<!-- This file copyright Persistence of Vision Raytracer Pty. Ltd. 2003-2004 --> <html> <head> <!-- NOTE: In order to users to help find information about POV-Ray using --> <!-- web search engines, we ask you to *not* let them index documentation --> <!-- mirrors because effectively, when searching, users will get hundreds --> <!-- of results containing the same information! For this reason, the two --> <!-- meta tags below disable archiving and indexing of this page by all --> <!-- search engines that support these meta tags. --> <meta content="noarchive" name="robots"> <meta content="noindex" name="robots"> <meta content="no-cache" http-equiv="Pragma"> <meta content="0" http-equiv="expires"> <title>2 Introduction to POV-Ray</title> <link href="povray35.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> </head> <body> <table class="NavBar" width="100%"> <tr> <td align="left" nowrap="" valign="middle" width="32"> <a href="s_46.html"><img alt="previous" border="0" src="prev.png"></a> </td> <td align="left" valign="middle" width="30%"> <a href="s_46.html">1.8.5 Render Quality</a> </td> <td align="center" valign="middle"> <strong class="NavBar">POV-Ray 3.6 for UNIX documentation</strong><br> <strong>2 Introduction to POV-Ray</strong> </td> <td align="right" valign="middle" width="30%"> <a href="s_48.html">2.1 Introduction</a> </td> <td align="right" nowrap="" valign="middle" width="32"> <a href="s_48.html"><img alt="next" border="0" src="next.png"></a> </td> </tr> </table> <h1><a name="s02">2 </a>Introduction to POV-Ray</h1> <p><strong> Section Contents </strong> <ul> <li> <a href="s_48.html#s02_01">2.1 Introduction</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_49.html#s02_01_01">2.1.1 Program Description</a> <li> <a href="s_50.html#s02_01_02">2.1.2 What is Ray-Tracing?</a> <li> <a href="s_51.html#s02_01_03">2.1.3 What is POV-Ray?</a> <li> <a href="s_52.html#s02_01_04">2.1.4 Features</a> <li> <a href="s_53.html#s02_01_05">2.1.5 The Early History of POV-Ray</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_53.html#s02_01_05_01">2.1.5.1 The Original Creation Message</a> <li> <a href="s_53.html#s02_01_05_02">2.1.5.2 The Name</a> <li> <a href="s_53.html#s02_01_05_03">2.1.5.3 A Historic 'Version History'</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_54.html#s02_01_06">2.1.6 How Do I Begin?</a> <li> <a href="s_55.html#s02_01_07">2.1.7 Notation and Basic Assumptions</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_56.html#s02_02">2.2 Getting Started</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_57.html#s02_02_01">2.2.1 Our First Image</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_57.html#s02_02_01_01">2.2.1.1 Understanding POV-Ray's Coordinate System</a> <li> <a href="s_57.html#s02_02_01_02">2.2.1.2 Adding Standard Include Files</a> <li> <a href="s_57.html#s02_02_01_03">2.2.1.3 Adding a Camera</a> <li> <a href="s_57.html#s02_02_01_04">2.2.1.4 Describing an Object</a> <li> <a href="s_57.html#s02_02_01_05">2.2.1.5 Adding Texture to an Object</a> <li> <a href="s_57.html#s02_02_01_06">2.2.1.6 Defining a Light Source</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_58.html#s02_02_02">2.2.2 Basic Shapes</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_58.html#s02_02_02_01">2.2.2.1 Box Object</a> <li> <a href="s_58.html#s02_02_02_02">2.2.2.2 Cone Object</a> <li> <a href="s_58.html#s02_02_02_03">2.2.2.3 Cylinder Object</a> <li> <a href="s_58.html#s02_02_02_04">2.2.2.4 Plane Object</a> <li> <a href="s_58.html#s02_02_02_05">2.2.2.5 Torus Object</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03">2.2.3 CSG Objects</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03_01">2.2.3.1 What is CSG?</a> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03_02">2.2.3.2 CSG Union</a> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03_03">2.2.3.3 CSG Intersection</a> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03_04">2.2.3.4 CSG Difference</a> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03_05">2.2.3.5 CSG Merge</a> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03_06">2.2.3.6 CSG Pitfalls</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_59.html#s02_02_03_06_01">2.2.3.6.1 Co-incident Surfaces</a> </ul> </ul> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04">2.2.4 The Light Source</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_01">2.2.4.1 The Pointlight Source</a> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_02">2.2.4.2 The Spotlight Source</a> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_03">2.2.4.3 The Cylindrical Light Source</a> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_04">2.2.4.4 The Area Light Source</a> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_05">2.2.4.5 The Ambient Light Source</a> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_06">2.2.4.6 Light Source Specials</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_06_01">2.2.4.6.1 Using Shadowless Lights</a> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_06_02">2.2.4.6.2 Assigning an Object to a Light Source</a> <li> <a href="s_60.html#s02_02_04_06_03">2.2.4.6.3 Using Light Fading</a> </ul> </ul> <li> <a href="s_61.html#s02_02_05">2.2.5 Simple Texture Options</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_61.html#s02_02_05_01">2.2.5.1 Surface Finishes</a> <li> <a href="s_61.html#s02_02_05_02">2.2.5.2 Adding Bumpiness</a> <li> <a href="s_61.html#s02_02_05_03">2.2.5.3 Creating Color Patterns</a> <li> <a href="s_61.html#s02_02_05_04">2.2.5.4 Pre-defined Textures</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_62.html#s02_02_06">2.2.6 Using the Camera</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_62.html#s02_02_06_01">2.2.6.1 Using Focal Blur</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07">2.2.7 POV-Ray Coordinate System</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_01">2.2.7.1 Transformations</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_01_01">2.2.7.1.1 Translate</a> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_01_02">2.2.7.1.2 Scale</a> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_01_03">2.2.7.1.3 Rotate</a> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_01_04">2.2.7.1.4 Matrix</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_02">2.2.7.2 Transformation Order</a> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_03">2.2.7.3 Inverse Transform</a> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_04">2.2.7.4 Transform Identifiers</a> <li> <a href="s_63.html#s02_02_07_05">2.2.7.5 Transforming Textures and Objects</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_64.html#s02_02_08">2.2.8 Setting POV-Ray Options</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_64.html#s02_02_08_01">2.2.8.1 Command Line Switches</a> <li> <a href="s_64.html#s02_02_08_02">2.2.8.2 Using INI Files</a> <li> <a href="s_64.html#s02_02_08_03">2.2.8.3 Using the POVINI Environment Variable</a> </ul> </ul> <li> <a href="s_65.html#s02_03">2.3 Advanced Features</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01">2.3.1 Spline Based Shapes</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_01">2.3.1.1 Lathe Object</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_01_01">2.3.1.1.1 Understanding The Concept of Splines</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_02">2.3.1.2 Surface of Revolution Object</a> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_03">2.3.1.3 Prism Object</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_03_01">2.3.1.3.1 Teaching An Old Spline New Tricks</a> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_03_02">2.3.1.3.2 Smooth Transitions</a> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_03_03">2.3.1.3.3 Multiple Sub-Shapes</a> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_03_04">2.3.1.3.4 Conic Sweeps And The Tapering Effect</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_04">2.3.1.4 Sphere Sweep Object</a> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_05">2.3.1.5 Bicubic Patch Object</a> <li> <a href="s_66.html#s02_03_01_06">2.3.1.6 Text Object</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_67.html#s02_03_02">2.3.2 Polygon Based Shapes</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_67.html#s02_03_02_01">2.3.2.1 Mesh Object</a> <li> <a href="s_67.html#s02_03_02_02">2.3.2.2 Mesh2 Object</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_67.html#s02_03_02_02_01">2.3.2.2.1 Smooth triangles and mesh2</a> <li> <a href="s_67.html#s02_03_02_02_02">2.3.2.2.2 UV mapping and mesh2</a> <li> <a href="s_67.html#s02_03_02_02_03">2.3.2.2.3 A separate texture per triangle</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_67.html#s02_03_02_03">2.3.2.3 Polygon Object</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03">2.3.3 Other Shapes</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_01">2.3.3.1 Blob Object</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_01_01">2.3.3.1.1 Component Types and Other New Features</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_01_02">2.3.3.1.2 Complex Blob Constructs and Negative Strength</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_02">2.3.3.2 Height Field Object</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03">2.3.3.3 Isosurface Object</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_01">2.3.3.3.1 Simple functions</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_02">2.3.3.3.2 Several surfaces</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_03">2.3.3.3.3 Non-linear functions</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_04">2.3.3.3.4 Specifying functions</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_05">2.3.3.3.5 Internal functions</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_06">2.3.3.3.6 Combining isosurface functions</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_07">2.3.3.3.7 Noise and pigment functions</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_08">2.3.3.3.8 Conditional directives and loops</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_09">2.3.3.3.9 Transformations on functions</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_03_10">2.3.3.3.10 Improving Isosurface Speed</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_04">2.3.3.4 Poly Object</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_04_01">2.3.3.4.1 Creating the polynomial function</a> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_04_02">2.3.3.4.2 Writing the polynomial vector</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_68.html#s02_03_03_05">2.3.3.5 Superquadric Ellipsoid Object</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04">2.3.4 Advanced Texture Options</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_01">2.3.4.1 Pigments</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_01_01">2.3.4.1.1 Using Color List Pigments</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_01_02">2.3.4.1.2 Using Pigment and Patterns</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_01_03">2.3.4.1.3 Using Pattern Modifiers</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_01_04">2.3.4.1.4 Using Transparent Pigments and Layered Textures</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_01_05">2.3.4.1.5 Using Pigment Maps</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_02">2.3.4.2 Normals</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_02_01">2.3.4.2.1 Using Basic Normal Modifiers</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_02_02">2.3.4.2.2 Blending Normals</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_03">2.3.4.3 Finishes</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_03_01">2.3.4.3.1 Using Ambient</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_03_02">2.3.4.3.2 Using Surface Highlights</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_03_03">2.3.4.3.3 Using Reflection, Metallic and Metallic</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_03_04">2.3.4.3.4 Using Iridescence</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_04">2.3.4.4 Working With Pigment Maps</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_05">2.3.4.5 Working With Normal Maps</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_06">2.3.4.6 Working With Texture Maps</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_07">2.3.4.7 Working With List Textures</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_08">2.3.4.8 What About Tiles?</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_09">2.3.4.9 Average Function</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_10">2.3.4.10 Working With Layered Textures</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_10_01">2.3.4.10.1 Declaring Layered Textures</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_10_02">2.3.4.10.2 Another Layered Textures Example</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_11">2.3.4.11 When All Else Fails: Material Maps</a> <li> <a href="s_69.html#s02_03_04_12">2.3.4.12 Limitations Of Special Textures</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05">2.3.5 Using Atmospheric Effects</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_01">2.3.5.1 The Background</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_02">2.3.5.2 The Sky Sphere</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_02_01">2.3.5.2.1 Creating a Sky with a Color Gradient</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_02_02">2.3.5.2.2 Adding the Sun</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_02_03">2.3.5.2.3 Adding Some Clouds</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03">2.3.5.3 The Fog</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03_01">2.3.5.3.1 A Constant Fog</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03_02">2.3.5.3.2 Setting a Minimum Translucency</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03_03">2.3.5.3.3 Creating a Filtering Fog</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03_04">2.3.5.3.4 Adding Some Turbulence to the Fog</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03_05">2.3.5.3.5 Using Ground Fog</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03_06">2.3.5.3.6 Using Multiple Layers of Fog</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_03_07">2.3.5.3.7 Fog and Hollow Objects</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_04">2.3.5.4 The Rainbow</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_04_01">2.3.5.4.1 Starting With a Simple Rainbow</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_04_02">2.3.5.4.2 Increasing the Rainbow's Translucency</a> <li> <a href="s_70.html#s02_03_05_04_03">2.3.5.4.3 Using a Rainbow Arc</a> </ul> </ul> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06">2.3.6 Simple Media Tutorial</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_01">2.3.6.1 Types of media</a> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_02">2.3.6.2 Some media concepts</a> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_03">2.3.6.3 Simple media examples</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_03_01">2.3.6.3.1 Emitting media</a> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_03_02">2.3.6.3.2 Absorbing media</a> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_03_03">2.3.6.3.3 Scattering media</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_04">2.3.6.4 Multiple medias inside the same object</a> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_05">2.3.6.5 Media and transformations</a> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_06">2.3.6.6 A more advanced example of scattering media</a> <li> <a href="s_71.html#s02_03_06_07">2.3.6.7 Media and photons</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_72.html#s02_03_07">2.3.7 Radiosity</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_72.html#s02_03_07_01">2.3.7.1 Introduction</a> <li> <a href="s_72.html#s02_03_07_02">2.3.7.2 Radiosity with conventional lighting</a> <li> <a href="s_72.html#s02_03_07_03">2.3.7.3 Radiosity without conventional lighting</a> <li> <a href="s_72.html#s02_03_07_04">2.3.7.4 Normals and Radiosity</a> <li> <a href="s_72.html#s02_03_07_05">2.3.7.5 Performance considerations</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_73.html#s02_03_08">2.3.8 Making Animations</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_73.html#s02_03_08_01">2.3.8.1 The Clock Variable: Key To It All</a> <li> <a href="s_73.html#s02_03_08_02">2.3.8.2 Clock Dependant Variables And Multi-Stage Animations</a> <li> <a href="s_73.html#s02_03_08_03">2.3.8.3 The Phase Keyword</a> <li> <a href="s_73.html#s02_03_08_04">2.3.8.4 Do Not Use Jitter Or Crand</a> <li> <a href="s_73.html#s02_03_08_05">2.3.8.5 INI File Settings</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09">2.3.9 While-loop tutorial</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_01">2.3.9.1 What a while-loop is and what it is not</a> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_02">2.3.9.2 How does a single while-loop work?</a> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_03">2.3.9.3 How do I make a while-loop?</a> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_04">2.3.9.4 What is a condition and how do I make one?</a> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_05">2.3.9.5 What about loop types other than simple for-loops?</a> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_06">2.3.9.6 What about nested loops?</a> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_07">2.3.9.7 Mixed-type nested loops</a> <li> <a href="s_74.html#s02_03_09_08">2.3.9.8 Other things to note</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10">2.3.10 SDL tutorial: A raytracer</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_01">2.3.10.1 Introduction</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_02">2.3.10.2 The idea and the code</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_03">2.3.10.3 Short introduction to raytracing</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_04">2.3.10.4 Global settings</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_05">2.3.10.5 Scene definition</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_06">2.3.10.6 Initializing the raytracer</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_07">2.3.10.7 Ray-sphere intersection</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_07_01">2.3.10.7.1 Inner workings of a #macro</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_07_02">2.3.10.7.2 The ray-sphere intersection macro</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08">2.3.10.8 The Trace macro</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_01">2.3.10.8.1 Calculating the closest intersection</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_02">2.3.10.8.2 If the ray doesn't hit anything</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_03">2.3.10.8.3 Initializing color calculations</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_04">2.3.10.8.4 Going through the light sources</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_05">2.3.10.8.5 Shadow test</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_06">2.3.10.8.6 Diffuse lighting</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_07">2.3.10.8.7 Specular lighting</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_08_08">2.3.10.8.8 Reflection Calculation</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_09">2.3.10.9 Calculating the image</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_10">2.3.10.10 Creating the colored mesh</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_10_01">2.3.10.10.1 The structure of the mesh</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_10_02">2.3.10.10.2 Creating the mesh</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_10_03">2.3.10.10.3 Creating the vertex points</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_10_04">2.3.10.10.4 Creating the textures</a> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_10_05">2.3.10.10.5 Creating the triangles</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_75.html#s02_03_10_11">2.3.10.11 The Camera-setup</a> </ul> </ul> <li> <a href="s_76.html#s02_04">2.4 Questions and Tips</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01">2.4.1 Language Tips and tricks to achieve useful things</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_01">2.4.1.1 How do I make a visible light source?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_02">2.4.1.2 How do I make bright objects?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_03">2.4.1.3 How do I move the camera in a circular path?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_04">2.4.1.4 How do I use an image to texture my object?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_05">2.4.1.5 How can I generate a spline?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_06">2.4.1.6 How can I simulate motion blur?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_07">2.4.1.7 How can I find the size of a text object?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_08">2.4.1.8 How do I make extruded text?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_09">2.4.1.9 How do I make an object hollow?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_10">2.4.1.10 How can I fill a glass with water or other objects?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_11">2.4.1.11 How can I bend a object?</a> <li> <a href="s_77.html#s02_04_01_12">2.4.1.12 Can I get non-grainy focal blur?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02">2.4.2 Language Things that don't work as one expects</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_01">2.4.2.1 Using several transparent objects makes them black?</a> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_02">2.4.2.2 I'm getting color banding in the image</a> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_03">2.4.2.3 Rotation behaves very strangely</a> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_04">2.4.2.4 The image gets distorted when rendering a square image</a> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_05">2.4.2.5 Why are there strange dark pixels or noise on my CSG object?</a> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_06">2.4.2.6 Why won't the textures in stars.inc work with my sky_sphere?</a> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_07">2.4.2.7 When I use filter or transmit with my .tga image map nothing happens.</a> <li> <a href="s_78.html#s02_04_02_08">2.4.2.8 Isosurface not rendering properly?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_79.html#s02_04_03">2.4.3 Language related things</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_79.html#s02_04_03_01">2.4.3.1 How do I turn animation on?</a> <li> <a href="s_79.html#s02_04_03_02">2.4.3.2 Can POV-Ray use multiple processors?</a> <li> <a href="s_79.html#s02_04_03_03">2.4.3.3 Can I get a wireframe render of my scene?</a> <li> <a href="s_79.html#s02_04_03_04">2.4.3.4 Can I specify variable IOR for an object?</a> <li> <a href="s_79.html#s02_04_03_05">2.4.3.5 What is Photon Mapping?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04">2.4.4 File Formats</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04_01">2.4.4.1 Saving the image to disk.</a> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04_02">2.4.4.2 Can I convert my POV-Ray scenes to another format?</a> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04_03">2.4.4.3 How can I convert my scenes from format X to POV-Ray format?</a> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04_04">2.4.4.4 How do I import all of my textures I created in 3DS Max into POV-Ray?</a> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04_05">2.4.4.5 How can I avoid artifacts and still get good JPEG compression?</a> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04_06">2.4.4.6 Why are there no converters from POV to other formats?</a> <li> <a href="s_80.html#s02_04_04_07">2.4.4.7 Why are triangle meshes in ASCII format?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05">2.4.5 Utilities, models, etc.</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_01">2.4.5.1 What is the best animation program available?</a> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_02">2.4.5.2 Creating/viewing MPEG-files.</a> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_03">2.4.5.3 Where can I find models/textures?</a> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_04">2.4.5.4 What are the best modellers for POV-Ray?</a> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_05">2.4.5.5 Any POV-Ray modellers for Mac?</a> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_06">2.4.5.6 Is there any user gallery of POV-Ray images?</a> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_07">2.4.5.7 Any good heightfield modellers?</a> <li> <a href="s_81.html#s02_04_05_08">2.4.5.8 Any easy way of creating trees?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_82.html#s02_04_06">2.4.6 Rendering speed</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_82.html#s02_04_06_01">2.4.6.1 Will POV-Ray render faster with a 3D card?</a> <li> <a href="s_82.html#s02_04_06_02">2.4.6.2 How do I increase rendering speed?</a> <li> <a href="s_82.html#s02_04_06_03">2.4.6.3 CSG speed</a> <li> <a href="s_82.html#s02_04_06_04">2.4.6.4 Does POV-Ray support 3DNow?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_83.html#s02_04_07">2.4.7 Miscellaneous questions</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_83.html#s02_04_07_01">2.4.7.1 Where do I suggest new features?</a> <li> <a href="s_83.html#s02_04_07_02">2.4.7.2 I'm getting a "Illegal grid value in dda_traversal()"</a> <li> <a href="s_83.html#s02_04_07_03">2.4.7.3 No beep when finished?</a> <li> <a href="s_83.html#s02_04_07_04">2.4.7.4 POV-Ray viruses?</a> <li> <a href="s_83.html#s02_04_07_05">2.4.7.5 GUI for Unix POV-Ray?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_84.html#s02_04_08">2.4.8 The shadow line artifact</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_84.html#s02_04_08_01">2.4.8.1 What is the problem?</a> <li> <a href="s_84.html#s02_04_08_02">2.4.8.2 What causes the problem?</a> <li> <a href="s_84.html#s02_04_08_03">2.4.8.3 Can this problem be solved?</a> <li> <a href="s_84.html#s02_04_08_04">2.4.8.4 Possible solutions?</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_85.html#s02_04_09">2.4.9 Smooth triangle artifact</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_85.html#s02_04_09_01">2.4.9.1 What is the problem?</a> <li> <a href="s_85.html#s02_04_09_02">2.4.9.2 What causes the problem?</a> <li> <a href="s_85.html#s02_04_09_03">2.4.9.3 Can this problem be solved?</a> </ul> </ul> <li> <a href="s_86.html#s02_05">2.5 Appendices</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_87.html#s02_05_01">2.5.1 POV-Ray User License</a> <li> <a href="s_88.html#s02_05_02">2.5.2 Citing POV-Ray in Academic Publications</a> <li> <a href="s_89.html#s02_05_03">2.5.3 The POV-Team</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_89.html#s02_05_03_01">2.5.3.1 Contacting the Authors</a> <li> <a href="s_89.html#s02_05_03_02">2.5.3.2 The TAG</a> <li> <a href="s_89.html#s02_05_03_03">2.5.3.3 POV-Ray 3.6 Development</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04">2.5.4 What to do if you don't have POV-Ray</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_01">2.5.4.1 Which Version of POV-Ray should you use?</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_01_01">2.5.4.1.1 Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP</a> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_01_02">2.5.4.1.2 Linux for Intel x86</a> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_01_03">2.5.4.1.3 Apple Macintosh</a> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_01_04">2.5.4.1.4 Generic Unix</a> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_01_05">2.5.4.1.5 All Versions</a> </ul> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_02">2.5.4.2 Where to Find POV-Ray Files</a> <ul> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_02_01">2.5.4.2.1 World Wide Website www.povray.org</a> <li> <a href="s_90.html#s02_05_04_02_02">2.5.4.2.2 Books, Magazines and CD-ROMs</a> </ul> </ul> <li> <a href="s_91.html#s02_05_05">2.5.5 Suggested Reading</a> </ul> </ul> <br> <table class="NavBar" width="100%"> <tr> <td align="left" nowrap="" valign="middle" width="32"> <a href="s_46.html"><img alt="previous" border="0" src="prev.png"></a> </td> <td align="left" valign="middle" width="30%"> <a href="s_46.html">1.8.5 Render Quality</a> </td> <td align="center" valign="middle"> <strong>2 Introduction to POV-Ray</strong> </td> <td align="right" valign="middle" width="30%"> <a href="s_48.html">2.1 Introduction</a> </td> <td align="right" nowrap="" valign="middle" width="32"> <a href="s_48.html"><img alt="next" border="0" src="next.png"></a> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>