POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.unofficial.patches : Patch Newbie asks about blob2 Server Time
1 Jun 2024 08:37:45 EDT (-0400)
  Patch Newbie asks about blob2 (Message 1 to 9 of 9)  
From: gregjohn
Subject: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 08:00:04
Message: <web.3ff0248413238e8d3a5fb9ba0@news.povray.org>
I haven't touched MegaPov since 0.7, and that was pre-3.5. I studied several
posts and went to several forum participant's web sites.  I've found a few
patches on the internet, including:

http://megapov.inetart.net/features.html


My main interest is in the blob2 patch, given that I've been working with
blob-based people.  IIMSS, the original blob system gives for ugly
muscles-- a sphere on the middle of a cylinder doesn't look all that
organic.   I think I'll wait until blob2 is "stablized" and added to the
"main MegaPOV" before getting my feet wet with the patches again.  AFAICS,
it's not there yet.

I appreciate that this is a freeware system set up by folks in their free
time, that software development of this type ain't done to a fixed
schedule, yada yada yada.

1) Is the blob2 patch already released.
2) Is it stabilized-- syntax stabilized?
3) Is it on a "main branch" of MegaPov?


Greg M. Johnson


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From: Christopher James Huff
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 08:25:59
Message: <cjameshuff-A4A7AF.08260929122003@netplex.aussie.org>
In article <web.3ff0248413238e8d3a5fb9ba0@news.povray.org>,
 "gregjohn" <pte### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

> 1) Is the blob2 patch already released.

An early version is.


> 2) Is it stabilized-- syntax stabilized?

The syntax is stable. Any additions will remain compatible with the 
current syntax. The internal code is still being worked on, and some 
features are still missing (per component textures, for one). Another 
thing that needs to be done eventually is some sort of bounding system...


> 3) Is it on a "main branch" of MegaPov?

No. It currently only exists in MegaPOV+, my own little development 
branch.

-- 
Christopher James Huff <cja### [at] earthlinknet>
http://home.earthlink.net/~cjameshuff/
POV-Ray TAG: <chr### [at] tagpovrayorg>
http://tag.povray.org/


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From: Christoph Hormann
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 08:39:00
Message: <k1n5c1-a3f.ln1@triton.imagico.de>
gregjohn wrote:
> [...]
> 
> 1) Is the blob2 patch already released.

Yes, see:

http://home.earthlink.net/~cjameshuff/files/mpp1.0_1release.tar.gz

> 2) Is it stabilized-- syntax stabilized?

The syntax is fairly simple so it probably will not be changed much 
although it could be extended of course.  AFAIK there are still several 
problems leading to unexpected results but for many things the patch is 
fairly usable.

> 3) Is it on a "main branch" of MegaPov?

No.

The past threads in this group about the blob2 patch reveral some of the 
reasons.  It would be great to have it included for sure so i encourage 
Samuel's and others' attempts to improve it.

Note that the release of the next MegaPOV depends on the next official 
POV-Ray release so the fact that there has not been any new version for 
about a year does not mean that much.  More frequent releases would for 
sure be good for introducing new patches like blob2.  We (the megapov 
team) are not happy with the situation either but we have only very 
limited influence on this.

Christoph

-- 
POV-Ray tutorials, include files, Sim-POV,
HCR-Edit and more: http://www.tu-bs.de/~y0013390/
Last updated 25 Oct. 2003 _____./\/^>_*_<^\/\.______


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From: gregjohn
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 08:50:03
Message: <web.3ff030aaaab656913a5fb9ba0@news.povray.org>
Okay, thanks, all.   Could someone whet my appetite by posting a simple
sphere on a cylinder-- just using one sphere and one cylinder, try to make
a bicep on an arm.


Christoph Hormann wrote:
>
>http://home.earthlink.net/~cjameshuff/files/mpp1.0_1release.tar.gz
>
>

Stupid PCuser Question:  will a PC open a .gz file??


>
> Note that the release of the next MegaPOV depends on the next official
> POV-Ray release so the fact that there has not been any new version for
> about a year does not mean that much.
>


Really? Why is that?  I thought it was just a bunch of folks tinkering and
when it was presentable it was shared. Are you limited by the release of
4.0??


Greg M. Johnson


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From: ABX
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 09:13:11
Message: <bfc0vvs999bc68i68ig0p1k1ok97vvdpgs@4ax.com>
On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 08:48:26 EST, "gregjohn" <pte### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> > http://home.earthlink.net/~cjameshuff/files/mpp1.0_1release.tar.gz
>
> Stupid PCuser Question:  will a PC open a .gz file??

Usually PC means Personal Computer (hardware) which can be driven by some
operating system (OS). So you would like to know: "will my OS open a .gz
file??" probably. But then OS is just set of drivers, applications and some
core with API to perform cooperation of various application on PC. So more
probably is: "is there some application installed within OS located on your PC
to open a .gz file??". But still not precize. Even if it is there it could be
one of inactive OSes on your PC, and moreover such application can be still
unknown for you because installed silently but other application.

Good news, usually .zip readers undesrtand .gz files too. Try Total Commander
from www.ghisler.com (it shows hidden files and directories so perhaps it will
solve other problem mentioned in off-topic recently). 

> > Note that the release of the next MegaPOV depends on the next official
> > POV-Ray release so the fact that there has not been any new version for
> > about a year does not mean that much.
>
> Really? Why is that?

Because we tried to make it's development faster. After MP 1.0 we switched to
source tree of POV-Ray and synchronized. Now we can't be earlier with release
than still developed POV-Ray. Probably we will never repeat such mistake again
but now rewerting to old source tree would be veeery difficoult and IMHO
wasting of time.

> I thought it was just a bunch of folks tinkering and
> when it was presentable it was shared.

You thought right.

> Are you limited by the release of 4.0??

We are not limited by the release of 4.0.

ABX


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From: Christoph Hormann
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 10:32:03
Message: <evt5c1-jk5.ln1@triton.imagico.de>
gregjohn wrote:
>>http://home.earthlink.net/~cjameshuff/files/mpp1.0_1release.tar.gz
> 
> Stupid PCuser Question:  will a PC open a .gz file??

I would assume that if you don't know how to handle a .tar.gz file you 
will have difficulties compiling POV-Ray...  Note this package contains 
the source code and not a Windows binary.

>>Note that the release of the next MegaPOV depends on the next official
>>POV-Ray release so the fact that there has not been any new version for
>>about a year does not mean that much.
> 
> Really? Why is that?  I thought it was just a bunch of folks tinkering and
> when it was presentable it was shared. Are you limited by the release of
> 4.0??

This has nothing to do with 4.0, we just have adopted the changes made 
in the official POV before they are actually released for various 
reasons.  This of course has the unintended side effect to prevent a 
release at the moment but on the other hand there would be a lot of work 
integrating patches after the official release otherwise.

Christoph

-- 
POV-Ray tutorials, include files, Sim-POV,
HCR-Edit and more: http://www.tu-bs.de/~y0013390/
Last updated 25 Oct. 2003 _____./\/^>_*_<^\/\.______


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From: gregjohn
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 11:00:04
Message: <web.3ff04eb8aab656913a5fb9ba0@news.povray.org>
Christoph Hormann wrote:
>
> I would assume that if you don't know how to handle a .tar.gz file you
> will have difficulties compiling POV-Ray...  Note this package contains
> the source code and not a Windows binary.
>

Oh, it's still in the roll-your-own stage. (Not that there's anything wrong
with that).

And "PC", at least in the vernacular of the American catalogs I've been
exposed to, means "not a Mac."


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From: Christoph Hormann
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 11:22:07
Message: <8l06c1-s4f.ln1@triton.imagico.de>
gregjohn wrote:
> 
> And "PC", at least in the vernacular of the American catalogs I've been
> exposed to, means "not a Mac."
> 

Well, .tar.gz is Unix and Unix is neither PC nor non-PC (or both PC and 
non-PC if you want so).

Christoph

-- 
POV-Ray tutorials, include files, Sim-POV,
HCR-Edit and more: http://www.tu-bs.de/~y0013390/
Last updated 25 Oct. 2003 _____./\/^>_*_<^\/\.______


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From: Christopher James Huff
Subject: Re: Patch Newbie asks about blob2
Date: 29 Dec 2003 14:23:06
Message: <cjameshuff-A8B91E.14231729122003@netplex.aussie.org>
In article <web.3ff04eb8aab656913a5fb9ba0@news.povray.org>,
 "gregjohn" <pte### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

> And "PC", at least in the vernacular of the American catalogs I've been
> exposed to, means "not a Mac."

The Windows community has kind of hijacked the term, but PC means 
personal computer, as opposed to a mainframe, a server, etc. *.tar.gz 
files are common on Unix-like systems such as Mac OS X, which happens to 
be the OS I use. It hasn't been included in an official release of 
MegaPOV, but then, there hasn't been such a release since the patch was 
created.

As for useability of the patch: the solver needs some tweaking, but from 
the testing I've done, it works well with spherical, cylinderical, and 
toroidal components.

-- 
Christopher James Huff <cja### [at] earthlinknet>
http://home.earthlink.net/~cjameshuff/
POV-Ray TAG: <chr### [at] tagpovrayorg>
http://tag.povray.org/


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