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POVISUAL.TXT
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1997-09-14
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* - * - * - * - * - * - POVisual v1.1 (11/4/94) - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
Windows 3.1 front end for Povray 2.x
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NOTE : THIS PROGRAM IS NOT PRODUCED, ENDORSED, OR SUPPORTED BY THE
AUTHORS OF POVRAY. PLEASE FORWARD QUESTIONS & COMMENTS TO :
SRO SYSTEMS
P.O. Box 5028
Blue Jay, CA 92317
email to : SROSYSTEMS on America Online
Sean O'Brien on Graphics Alternative
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DESCRIPTION
POVisual is a GUI front end for the Persistence of Vision raytracer. It
features a very easy to use interface, support for nearly all the command
line options of Povray 2.x, and an instant help bar that shows what each
button does! It will open your scene in a text editor before rendering,
or open your output file a graphic editor/viewer after rendering. When
you've chosen your pov options, you can render your scene immediately, or
write a batch file with your options for later use.
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WHAT IT DOES & DOESN'T DO
POVisual allows you set your povray options far away from the command line
in windows, and writes a povray .DEF file called povis1.def into your pov
directory. It then renders your scene using this .def file. To run povray,
a DOS shell is created which calls povray and the .def file. The DOS shell
can run maximized or minimized, however I highly recomend running maximized
on most all machines.
A PIF file called povray.pif is included to run the DOS shell as fast as
possible under windows. This pif file has been optimized for an 8meg 486
running no other applications. YOU SHOULD EDIT THIS PIF TO SUIT YOUR
SYSTEM. Please refer to the windows help files for information on pif
file editing.
POVisual is ONLY a front end for Povray! It does not check your settings,
and merely passes them on to Povray. In this shareware version, a povray
error will only be displayed in the dos window. While this program makes
running povray much easier than remembering and typing all of those command
line options (or remembering your many .bat & .def file variations for that
matter), it is not intended to be a substitute for knowledge of pov and its
syntax!
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THE POVRAY DOC'S ALL THE WAY THROUGH!
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SETTING UP
NOTE : There are a few setup steps that MUST be done before using this
program. For quick installation info, please see the READ.ME text file.
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Several of the options MUST be set before using them! While POVisual
will write a pov batch file whether it knows where pov is or not, in
order to render a scene file, the POVRAY PATHS MUST BE SET TO YOUR
POVRAY DIRECTORIES. If you don't know what these are, see the povray
documentation for more information. Also, the Editor and Viewer must
be selected before trying to run them.
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You must run "PIFEDIT" to edit the file Povray.pif to show the path to
povray as the startup directory! You should also select memory options
appropriate to your machine. I also recommend setting the foreground
priority (in the advanced section) to 10,000 to make povray run as fast
as is possible!
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If you have problems, do a test render from DOS and make sure povray is
working fine by itself before running this program. This program WILL NOT
do anything to "help setup" povray. It must be running by itself FIRST!
If povray runs fine in dos, but doesn't run from POVisual, open the scene
file in your text editor and make sure you have the version switch set for
the right povray version. Most artists and 3-D modelers put the correct
Pov version in the file header. Also check the display settings.
AUTODETECT will usually work.
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IN THE WORKS
I just added the "clock" float control, and put in a button to shell to
Povmod to change the memory/virtual settings. I might soon add the +B
output buffer size and +MS symbol table size switches, but no-one has
asked for them so probably not!
In version 1.0 I only had one library/include file path option. In
version 1.1, I have three (povray allows 10). Of course, seven of the
paths set with the "SET POVRAYOPT =()" command will still be valid, so
you can just add "additional" library paths in POVisual.
I am thinking of re-writing the batch file function to allow creation of
multi-line batch files. Each line could have the same render commands,
but a different filename or float value.
I should probably let POVisual launch the batch files too, or make the
render command accomodate multiple renders. I'll play around with it,
but I'll wait for user response before coding it into the program.
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THIS PROGRAM IS NOT FREEWARE!
If you intend to use this program for more than a reasonable evaluation
period of 30 days or so, you are expected to register it! If you like it,
please do so. I will likely write more and better software if you do, and
I'll send you the latest registered version (and probably some free stuff).
I hope you enjoy the program, and I would appreciate any feedback.
SRO SYSTEMS
P.O. Box 5028
Blue Jay, CA 92317
email to : SROSYSTEMS on America Online
Sean O'Brien on Graphics Alternative