POV-Ray Fundamentals

By Felbrigg Herriot
Ray tracing and modeling with POV-Ray.
Course info
Rating
(10)
Level
Intermediate
Updated
May 1, 2014
Duration
6h 39m
Table of contents
Introduction
Course Introduction 0m This Module 0m Examples 3m Uses for POV-Ray 2m Objectives of This Course 0m Downloading POV-Ray 0m Installing POV-Ray 1m Installed Folders and Files 3m A Tour and a First Scene 10m Module Summary 0m
The Basic Objects
Module Introduction 0m The Co-ordinate System 6m The Camera 5m Light Sources 6m Include Files 4m The Sphere 2m The Box 2m The Cylinder 2m Module Summary 0m
Constructive Solid Geometry
Module Introduction 0m Union 3m Difference 3m Merge 4m Intersection 3m A Demo 2m Module Summary 0m
Transforms
Module Introduction 0m Translate 6m Rotate 7m Scale 4m Deforming with Rotate and Scale 2m Things to Do with a Sphere 2m Module Summary 0m
More Basic Shapes
Module Introduction 0m The Torus 2m The Plane 3m The Cone 2m Text Objects 4m Module Summary 1m
Pigments and Patterns
Module Introduction 0m Pigment 5m Agate, Pigment_map and Scaling 2m Boxed 1m Bozo 1m Brick 0m Bumps 0m Cells 0m Crackle 0m Cylindrical 0m Wood and Warp 5m Module Summary 0m
Normals
Module Introduction 0m Bumps! 1m Agate and Bump_size 1m Crackle, Syncing Normal, and Pigment 2m Quilted black_hole 3m The normal_map 2m The bump_map 3m Using a pigment_pattern 3m Module Summary 1m
Finishes
Module Introduction 0m Reflection and Bumps 5m Ambient 4m Diffuse 2m Specular 3m Roughness 1m Phong 2m Metallic 1m Iridescence 1m Crand 2m Module summary 0m
Language
Module Introduction 0m Declare Part 1 5m Declare Part 2 4m If Part 1 4m If Part 2 2m While 6m For 3m Include Sites 2m Switch 3m Macro 7m Function 7m Reading a File 6m Writing a File 4m Module Summary 1m
Rendering
Module Introduction 0m The Various Rendering Sizes 2m Anti Aliasing 1m Introducing Mosaic Rendering 5m Rendering a Segment of the Image 2m Editing Quickres.ini 5m Module Summary 0m
Animation
Module Introduction 0m A Simple Animation 3m Animating the Camera 1m Reversing the Clock 2m Following an Object 2m Rotating the Camera Around a Moving Object 4m A Film-making Trick 3m Animating a Texture 1m Rendering Options 2m Using Movie Maker 2m More ini Settings 0m Module Summary 1m
Complex Objects: Part 1
Module Introduction 0m The Triangle 1m Our First Mesh 2m Making a Mesh Solid 3m Making a Mesh 5m Introducing the Isosurface 5m Creating Your Own Isosurface Function 4m Oh no! Artifacts! 3m More Artifacts! 3m Here's the Height_Field 4m Height_Field in CSG 1m Smoothing a Height_Field 1m Module Summary 0m
Complex Objects, Part 2
Module Introduction 0m The Blob 4m Superellipsoid 2m Tubes with a Sphere_sweep 1m Gettin' Wiggly with It 5m Using a Lathe 2m Bending a Lathe Shape 2m Straight Edged Prisms 3m Curved Prisms 2m Bicubic_Patch 3m Egging the Ovus 1m Module Summary 1m
Atmospherics
Module Introduction 0m The Sky_sphere 6m Fog 4m Media 5m Object Pattern Media 1m Module Summary 0m
Improving Your Scenes
Module Introduction 0m Multiple Light Sources 1m Colored Lights 1m Area Lights 3m Fill Lights and Shadowless 1m Visible Light Sources 1m Fade Distance and Power 1m Spot Light 0m Glowing with Radiosity 1m Photons 1m A Reflection Gotcha 2m Layering Textures 1m Module Summary 2m
Description
Course info
Rating
(10)
Level
Intermediate
Updated
May 1, 2014
Duration
6h 39m
Description

This course will arm you with all the skills you need to start ray-tracing and 3D modeling using the POV-Ray ray-tracer.

About the author
Felbrigg Herriot
About the author

Felbrigg has been podcasting horror fiction and historical non-fiction since 2008. When he's not podcasting or narrating audiobooks he designs card and board games. During the day he gets down to business using DotNet technologies as web developer.

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Section Introduction Transcripts
Section Introduction Transcripts

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.

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