3D Computer Animation: My POV-Ray Experience

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around experiences and techniques in 3D computer animation, specifically focusing on the use of POV-Ray software. Participants share their personal experiences, projects, and the learning curve associated with 3D graphics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses enthusiasm for POV-Ray and recommends it to others interested in animation.
  • Another participant mentions familiarity with 3D graphics tools like 3D Max and Bryce but notes a lack of time to study them in depth.
  • A participant shares their experience with POV-Ray, highlighting a preference for still renderings over animations due to the time required for rendering multiple frames.
  • Links to personal projects and animations created using POV-Ray are provided by one participant, showcasing their work related to a mission and an Escher-inspired rendering.
  • Another participant discusses their current focus on learning macros and creating include files, with plans to animate a chess game.
  • A participant mentions having used other software like Maya but has not extensively used POV-Ray.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a positive view of POV-Ray and express admiration for the work produced by others, but there is no consensus on the extent of their experience with the software or the specific techniques used in 3D animation.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention varying levels of experience and familiarity with different 3D graphics software, indicating that their discussions may depend on personal preferences and the time available for learning.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in 3D computer animation, particularly those exploring POV-Ray or similar software, may find insights and shared experiences valuable.

Pauly Man
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I was wondering if anyone here did much in the way of 3D computer animation. I downloaded POV-Ray for windows a while back and love it! I recommend that anyone interested in animation grabs themselves a copy. =]
 
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I know Janus is familiar with 3D graphics. I've fiddled with 3d max and bryce, but never really had the time to study it. However I am truly impressed with what some artists create with the tools.
 
I came across Pov-ray some time ago, more or less by accident, and like you, fell in love with it.
While I've done some animations, I've mostly done still renderings, mainly because of the time involved with rendering the multiple frames needed for animation.

Here's a link to a web page that shows some of my work, including a few animations. Please excuse any glitches, I haven't worked on, or updated it in a while. It contains mostly some of my earlier stuff.

http://www.geocities.com/janus58.geo/index.html

Below are some stuff I did for PF's "Europa Mission"; Basically some "artist's interpretations" of the hardware at different phases of the mission.

http://home.teleport.com/~parvey/Ascent.jpg

http://home.teleport.com/~parvey/arrival.jpg

http://home.teleport.com/~parvey/return.jpg

http://home.teleport.com/~parvey/lander.jpg

This last one is one of my latest projects, A 3D rendering of Escher's "Ascending and Descending"

http://home.teleport.com/~parvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/ascend.jpg

BTW, my avatar is a animation I did with Pov-ray.
 
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Cool Janus. =]

I haven't done anything terribly special with stills yet, I'm still learning. I've been playing mainly with macros, working out how to write some cool include files and so on, then I'll make a short animation of a chess game.
 
You can do some real awsome stuff with POV-Ray. I don't know if you saw the Hall of Fame on the pov-ray website when you downloaded it, but anyway here it is.
http://www.povray.org/community/hof/
Some of those look like photographs

I, myself has not really used POV-Ray. I've played around with Maya, and other programs, though.
-HBar
 

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