POV-Ray Fundamentals

Introduction
Hi. I'm Felbrigg Herriot, and this is my POV-Ray course for Pluralsight. POV-Ray is a 3D engine that can produce real world through the eye renderings of reality or any reality you wish using the drawing technique of ray tracing. The unique feature of POV-Ray is that you write code known as SDL to produce your computer generated images. This is somewhat different to the more usual method of producing images by manipulating thousands of triangles. If you're a programmer, you'll take to POV-Ray like a duck to water and be producing images of alternate worlds in no time. In the following few hours I'll be taking you all the way from downloading and installing POV-Ray through to being in a position to craft detailed images and animations using the POV-Ray engine.

The Basic Objects
In this module I'm going to show you the most fundamental of objects and things you need to understand in order to build your first scene.

Constructive Solid Geometry
In this module, we're going to take a look at the process called Constructive Solid Geometry. This is the process of taking simple shapes and combining them in different ways to produce a more complex shape.

Transforms
In this module, we're going to take a look at the basic transformations you can do to objects. This will include changing their size, changing their position, moving them around, and even changing their shape.

More Basic Shapes
In this module I'll introduce you to some more of the shapes you can use in your CSG objects. In further modules there will be more shapes and more complex objects for you to work with, but for the moment let's have a look at the next four basic shapes.

Pigments and Patterns
In this module we're going to take a look at pigment, which forms one-third of an object's texture. I'm also going to show you some of the patterns you can use to manipulate that pigment.

Normals
In this module we're going to take a look at Normals. Normals are the second part of setting an object's texture. We've already looked at pigment. This time we'll take a look at normals.

Finishes
In this module we're going to take a look at the final part of a texture statement, the finish. If you want an object to look dull as a doorknob or as bright as a new penny, you do that with a finish.

Language
In this module we get down to brass tacks and start looking at the language of SDL. You're going to learn how to program SDL, how create thousands of objects with just a few lines of code.

Rendering
In this module, we're going to take a look at all the rendering options you have within Pov-Ray. We're also going to spend some time looking at the tools Pov-Ray gives you for manipulating the way and the speed with which it renders it's images.

Animation
In this module, we're going to look at the animation capabilities of Pov-Ray. It's worth pointing out that Pov-Ray itself does not produce animations, it gives you the tools to create a series of still images, which you can then use some other software such as Windows Movie Maker to stitch those still images together and create your animation video.

Complex Objects: Part 1
In this module, I'm going to introduce you to three of the more complex objects that appear within Pov-Ray. In the following module, I'll be showing you the remainder of the objects that you can use within your scenes.

Complex Objects, Part 2
Welcome to Complex Objects - Part 2. I'll be showing you six more shapes to include in your scenes. But some of these are the most complex shapes you'll find within Pov-Ray.

Atmospherics
In this short module that I'm calling atmospherics, we're going to look at how you can create an interesting sky and how you can add fog and what they call media to your scenes to create an atmosphere.

Improving Your Scenes
In this final module of the Pov-Ray course, I'm going to show you a few tips about how you can improve your scenes. Pov-Ray being a ray tracer, the majority of what follows shows you how to use the lights that Pov-Ray gives you to their best effect.