Tag Archives: POV-Ray
I’ve been mentioning, and even writing about, POV-Ray for a while now. It and I go back quite a few years, and — as with many of my long-time hobbies — it’s something I’ll pick up and get really into for a while. Then, after some period, which varies considerably, I’ll exhaust my interest, and back it goes onto the shelf (which is not the same as onto the back burner).
This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve picked it up, but the first time I’ve really gotten into it. It’s been fun and very productive (all this retirement free time is awesome). I make no claim for being any good at creating mind-blowing scenes (but I’m working on it). I do, however, have a couple process tricks that have made my life easier, and I thought I’d share them.
This first one is about managing camera positions.
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3 Comments | tags: camera angle, camera position, cameras, INI file, multiple cameras, POV file, POV-Ray, scene | posted in Computers, Sideband
November shouldn’t pass with just the one post. I intended a post last Science Fiction Saturday to rave about the new Doctor Who episode (celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who), but the day slipped to Sunday before I got the writing motor started. I’ll rave about it now: it was really, really good! A wonderful, delightful milestone marker and, as always, built on a damn good story.
I’ve not been idle lately! Dedicated post-retirement loafing finally shook the work dust off my shoes, and I’ve gotten back into personal project work. Seriously into it. In the 16-hour sessions, sleep and eating are unwelcome distractions, not knowing what time of day (let alone what day of the week) it is sense of seriously.
And I read some really good vampire novels!
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11 Comments | tags: Amy Heckerling, Berserker series, Bram Stoker, Chelsea Yarbro, computer generated images, computer programming, Count Dracula, Doctor Who, Fred Saberhagen, Johnny Dangerously, POV-Ray, Python, science fiction, vampires | posted in Books, Computers, Movies, Sci-Fi Saturday, TV
As reported earlier, this week got off to a rough start. I let my guard down (foolishly) and got nabbed by the greedy PC rapists. All I wanted was to find a particular font for a project. The next day a more careful search turned up exactly what I needed, the fonts and just the fonts (ma’am).
Monday I mentioned that I planned to share my font-needing project with you. It’s not finished (many of my projects live a long time as I tweak them — some are living things that grow and improve forever). But it turned out so much better than I expected, I just had to share it with you this Science Fiction Saturday.
I’m also going to boldly try a new WordPress blogging trick!
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10 Comments | tags: 3D, 3D images, CGI, computer generated images, ffmpeg, mp4, NCC-1701, POV-Ray, Star Trek, TOS, USS Enterprise | posted in Computers, Sci-Fi Saturday, TV
Those who know me know that I’m not big on calendar holidays. Even my birthday tends to pass without fanfare. That comes from being single, the island that supposedly no one is. After a lifetime of Christmas and New Years’ being ordinary days, you get used to it.
But I do honor the Solar Event Days because (as I’ve mentioned many times) light is so important to me (and because I’m a geek). Christmas may not mean much to me, but the Winter Solstice does! The days finally start getting longer! Summer Solstice is a day of mourning for the opposite reason.
Today — the Autumnal Equinox — marks the halfway point.
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9 Comments | tags: autumnal equinox, Earth, equinox, fall, moon, POV-Ray, summer, Sun, winter | posted in Basics, Science
I’ve been playing with Python and POV-Ray, catching up on movies, enjoying the continued nice weather, and even getting in some reading. Yet it’s still weird how little I seem to get done considering the days are all mine. (And I still haven’t fully shaken the sense that all this free time ends at some point.)
For now, I plan to focus on project work—the previously mentioned Python and POV-Ray playing—so there may be a pause in the posting while I putter (possibly a plethora of pauses). Please stay tuned!
In the meantime, I have some questions:
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28 Comments | tags: atheism, Joy, meaning, POV-Ray, purpose, Python, spirituality, suffering, theism | posted in Basics, Life, Philosophy, Religion, Science
Speaking of Happiness Moments, I finished my POV-Ray Tardis project. More accurately, I finished the first phase. The beauty of something like this is being able to return to it later and add details or make improvements. Sometimes there’s a new trick to be added.
That happens on programming projects, too. Exposure to the Smalltalk and Lisp communities gave me a view of code as a living thing that evolves (sometimes daily) as all living things do.
I’ll write about that sometime, but today I just want to show off my Tardis!
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15 Comments | tags: CGI, computer generated images, Dr Who, POV-Ray, TARDIS | posted in Computers
This is a bit of a drive-by posting. (Look at it this way: “Oh, goodie: more pictures!”)
I confess part of my distraction these days is being caught up playing with POV-Ray (which I’ve described quite a bit recently). Boy with a toy, I guess, but it’s just so much fun! It does open some great doors for blog illustrations down the road, so it’s worth building some degree of skill. (Plus, did I mention the fun?)
So just to keep my hand in posting-wise (it is so easy to get out of the habit), here are some pictures of what I’ve been working on while I’ve been ignoring you.
Bonus points if you know the post’s title reference!
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4 Comments | tags: planets, POV-Ray | posted in Computers, Life
By all indicators (page reads, Likes, comments), most of my readers don’t find POV-Ray quite as interesting as I do. That’s too bad, because I’ve finally decided on a theme for this blog. It’s going to be all-POV-Ray all the time! Think of the fun we’ll have!
Yes, of course I’m kidding. Anyone who knows me at all (hello, have you met me?) would know better. Me, one topic? It is to laugh. Out loud. (Honestly, I don’t know how mono-topical bloggers do it.)
But I do promise this is the last post — for now — about POV-Ray. We’ll just swing by the gift shop, and then move on to other things.
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5 Comments | tags: bar stool, BOOL Engine, EPS conduit, pool balls, POV-Ray, ray tracing | posted in Computers, Sideband
Take a seat! (click for big)
As promised last time, my simple tour of POV-Ray continues with some examples a bit more interesting than an abacus stone or a box with holes in it. Time to move beyond a bunch of teal-colored spheres! (How about a bunch of hunter-green cones?)
I think it’s nice to have a place to sit while I lecture, so I’m going to use my digital woodworking set to provide a bar stool (and maybe a beer). The beauty of the virtual world is that , well, free stools (and maybe beers) for everybody.
Because I don’t just make a stool. I make a thing that makes stools.
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Leave a comment | tags: bar stool, constructive geometry, POV-Ray, ray tracing | posted in Computers, Sideband
Recently I took you on a tour of a virtual theatre I “built” to help illustrate a post about light and color. It’s virtual because it wasn’t built with wood or metal or rock, but only with 100% natural electrons grown in the U.S.A. (free range; no pesticides or antibiotics).
I also showed you some smaller objects I built with the same tool: a freeware ray tracing application, called POV-Ray. The application is a “rendering engine.” It takes your design and renders it as a 3D image, complete with textures, shadows, reflections and a variety of other life-like effects.
Today I’m going to take you down into the engine room!
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3 Comments | tags: constructive geometry, POV-Ray, ray tracing | posted in Computers, Sideband
Logos con carne 