xfpovray v1.2.2


Robert S. Mallozzi
<mallozzir@cspar.uah.edu>
http://cspar.uah.edu/~mallozzir/

 
   
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USAGE

    xfpovray [-geometry +x+y]


INTRODUCTION

    xfpovray is a graphical interface to the cool ray tracing program POV-Ray
    (http://www.povray.org).  It is written with the XForms library 
    (http://bragg.phys.uwm.edu/xforms), and supports most of the numerous 
    options of POV-Ray.   The interface was developed with POV-Ray version 3.0,
    but things should work OK for earlier versions...  

    Please read the documentation on POV-Ray before using xfpovray, 
    especially if you will be using the animation loop or antialiasing.

    E-mail me any comments, criticisms, bugs, etc., or links to your 
    pages of images developed with POV-Ray/xfpovray.
    
    The POV-Ray source code for the xfpovray startup image is provided
    in the file chains.pov

    Some POV-Ray options are not implemented; see below for a list. 
    

INSTALLATION

    0. You must have the XForms library installed (minimum version 0.86).

       Also, the utilities mkdir, grep, sed, and cut are required.  The
       latter three are for the filter that parses the *.inc files included 
       with POV-Ray.  These files are used for the Inc Preview function, 
       which allows you to preview some of the textures that come with the
       POV-Ray distribution. 
    
    1. Unpack the distribution.
       
    2. Run install.sh, like this:

           $./install.sh

       and answer the questions.  The script generates a header file that
       is required by xfpovray (xfpovray.h).  You can edit this file by
       hand later, but it is easier just to run install.sh again if you
       want to change any of the user options.

       There are also a lot of #define statements in povray-defaults.h
       that set the POV-Ray defaults.  You could change these if you really
       want to...

       Temporary files used by xfpovray will be written to the directory
       specified by $HOME/.xfpovray/


NOTES

    o  You can execute external routines from the pulldown menu "Options".
       For example, you could start your modeling program.  Create the file
       $HOME/.xfpovray/external.routines and add lines of the following format:
    
         path name

       where path and name are separated by spaces (not tabs, my parser is
       pretty limited...).  path is the full path to the external program, and
       name is the text that will appear on the menu (use only a single word).
       For example, to start ac3d from the "Options" menu, add the line 
    
         /usr/local/bin/ac3d ac3d
    
       to the file $HOME/.xfpovray/external.routines.
    

    o  install.sh no longer asks for a personal .inc file library path when
       compiling xfpovray.  If you want to use a personal library, enter the
       path under the Parsing Options, and then save the xfpovray state
       using Save State under the Options pull-down menu.


    o  There seems to be a minor bug in POV-Ray with Mosaic Preview under Linux.
       Some files render correctly, others give a segmentation fault.


    o  xfpovray lets POV-Ray output some text to the terminal from which 
       xfpovray was invoked (TODO: Capture POV-Ray output in a command log).  
       I suggest launching xfpovray from an xterm 
       rather than an application launcher (i.e., a button on your desktop) 
       so that this output text is visible.


    o  Do not invoke multiple instances of xfpovray.  The temporary files 
       written to $HOME/.xfpovray/ will probably be corrupted if multiple 
       instances of xfpovray are running.
        

    o  POV-Ray options not implemented:

       INI files
	   - Labeled sections

       Output options
	   - test_abort_count (not applicable, you can send SIGINT at any
	      time with the "Abort Render" function)
	   - continue_trace
	   - create_ini (see Config File->Save button)
	   - video_mode
	   - display_gamma
	   - pause_when_done: Automatically on if you are displaying 
	      during rendering
	   - draw_vistas
	   - output_to_file: Output file is always based on the .pov filename
	   - output_alpha
	   - buffer_output
	   - buffer_size
	   - bits_per_color
	   - CPU utilization histogram

       Scene parsing options
	   - Shell-out commands to OS (pre_scene_command, etc.)
	   - Text output streams are handled by the Verbose button.  They cannot
	     be output separately, nor output to files.
	   - Help screen switches

    
    o  Click on the Options label to restore the .xpm image after you set
       your image options!
  
    o  Add your own image to xfpovray (320x240 .xpm)!



    ** If someone can think of a better way to parse the *.ini files that come
    with POV-Ray, and to select what type of script should be called for the
    rendering (e.g., are we rendering a texture, pigment, etc), I would
    like to hear it.  After you run xfpovray, you will better understand
    what I mean here.  For some previews, you have to manually select Pigment
    or Texture, or else a POV-Ray error is generated.  Also, some entries 
    extracted from the *.ini files will not render an image.  This is a 
    limitation of my simple filter ;-)





LEGAL STUFF

    Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for 
    any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the author's
    name and this notice appear in all copies and in supporting documentation.
    The author's name shall not be otherwise used publicity pertaining to 
    distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. 

    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS", AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, 
    EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY 
    OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  IN NO EVENT SHALL 
    THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, 
    INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES 
    WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFIT, LOSS OF USE, 
    SAVINGS OR REVENUE, OR THE CLAIMS OF THIRD PARTIES, WHETHER OR NOT THE 
    AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS, HOWEVER CAUSED 
    AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
    POSSESSION, USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

    This software is in no way affiliated with the University of Alabama,
    or NASA and the US government.
