News items from www.povray.org main page

Y.A.P.R.M. 0.6 released

Thu, 1 May 2008 01:30:44 GMT

A new version of "Yet Another POV-Ray Modeller" is available, featuring saving of view port setups, command line parameters, inclusion of Imlib2 (for improved colour selection) and image importing. Additionally several memory leaks have been fixed.

POV-Ray df3 import/export for ImageJ

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:54:50 GMT

Stephan Saalfeld has developed an ImageJ import/export plugin for POV-Ray's df3 format. ImageJ, a Java-based image processing program developed by the National Institutes of Health, can be used to edit volumetric data supported by thousands of freely available plugins. This ImageJ plugin adds seamless support for the POV-Ray's df3 format for arbitrary volumetric density functions and turns ImageJ into a powerful df3 editor.

Tkxture - Fast POV-Ray patterned material textures

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:04:20 GMT

A new utility for Linux and Windows, Tkxture, has been released. Tkxture allows for the rapid creation of POV-Ray textures, especially those involving patterns, with the ability to specify finish, interior, warp and other parameters and easily preview the result.

LionSnake 1.7.10

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:04:17 GMT

A new version of subdivision surface LionSnake Modeler has been released. This release includes bug fixes, changes to bones display, texture mapping in subdivision preview and other usability enhancements.

Symscape's SymLab Now Available for Linux

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:37:45 GMT

Symscape's free SymLab viewer is now available for Linux as well as Windows. The Linux version has full support for all the SymLab add-ons including SymLab Viz Export with its ability to export to the POV-Ray SDL format.

LionSnake 1.7.9

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 01:38:13 GMT

A bugfix release of LionSnake Modeler is available for download (see the LionSnake site for details).

LionSnake 1.7.8

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 01:37:54 GMT

Subdivision surface LionSnake Modeler now features better viewport zooming functions and increased efficiency in the subdivision previews.

Surface Subdivision Suite updates and LionSnake 1.7.7

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:41:31 GMT

New versions of LionSnake and the Surface Subdivision Suite are now available, fixing several bugs. It is recommended that users update to the latest version of each.

LionSnake 1.7.5 available

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:06:58 GMT

Another update to the subdivision surface LionSnake Modeler project is now available for download. This update fixes several bugs relating to Bones editing, subdivision macros and mesh editing.

IRTC being resurrected!

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 12:06:39 GMT

David K Buck (creator of DKBTrace which was later used as the basis for POV-Ray), after discussions with Chris Cason and the community, is pleased to announce the assembly of a group of developers to resurrect the dormant Internet Ray Tracing Competition!

A bimonthly online rendering competition (which also included concurrent animation rounds), the IRTC ran for more than 10 years until, in late 2006, administrative issues prevented further rounds from being conducted.

The site will now be redesigned by the team of volunteers (which includes David K Buck and Randal Schwartz) to address the issues which led to its cessation. Previous competition entries/results will also be retained on the new site for viewing.

During its hiatus the passion in the community for the IRTC has remained strong, so we look forward to a new era of the IRTC and, of course, great ray tracing creations!

Surface Subdivision Suite updates and LionSnake 1.7.4

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:41:11 GMT

Updated versions of John VanSickle's surface subdivision modeller LionSnake and Catmull-Clark Surface Subdivision Suite are now available. The Surface Subdivision Suite update fixes a bug with normal calculations, while LionSnake has seen significant feature additions, speed enhancements and bug fixes (a complete list of which is available on the LionSnake home page).

POV-Ray 3.7 beta source code available

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:12:40 GMT

The source code for the 3.7 beta of POV-Ray has been made available for download for Windows and Unix/Linux platforms. The windows source includes easy-to-follow instructions for getting the source built with Visual Studio 2005 and 2008, including express editions, while the Linux/Unix source has similarly clear instructions for GNU C++.

SCC5: POV-Ray Short Code Contest #5 - Winners Announced!

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:40:23 GMT

The 5th POV-Ray Short Code Contest, a competition to produce the most artistic animation in a tiny POV-Ray file of no greater than 512 bytes, has now been completed and the winners announced!

Animations of the amazing entries can be found on the POV-Ray Short Code Contest #5 website. In first place, Jeff Reifel's "Rays" animation weighs in at a mere 464 bytes!

Subdivision Surface Macro Suite

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:27:06 GMT

An updated version of John VanSickle's Subdivision Surface Macro Suite is now available, supporting polygons with any number of sides, properly subdivided texture mapping and corner behaviour changes. Check the website for examples and further information, along with the related subdivision surface LionSnake Modeler project.

HTTPov distributed rendering via HTTP

Sun, 6 Jan 2008 23:39:04 GMT

2007 brought updates to existing distributed rendering systems, as well as the introduction of brand new ones. HTTPov is one of the latter and is built around an unpatched POV-Ray, designed to be run unobtrusively in the background of plain "unixish" machines as well as Windows with Cygwin. The communication with the central server is done via HTTP allowing greater flexibility, and the system is capable of handling animations as well as sliced still images. Check out the HTTPov website to get started!

A3dsViewer 1.1

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:19:42 GMT

A3dsViewer 1.1, a free Windows 3DS file viewer which also exports to POV-Ray, is now available. This release fixes many bugs in the export system and adds diffuse management.

neXtgen POV-Ray Editor Beta 1

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:14:35 GMT

The first public release of neXtgen Povray Editor (XPE) is here! XPE is a full-featured code editor for POV-Ray, featuring auto-completion, internal image viewer, syntax highlighting, file explorer, POV-Ray file parser/navigator, rendering console, the ability to open large files without eating large amounts of memory, and much more! Available for Windows, Linux and Mac (contact for Mac binary).

LionSnake 1.6.8

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:23:36 GMT

Version 1.6.8 of surface subdivision modeller LionSnake is available with several UV mapping bug fixes. Binaries, source and download instructions can be found on the LionSnake website.

POV-Ray wiki site now active

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:16:12 GMT

wiki.povray.org is now open for contributions. POV-Wiki is an officially-sanctioned site that is intended to allow users to contribute to the overall POV-Ray knowledgebase.

See the announcement in povray.general for more details.

SymLab Exchange now supports Alias/Wavefront

Thu, 8 Nov 2007 00:36:41 GMT

Symscape's commercial SymLab Exchange can now import Alias/Wavefront (obj) models; with the SymLab Viz Export add-on it is possible to then export to POV-Ray SDL. SymLab's free 3D fluid-flow simulation viewer utility can, with the Export add-on, also export its results to POV-Ray.

PovClipse 1.0.1 available

Mon, 5 Nov 2007 01:29:58 GMT

1.0.1 of the Eclipse editor plug-in PovClipse for POV-Ray and MegaPOV is now available - use the Eclipse update function to obtain the latest version. This new release includes bug fixes, new entry types, a large performance boost and Render Messages View for jumping directly to error lines. See the PovClipse site for installation instructions and further details.

AmphiSoft POV Sphere Mosaic

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:46:43 GMT

AmphiSoft have released a freeware Photoshop plug-in, AmphiSoft POV Sphere Mosaic, for exporting a 3D sphere mosaic of images from Photoshop (and other compatible editors) to POV-Ray SDL.

Moray Modeller - Free Registration

Thu, 4 Oct 2007 01:26:59 GMT

As Moray was acquired by POV-Ray earlier this year, and until a new version is released without a registration system, users may download and register Moray for free using the following details:

Name:	POV-Ray User
Number:	BFDDE769

Please see the Moray announcement for further details.

PovClipse 1.0.0 released

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:39:10 GMT

The Eclipse editor plug-in for POV-Ray and MegaPOV, PovClipse, has reached version 1.0.0! Now with a new logo (courtesy Sebastian Sanabria Diaz), project management functions (import/export ZIP, TAR, TGZ), additional render configuration options, outline view and bugfixes, see the PovClipse site for installation instructions and a complete list of changes.

Bishop3D 1.0.1.8 beta

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:06:34 GMT

A new beta of the Windows POV-Ray modeller Bishop3D has been made available. Bishop3D supports animation key-framing, SDL import and POV-Ray 3.6 integration. This update includes more bug fixes, improvements to stability and new features.

Y.A.P.R.M. 0.5.6 released

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:56:46 GMT

A new intermediate release of "Yet Another POV-Ray Modeller" is available and fixes several bugs, some of which could result in crashes, while also featuring the addition of copy and paste support. The new version can be downloaded from the Y.A.P.R.M. SourceForge page.

Eduard Schwan - POV-Ray music video

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 03:05:37 GMT

One of the former Macintosh POV-Ray development team members, Eduard Schwan, has recently created a music video (for one of his 80's-styled tracks) using POV-Ray. A low-quality version is available on YouTube. Additionally a DVD version is available with a behind-the-scenes interview and other material, plus a trailer for his next POV-Ray-rendered video, "Fractal Serenity".

Why not get inspired and try creating your own music video too!

PovClipse Logo Challenge - vote for your favourite!

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:56:57 GMT

The PovClipse logo challenge submission period is over and the submitted proposals can now be voted on. Head over to the gallery and voting page to vote for your favourite!

Insert Menu Add-on

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:13:03 GMT

A new update to Friedrich Lohmueller's "Insert Menu Add-on", a bundle of shapes, isosurfaces, loops, 2D visualisation functions and more for the Windows version of POV-Ray, is now available. With new extended templates for HF-macros, Parametric Surfaces and other additions, the update is well worth downloading. The "Ready-made Objects for POV-Ray" collection continues to grow also, with houses, cars, trucks and more!

K3DSurf 0.6.2

Wed, 4 Jul 2007 09:32:40 GMT

A new release of the mathematical surface modeller K3DSurf is now available. Version 0.6.2 includes a new GUI, performance and OpenGL display enhancements, new examples, config file system and the implementation of a fast mathematical function calculation system. Additionally the K3DSurf Forum is now open for discussion and support.

PovClipse 0.7.2

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:37:41 GMT

The Eclipse editor plug-in PovClipse now includes Portuguese support, default include directory settings for POV-Ray and MegaPOV, performance optimisations, bugfixes and more. Use the Eclipse update function, or see the PovClipse site for installation instructions and a complete list of changes.

GDesign 1.0

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:51:11 GMT

The first version of GDesign ("Generative Design"), an application for creating 2D/3D objects using DOL, stochastic, parametric and context-sensitive L-systems, has been released. GDesign exports to POV-Ray and a gallery of POV-Ray renderings shows some of the possibilities of this interactive L-system design tool.

PoseRay 3.11.0

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 03:57:20 GMT

The object format converter/renderer PoseRay, useful for converting various formats to POV-Ray SDL, has received another update with numerous changes, fixes and additions.

Instant-Grid 1.0

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 03:57:16 GMT

Version 1.0 of Instant-Grid, a Knoppix-based live Linux system for easily building computing grids, has now been released. Instant-Grid contains a PHP-based front-end and "Portlet" which facilitate distributed rendering with POV-Ray, for both single images and animations.

Some examples of POV-Ray use in Chemistry

Sat, 19 May 2007 07:14:43 GMT

Milo's ChemicalMusings blog is featuring some examples of his use of POV-Ray over the years (since 2.0). He also has some basic background on how to use POV with PovChem. [Permalink]

Using POV-Ray to create slices for 3D sugar printing

Thu, 10 May 2007 11:52:42 GMT

Due to the flexibility of its scene description language POV-Ray is routinely applied to a wide variety of tasks which fall outside raytracing photo realistic scenes. From creating technical drawings to visualising physics and medical datasets, the possibilities are only limited by imagination. One such recent creative application drawn to our attention is the use of POV-Ray in creating slices for 3D printing objects in sugar. Delicious!

PovClipse 0.7.1 and Logo Challenge

Thu, 10 May 2007 21:48:11 GMT

PovClipse 0.7.1 has been released and features a new "auto save" function, image viewing support for all POV-Ray/MegaPOV image types, render configuration templates and general bugfixes. Use the Eclipse update function to get the new version.

Additionally, a logo challenge has been proposed with the goal of contributing a recognisable logo to the PovClipse project. See the PovClipse website for more details.

SymLab to POV-Ray export add-on released

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:32:22 GMT

Symscape's free SymLab 3D fluid-flow simulation viewer utility now supports export to POV-Ray via a new add-on, SymLab Viz Export. (examples are available)

Pigmentator and Texies

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:32:28 GMT

A set of useful tools and scripts have been released, including Pigmentator, a GUI tool for preparing colour vectors, maps, etc, and Texies, a small pack of powerful bitmap textures with example scripts.

Y.A.P.R.M. 0.5.5 released

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:32:34 GMT

A new version of "Yet Another POV-Ray Modeller" has been released with many general improvements and new objects available, in addition to bug fixes and a wider range of selectable rendering options.

PovClipse 0.7.0

Sun, 1 Apr 2007 14:21:51 GMT

PovClipse has received another update, now with improved help (including optional MegaPOV help), outline view with filtering and more. This Eclipse editor plug-in for POV-Ray scene file editing can be installed or updated by following the instructions on the PovClipse page.

Bishop3D 1.0.1.3 beta

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:01:15 GMT

The next beta version of the Windows POV-Ray modeller Bishop3D has been released. Bishop3D supports animation key-framing, SDL import and POV-Ray 3.6 integration. This new version includes bug fixes and general improvements.

POV-Ray for Maya 7.0

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:47:28 GMT

Pantheon Studios has released an alpha version of their "POV-Ray for Maya 7.0" export plug-in. The Maya plug-in currently supports exporting meshes (polygons with UVs) and several light types. More information about the project can be found in their earlier news post.

Geomorph - Linux terrain heightfield editor

Thu, 1 Mar 2007 00:08:22 GMT

Geomorph, an advanced terrain heightfield Linux editor for POV-Ray, has been updated. Version 0.40 includes a significant number of new features, such as a new crackle network creation tool, improved rain erosion algorithm, new POV-Ray scripts and new tutorials. A full list of changes can be found on the Geomorph website, in English and French.

PovClipse 0.6.3

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 21:43:32 GMT

A new version of PovClipse, an Eclipse editor plug-in for POV-Ray scene file editing, is now available. New features include MegaPOV support, Spanish and French localisation and new syntax checking. Download and then follow the installation instructions to get started.