12:59:48 +0100, "Arnold the Aardvark"
<aar### [at] foxhollydemoncouk> wrote:

>I heard the name at college and it amused me - a weird animal and
>comical alliteration all at once. 

The first real (i.e. not "a") word in any respectable dictionary, too
:)


Peter Popov ICQ : 15002700
Personal e-mail : pet### [at] vipbg
TAG      e-mail : pet### [at] tagpovrayorg

Post a reply to this message

> I created very simple scene (copied from 'Ray Tracing Creations') and
> ran this command line:
> 
>   x-povray +W120 +H90 +Ifirst.pov +Ofirst.tga +V (also from the book)
> 
> Everything appeared to work but the resulting TGA could not be opened
> with any image viewers under Linux or Windows. The same appears to be
> true of PNG and JPG. I didn't try anything else.

The +O option to x-povray tells it to send its standard output to the 
named file.  The standard output is the messages that scroll when 
x-povray runs.  To send the image output to first.tga, use +ofirst.tga.
Read the manual page for more information (man x-povray or man povray).

> Also, is x-povray supposed to give me a nice image to look at while its
> working? Perhaps my test was too small/quick for this.

I don't have x-povray on my system, but if it is supposed to display an 
image window by default, make sure that you are running x-povray from an 
X Window System display (not in a virtual terminal) and that you are 
running the x-povray process as the same user who is logged in to the X 
display.  Again, see the manual page for information on command line 
options that may affect displaying.

Jeff Bonham

Post a reply to this message

Jeff Bonham <sil### [at] reconfignet> wrote:
: The +O option to x-povray tells it to send its standard output to the 
: named file.  The standard output is the messages that scroll when 
: x-povray runs.  To send the image output to first.tga, use +ofirst.tga.

  Why use the +O option at all? If anything, you will just shoot yourself
in the foot if you happen to specify a different file type name than what
povray is actually generating (eg. if povray generates a png image and you
save it as "first.tga", you'll end up having a png image named as a tga
image, and most programs will not work with that).
  Let povray save with the default name (which is the same name is the
.pov file but changing ".pov" with the proper image type).

: I don't have x-povray on my system, but if it is supposed to display an 
: image window by default

  POV-Ray doesn't show the image by default. You have to enable it with +d
(eg. in $HOME/.povrayrc).

-- 
#macro N(D,I)#if(I<6)cylinder{M()#local D[I]=div(D[I],104);M().5,2pigment{
rgb M()}}N(D,(D[I]>99?I:I+1))#end#end#macro M()<mod(D[I],13)-6,mod(div(D[I
],13),8)-3,10>#end blob{N(array[6]{11117333955,
7382340,3358,3900569407,970,4254934330},0)}//                     - Warp -

Post a reply to this message