# POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial Documentation

##

### Persistence of Vision Raytracer

`<yvo.s@gmx.net>`

POV-Ray Unofficial 3.7

Copyright 1991-2013 Persistence of Vision Raytracer Pty. Ltd

aug 2013

| Important:
This documentation (and application) is based on MegaPOV 1.2.1. Not all the features in the template dialogs are implemented in POV-Ray 3.7. The renderer however is unmodified and is 100% equal to the Windows and UNIX official distribution. In case you use these templates, don't expect that missing features will be implemented in POV-Ray 3.7! However, most features specific to MegaPOV are marked with an asterix in those template dialogs or will not be colored in blue in the source file. When reading this manual you should substitute "MegaPOV" by "POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial".

Abstract

This document describes the Mac OS-specific functions of this unofficial POV-Ray™ compile, including installation and setup.

To learn about using this product in depth, you will also need to read through the documentation of POV-Ray™, which can be found at http://povray.org/documentation/. It describes the general operation of POV-Ray™, its features and language, and includes some good tutorials for beginners.

The documentation that follows describes how to use the POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial GUI. It explains the use of the menus, windows, templates and editors.

## Chapter 1. Introduction

## 1.0. What changed in this version?

This is a list with the major fixes and changes since the last version.

- Source files are marked as being edited in more case when running Tiger.
- Speed of the message window has improved.
- Many other tiny fixes and improvements...

## 1.1. History and motivation of this unofficial compile

Our first attempts with POV-Ray™ were made on an ATARI Falcon. Since there was no reliable compile available for that platform, we decided to make our own version.

When Atari no longer supported its own platform, we switched to the Macintosh and ported our Atari version to the Mac.

Later, when we got access to Internet we downloaded the official compiles and found that there was still enough difference to keep on developing our own GUI. We released it as POV-RayUnofficial.

A bit after the release of POV-Ray™ 3.1, POV-RayUnofficial became a multi-patched version, including a lot of new features not (yet) available in the official version and was called MultiPatch.

After merging with other patched versions of POV-Ray™ (SuperPatch, UVPov, ...) the name changed once more to POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial, since most known patches had then been included. We now try to synchronize updates with the unofficial windows version WinMegaPov.

## 1.2. Copyright and bug reports

We made no contribution, other than bug reports, to POV-Ray™ itself. The program was created and is maintained by the POV-Team™. We can take no credit at all for it!

This unofficial compile is built using XCode 2.x and Cocoa.

We only developed the Macintosh specific parts. There are a few routines, mainly file and folder specific, copied from the original Macintosh compile. The official compile is maintained by Thorsten Froehlich. Many other people contributed by creating patches which expanded the possibilities of POV-Ray™.

The official version of POV-Ray™ for the Macintosh platform can be found at: http://mac.povray.org

E-mail concerning the official Mac-versions can be send to the POV-Team™: `<mac-team@povray.org>`

Please, take a few moments to read the original POV-Ray™ documentation! Following the rules and guidelines of the POV-Team™ will make sure that everyone can continue to enjoy this magnificent piece of freeware!

In the documentation, you will also find information about:

- where to find more on POV-Ray™
- where to find the official compiles for Macintosh and other platforms (most existing platforms are supported!)
- how and where to redistribute the software (copyrights, ...)

## 1.3. How and where to report bugs!

If you find a bug in POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial: do not report this to the POV-Team™! The POV-Team™ does not support unofficial compiles. If it is a real POV-Ray™ bug, we will send it on to the POV-Team™. Otherwise we will (try to) fix it in MegaPOV or POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial!

On the other hand, when you get the same errors in the official version you can of course send them on to the POV-Team™.

But if it concerns the Mac interface or if it is a bug in one of the MegaPOV patches, report it to us at `<yvo.s@gmx.net>`. You can contact us in English, Dutch, German and French. However, we will only reply in English or Dutch.

## 1.4. Differences between the official and unofficial versions

This Unofficial compile..:

- Is a Universal Binary 32/64 bit for Intel-based Macs only;
- Has built in formula templates in the editor, covering almost all features;
- Has a graphical editor for lathe, prism, sor and slope_map splines;
- Can open several scene files at the same time;
- Has helpful tooltips;

## 1.5. System requirements

This application is available as a Universal Binary 32/64 bit which will run on any Intel based Macintosh.
This version will only run on system 10.6.8 or later.
All versions are available at the same place where you downloaded this version.

## Chapter 2. First run

For a full explanation on POV-Ray™ it is recommended to read the POV-Ray™ manual (pov.doc) from the official compile. It contains all information on creating and rendering images.

The best way to learn about the rendering options is to get the POV-Ray™ manual pov.doc and print out the section on "POV-Ray™-options". The implementation of those options in POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial is explained here but you will find it easier to follow when you have that section of the POV-Ray™ manual at hand.

## 2.1. Installation

To get a full package you need to download the official Macintosh compile. We only provide the unofficial application. Normally you already have the official compile and there is no need to download the same (huge) archive twice.

After you expanded the archive that you have downloaded at http://users.skynet.be/smellenbergh/, you will find a folder containing the application. It is possible that the docs are included in this folder, if not you can find them for download on our web site. Navigate to the download area.

We suggest that you put this folder somewhere separate from the Official POV-Ray™ compile.

Double-click the POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial application () inside the MegaPOV folder. POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial will start up showing two windows. The "Rendering Preferences Window" and "POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial Message Window". At start up, this last window displays some information like the authors and an e-mail address you can use for questions on POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial. Whenever you render an image, all information is displayed here. If there are any syntax errors in the scene, the file and line number will be displayed here too. So, whenever a scene will not render, you should look here to find out what is going wrong!

| Note:
In case of a fatal error the text scene with the error is opened (also include files) or brought to the front. The cursor is placed at the line with the error. If you checked the option 'Select error line' the whole line containing the error is highlighted at the same time.

Now, let's put POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial to work!

- First we need to set some paths for the application. It needs to know where to look for certain files.

  Go to the menu "POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial > Preferences..." to open the "POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial Application Preferences" window. Next choose the tab 'System Includes'. Then, click the "Add" button and, in the file dialog, select the folder "`Include`" located in the POV-Ray™ folder of the official compile. Confirm with the "Choose" button. The path for the standard include files is now displayed in the list. Click 'Apply' and 'OK'.

- Select 'Open...' from the 'File' menu, to open the file dialog.
- Navigate to the folder "`Scenes / Advanced`" (still in the POV-Ray™ folder) and open the file "`skyvase.pov`".
- A "Text Editor Window" with title 'skyvase.pov' appears. Use the button in the icon-bar at the top to get to the "Rendering Preferences Window". Note that the file name is now shown in the title bar.

- Click the 'Files & Paths' tab. Note that the correct name and path of "`skyvase.pov`" has been copied next to 'Scene...'.

  The same name has been copied next to the 'Image...', but without the extension.

- We need to choose 'Image & Quality' settings now, so click on that tab to bring that pane forward.

  In the 'Image Size' group, look for the pop-up with predefined sizes and select 240*180 for instance. Also set the "Image type"pop-up in the 'Output options' box to 'Don't Save Image'.

- Click the "Render" button at the bottom and POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial starts to parse your scene (Watch the "POV-Ray Message Window" for any messages: they include the raytrace-options, copyrights and warnings).

  It's a short scene and POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial will not need much time to parse it. Unless someone has edited skyvase.pov on your computer, the scene file itself will be free of errors. So, you should not see any errors or warnings unless you don't have enough memory or did not complete the previous steps.

  After a few seconds the "Display Window" is opened and the image is rendered. Notice the window title '`skyvase (Not Saving)`' which tells you what scene is being rendered and with what name (or if) it is being saved.

  In the "Display Window" you may have noticed a few rectangles. They show the bounding boxes of the objects in the scene and give you some idea about their location. Red lines show the bounding boxes of single objects, blue lines are used for CSG-objects like intersections or differences. POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial is now rendering the scene line after line. After a little while the image window is completely filled.

  In case you start looking for the image file of this scene, there isn't any! The image is not written to disk because the preferences are not set to do so (remember; we have set the image type to 'Don't Save Image'); we don't want an image file at this point.

- If all went well, you can do some more tests with the demo scenes from POV-Ray™, located in the "`Scenes`" folder. It is sufficient to select the files in the 'Files & Paths'' dialog. The preferences from the previous run are adequate for most cases.

## 2.2. Memory requirements

The amount of memory MegaPOV needs depends on the complexity of the scene and the size of the image.

- For MacOS X the memory management is automatic, using all memory available. MacOS X always uses virtual memory; you can not control this. You do not have to set a preferred or minimum memory size.

## Chapter 3. The menu

## 3.1. POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial

### 3.1.1. About POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial

The first entry in the POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial menu gives some more information about the program.

### 3.1.2. Preferences

This is where some general preferences of POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial can be set.

This pane contains all settings that will alter the display of the source file in the "Text Editor Window".

Syntax Color: This group enables syntax highlighting, which displays the scene source text in different colors for different scene description language elements. Simply click on a color and the standard color picker dialog will appear. You can set the color to whatever you like. Of course, since the background color is white, you should not set any text elements to white or other faint colors.

Tab size: Tabs are an important feature to make scenes more readable and they will give scene source display a better structure. With this setting you can set how many spaces to the right the text will be moved when it contains a tab character.

Maintain indentation: When set, newly inserted lines start with the same indentation as the previous line.

Select font: Choose the font to be used for a new text or any text you open. The current font and size are displayed here.

Insert Folder: Choose the main folder for the "Templates >> Insert" menu.
Also see Section 3.4.2, Insert.

Point: The decimal point used in MegaPOV is a point. When your system writes a comma with the numerical block on the keyboard, this might be inconvenient. Here POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial can be forced to use the desired point. With 'System' the system is followed. With either 'Comma' or 'Point' POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial is forced to use your choice.

This pane lets you set paths where POV-Ray™ should look for include files, images, fonts, macros or whatever you use often. Click 'Add' to select a new path for a folder. 'Delete' removes the selected line. 'Change' opens the file dialog to replace the selected path.

| Note:
POV-Ray™ does not look into nested folders for include files. Either add a path to the nested folder or bring all files to the root folder selected in the path. Another possibility is to specify the nested folder in your source like: ( "/nested_folder/file.inc" )

It's a good idea to select the "`include`" folder of POV-Ray™ as the first additional path, since most existing scenes and scenes you will create use include files like "`colors.inc`", "`textures.inc`",... They are all located in the "`include`" folder that came with the POV-Ray™ archive.

Display gamma. By default a display gamma of 1.8 is passed on to POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial. Sometimes your monitor is set to a different gamma than the standard 1.8 for Macintosh. With this option on, it is possible to pass on the real gamma of your monitor.

### 3.1.3. Services

Services available throughout the system.

### 3.1.4. Hide / show

Hide or show MegaPOV.

### 3.1.5. Quit POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial

No comment. :-)

## 3.2. File

### 3.2.1. New

The first entry in the file menu is 'New'. This opens a new 'Text file' in the "Text Editor Window".

When opening a new text file, a new and empty editor window will be presented with the title "`Untitled`". There are a few ways to enter scene text:

- You can type some POV-Ray™ scene statements into the "Text Editor Window".
- The easiest way to enter POV-Ray™ statements is to use the built in 'Templates' pop-up menu on the tool bar of the "Text Editor Window". Select an item from the list and you will get a dialog where you can select and enter the relevant options and parameters. After clicking OK, a syntactically correct statement is written where your insertion point is. Conflicting combinations of options are avoided and only what you really need is going into your scene file. Indenting is also been taken care for, so that it gives a "clean" impression.

Save the file to disk (choose 'Save As...' under the 'File' menu). Note that the renderer requires the file to be saved to disk before rendering it and will ask you to save the file if needed.

| Note:
It is possible to create a new text file while rendering.

For an explanation about all options of the Editor, see Section 4.2, “Editor”.

### 3.2.2. Open

The second entry in the file menu is 'Open'. It leads to the file dialog, where you can specify which file to open.

Any ASCII text can be opened. Look for the icon if you want to open text files that have been saved in POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial.

| Note;
It is possible to open and edit multiple text files while rendering.

### 3.2.3. Open Recent

POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial remembers the last 10 files which have been opened. The most recently opened file is displayed at the top of the list.

Selecting a file from the list will open it.

### 3.2.4. Import

When the 'Global settings' or 'Material' template is opened, previously saved settings of the sub-panels can be loaded.

Selecting the appropriate file in the file dialog will load the parameters.

### 3.2.5. Export

When the 'Global settings' or 'Material' template is opened, the settings of the active sub-panel can be exported and saved. The file dialog is opened to save the parameters for later use.

### 3.2.6. Close

Closes the front-most (active) window.

### 3.2.7. Save

Saves to disk the contents and settings of the front-most (active) window.

Different icons are assigned to files that are saved:

- : For text files ending with `.pov` (scenes, ...)
- : For text files ending with `.inc` (includes, ...)

### 3.2.8. Save As...

This opens the file dialog to the enter name and path for the file you would like to save.

### 3.2.9. Revert

Resets the editor to the last saved state.

### 3.2.10. Page setup...

Opens a dialog to set printer page preferences. This depends on your printer driver, so check the printer manual.

### 3.2.11. Print...

Print a text file.

## 3.3. Edit

### 3.3.1. Undo

Will go back to the previous state.

### 3.3.2. Redo

Ignore the last undo.

### 3.3.3. Cut

The usual stuff.

### 3.3.4. Copy

The usual stuff.

### 3.3.5. Paste

The usual stuff.

### 3.3.6. Delete

The usual stuff.

### 3.3.7. Select all

The usual stuff.

### 3.3.8. Go to line

Move the cursor to a specific line in the text.

### 3.3.9. Find

Search for a specific keyword or sequence of characters in the "Text Editor Window". You can also choose to replace a found word with another one.

If it doesn't matter whether capital or lower case letters are used, set the 'Ignore Case' option.

With the option 'Wrap around', the search begins at the cursor and, once the end of the file is reached, begins again at the top of the text.

To replace all instances of a set of characters with another set, click the "Replace all" button.

Click the "Replace" button to replace only the selected item.

Clicking "Next" Will start the search again, beginning after the selection.

### 3.3.10. Special characters...

Opens the "Character palette" to look for a specific character or unicode you need.

## 3.4. Templates

### 3.4.1. Forms

This menu contains items pertaining to all the major elements of the scene description language.

POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial has a series of built in template forms. Selecting an item from the submenu will open a dialog. In these dialogs all parameters concerning that particular item can be entered in edit fields or set through pop-ups and check boxes. Only the required parameters (conflicting parameters can not be used together) are written to the scene file in a clean and orderly syntax (indenting and tabs at the right places). The last used parameters are also remembered when returning to the dialog, making an adjustment very easy.

It is also possible to save different settings for each template, so that you can built a personal library of settings.

Most dialogs follow the POV syntax and are self explanatory. There is also an extensive Balloon help. For more explanation on some specific parts of the dialogs, see Chapter 6, Template forms.

### 3.4.2. Insert

The Insert menu allows you to insert header sections, object definitions, etc. into a file you are editing with the internal editor, with only a few clicks of your mouse. It is only visible if you have selected an editor window. This system is now equal to the one used by the official Windows version of POV-Ray and therefore that directory can be used.

| Important:
The path to the main insert directory is set in the application preferences dialog, see Section 3.1.2, “Preferences...”.

### 3.4.2.1. Physical layout

Each sub-menu in the Insert Menu is a directory (also called a 'folder' these days). To create a new sub-menu, just create a new directory. The submenu will have the same name as the directory. The actual items that you can insert in your scene files are simply text files. POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial recognizes them by the extensions .txt, .inc and .pov. Any .txt, .inc or .pov file in the Insert Menu directory tree will appear in the Insert Menu. The name shown in the Insert Menu will be the filename of the .txt, .inc or .pov file, minus the extension. If you select this file from the Insert Menu, the contents of the corresponding text file will be inserted into your scene file at the current cursor location. �

### 3.4.2.2. Sorting the insert menu

It is possible to order the insert menu entries any way you like, both for folders and for the files (or sub-folders) within them. Normally, the entries are added to the menu in alphabetical order, with all folders being added before files. However, you can influence the ordering of each group (folders and files) by prepending a 'NN - ' to a folder or file, where 'NN' is any letter or digit (note however that this does not permit you to place a file before a folder).
When the editor code builds the insert menu (which happens each time you change it), any file or folder that starts with a prefix of 'NN - ' (note the trailing space) will be sorted using the prefix, but displayed without the prefix.

### 3.4.2.3. Adding a separator

Creating a special file called '-.txt' (a hyphen followed by .txt) usually prefixed by a 'NN - ' (e.g. '30 - -.txt'), will cause a menu separator to be drawn instead of inserting a new item into the menu. The content of this file is ignored.
To create a separator between sub-menus, do the same thing as above, but create a folder instead of a file and leave off the '.txt' extension. �

## 3.5. Render

This menu contains items related to the rendering process.

### 3.5.1. Render

Starts POV-Ray™'s rendering process. First the scene file is parsed (progress can be followed in the "MegaPOV Message Window") and then the image is displayed in the "Display Window" (that is, if the 'Don't display image' option isn't set).

'Start Rendering' (and also the shortcut command-R) only works if a "Text Editor Window" or the "Rendering Preferences Window" is in front.

| Important:
When a "Text Editor Window" is in front, that file is rendered, and NOT the one set in the "Rendering Options Window". This avoids overwriting a previous render.

### 3.5.2. Pause

Allows the user to temporarily pause the rendering process.

Another possible way to pause is to use the button in the "Display Window". Clicking a second time on it will continue the rendering process.

### 3.5.3. Abort

This item will stop a render job.

If you aborted a render job and were saving the image to disk, you could go on with the rendering from the point where it was halted, if you set the 'continue rendering' option in the 'Output options' box on the 'Image & Quality' panel of the "Rendering Preferences Window" before you render again.

Another possible way to abort rendering is to use the button in the "Display Window".

### 3.5.4. Sleep When Done

This item will put your computer to sleep when the render job is done.

## 3.6. Batch

"Show" opens the batch window.

"Add". Add a rendering job at the bottom of the list.

"Insert". Add a rendering job in the list just before the selected line.

"Remove". Delete the selected job in the list.

"Reset Selected". Resets all selected jobs to be ready for rendering.

"Reset All". Resets all jobs to be ready for rendering.

"Run All". Will render all jobs in the list.

"Run Selected". Will render all selected jobs in the list.

"Abort". Stops all jobs in the batch.

## 3.7. Window

This menu contains an item for each POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial window displayed. Selecting one of these items brings the corresponding window forward to the front.

There is a checkmark (√) beside the item for the frontmost window.

'Render Preferences' stands for the "Rendering Preferences Window" where all the options concerning the render can be found.

'Message Window' stands for the MegaPOV window where all messages, warnings, statistics and progress of the render will be displayed.

'Progress Window' stands for a little window where progress is written to. This is useful if you have a small monitor.

Under the dividing line, all opened "Text Editor Window"s are shown with the file's name. If there is an opened "Batch Window" it will also be shown. The "Display Window" is shown with the name of the image file, followed by the file type (PNG, TARGA, or NOT SAVING ).

## Chapter 4. Windows

## 4.1. Rendering preferences

The most important dialog of the program! All rendering options are set here! This window is always opened after the program has been started. If not so or when it is in the background, you can bring it to the front through the menu 'Window >> Preferences for: xxx'. It can also be brought to the front by clicking the button in the tool bar of the "Text Editor Window".

All options are available via this one window and are subdivided into five categories, each accessible through tabs. The five groups are: 'Files & Paths', 'Image & Quality', 'Bounding & Preview', 'Clock Settings' and 'Misc'. Once you get more familiar with the layout of this window, you will quickly see if all options are appropriate for a specific rendering.

At the bottom of the window some buttons are available.

The "Save current settings..." pop-up lets you save all preferences (except input and output path) set at that time. The saved preferences become then available to replace all options whenever you select them from this pop-up. The saved preferences are also available for jobs added to the batch. It is of course also possible to edit the saved options, or to reset them to the defaults.

The "Edit Scene File" button opens the scene file which is shown in the 'Scene file path' of the 'Files & Paths' panel.

When you have set all preferences, you can render the scene by clicking the "Render" button. The options set will only be used for this render (the options are not saved to disk, only remembered until the next changes). The only way to save the options to disk is with the "Save current settings..." pop-up at the bottom of the window.

### 4.1.1. Files & paths

Language: The pop-up menu "Scene Written For Version:" contains the settings for the "+MV" Max Version command line switch for POV-Ray™. This determines what version of syntax POV-Ray™ will initially expect when parsing a scene. If this is an older version of a scene file, you can set its version here. You can also insert a "`#version`" directive in the scene file itself, which is preferred, since it will then be carried across to other platforms.

| Important:
This version renders filter as filter and transmit like transmit. However if you want to render older scenes with layered textures and filter you should use version 3.1 to get the old results.

Below the version pop-up you can select an input scene file, output image and an ini file. When you select an input file with the extension "`xxx.pov`", the name of the image output file (image) is set to "`xxx.`" e.g. "`Scene.pov`" becomes "`Scene.`".

The proper extension will be added at rendering time, according to the type (TGA, PNG,..) you selected in the 'output options' of the 'Image & Quality' pane.

An ini file can also be selected. It will be passed on to POV-Ray™ as a last option so that any option set in the "Rendering Preferences Window" will be overwritten by the options in the ini file. That is: if that option is set in the ini file. An ini file must not contain 'all' options.

Also, when the ini option is set, a green indicator will become visible above the 'Files & Paths' tab. This way, you will know at a quick glance if this option is set; even when another pane is active.

Files (like include files or image files) that POV-Ray™ needs to render a scene need not necessarily be located in the same folder as the scene file. However, you must tell where POV-Ray™ should look for them.

There is one folder where POV-Ray™ always looks; the folder where the scene file is located. This path is automatically shown at the previously mentioned scene input button. It changes every time you select another input file.

In the "Application Preferences Window" on the 'System Includes' tab (see Section 3.1.2, “Preferences”), additional paths can be selected where POV-Ray™ should look for include files, images, fonts, macros or whatever you use often. This is meant for the folders with collections of files that are often used.

Finally, POV-Ray™ looks a last time for search paths which you selected with the option 'Set search Paths for additional include files'. This is meant for files specific to the rendering scene.

A path is emptied by clicking the "Clear" buttons, located on the right side of every path.

### 4.1.2. Image & quality

All options related to the size, type of output file and rendering quality are set on this panel.

#### 4.1.2.1. Image size

There are a few standard sizes accessible via the "preset sizes" pop-up. The list is divided in three sections.

- The top section holds image sizes for a square-sized image;
- The middle section the 'normal' rectangle sizes (y=3/4x);
- Finally, the bottom section holds rectangle sizes where y=1/2x.

Any selection made in the pop-up is copied in the 'x' (width) and 'y' (height) fields under the pop-up menu. Whenever you want a size that is not available in the pop-up, you can enter it manually in these edit fields.

Next there is a toggle button were you can set a 'Ratio' for the image size. If you are mostly working with a fixed ratio (say 16:9) but different sizes, this option will make it easy for you. Press the "ratio" button and enter the required ratio: either through the pop-up with predefined ratios, or manually with the width value in the 'x' field and the height value in the 'y' field. When you change the width of the image, the height value is immediately adjusted according to the ratio. In the same way the width value is immediately adjusted to the ratio when you change the image height.

When choosing a predefined size from the pop-up, the width is copied and the height adjusted according to the set ratio.

#### 4.1.2.2. Partial image

In this group you will find 4 more fields: Start- and End-columns (top) and Start- and End-rows (bottom). Values entered here will cause POV-Ray™ to create an image with the full size shown in the 'Image size' frame, but will only render the area specified in the fields of the 'Partial Image' frame. When creating a time consuming scene, this 'clipping' will speed up the time necessary to calculate the required image part you are designing on, because only the selected part will be calculated and rendered.

Whenever you select another image size from the pop-up or enter the values manually, the partial image size is set proportionally to the newly specified size. Because it is also possible to specify the partial image directly in the image window by dragging it (use the option ), this means that you could render a small image at low quality, select the partial image and then change the size to a large image at high quality. The partial selection has now been adjusted to the new size in a proportional way. This way it is possible to reduce the rendering time considerably if you want to check only a small part of the image at a high resolution.

Normally only the selected part of the image will be rendered, but shown in a "Display Window" with the full sizes specified in the 'Image Size' frame. The background will be white. If you only want to see the rendering area, set the 'Only Display Part' option in the 'Output options' frame (Display Options).

Do not forget to use the "Set to Full Size" button if you no longer want to render a partial image!

| Note:
When you render a partial image and are saving to disk, the first line in the image file will be the first line that is actually rendered (the 'Start Row'). The first lines which are not rendered are not saved and therefore you can not continue an image when you didn't start at the top line of the image!

#### 4.1.2.3. Output options

In the "Image type" pop-up you select the type of image that will be written to disk. Choices are:

Don't Save Image: |  | No output is written to disk, only to screen;
Targa: |  | Writes an uncompressed targa file;
Targa Compressed: |  | Writes a compressed targa file;
PNG: |  | Writes a file in PNG format;
PPM (unix): |  | Writes a PPM file;
hdr: |  | Writes a "high dynamic range" file;

| Note:
Whenever you select an input file in the 'Files & Paths' panel, and do not select manually an output file, the correct extension will be added to the output file accordingly to the type you select here! (.tga, .png, .ppm)

If you have chosen 'Don't Save Image', some options of this frame are disabled. (Only 'Write ini-file' and 'Only Display part' are accessible).

The bit depth of the image can be set through the "Bit Depth" pop-up. Only the possible bit depths with the chosen file type are enabled.
It varies from 5 to 16 and is set through the pop-up. The higher, the more colors your image will contain. 8 (true color = 16 million) is quite enough.

'Add Alpha Channel'. When you have selected 'TGA' or 'PNG', you can choose if the alpha transparency data is output to the file (Please read the POV-Ray™ documentation for more information).

'QT Movie'. When selecting this option, a series of rendered images is saved as a Quick Time Movie. Via the 'Set Compression' button, additional compression options can be set.

Whenever you turn the 'Write Ini-file' option on, POV-Ray™ will write (when you start rendering) an ini-file, located in the same folder as the input file. In this file, all preferences are written. On the Macintosh this ini-file is not very useful since rendering options can be saved when you have the "Rendering Preferences Window" in front. However, it is the only way to let someone with another platform render your image with your options, without having to type all these options.

'Don't Display' means that the rendering image is not shown on the screen. The image is only saved to disc and you are not able to see the results on the screen. This could speed up rendering in some cases and might be useful to render the batch file overnight.

| Note:
If you should decide you do want to see the result on screen, you have to abort rendering. Then go to the "Rendering Preferences Window", disable the option 'Don't Display' and set 'Continue Rendering'. Then render again: Rendering will go on from the point where you aborted the rendering and it will be displayed on screen this time.

'Only Display Part'. When this option is activated AND you selected part of the image to be rendered as a partial image, only the selected part will be shown, filling the "Display Window" completely. When the option is turned off, only the selected part is rendered, but shown relative to the complete image. Note that this affects only the displayed image: the saved image will always be the complete image.

While rendering, you can always abort. If you were saving your image to disk, it is possible to continue the same image from the point were it was aborted. Simply select 'Continue Rendering' in the dialog and POV-Ray™ will continue to render the missing part of the image, making a total image.

| Note:
Sometimes when you have selected the output type 'PNG' POV-Ray™ can not continue an image. The reason is: a temporary file is not deleted. Check for this in the "MegaPOV Message Window" and when this is the case, delete one of the two files. They are both located in the same folder.

#### 4.1.2.4. Rendering quality

This pop-up sets the calculations that should be made. The lower (0) the less the image resembles 'reality' but the shorter the rendering time. Final renderings should be made with quality set to 9, so that all calculations are performed!

#### 4.1.2.5. Anti-aliasing

Quite complex to explain, please consult the POV-Ray™ docs about the anti aliasing options. To make it easier to follow the manual, here is a small table that shows where the POV-Ray™ options can be found in the dialog:

Switches in the POV-Ray™ Manual | Implemented in the dialog
--- | ---
+A | check-box 'Anti-aliasing'
+AMn | pop-up 'Samplemethod'
+An.n | edit field 'Threshold'
+Jn.n | edit field 'Jitter'
+R | edit field 'Recursion'

### 4.1.3. Bounding & preview

#### 4.1.3.1. Histogram output

With this option on, you can see where POV-Ray™ spends most of its time in the scene. The image is divided in blocks, the time spent in a block is accumulated and represented in colors. The size of a block can be set in the edit fields. e.g. An image of 320 * 240 and the grid set to 10*10 will divide the image in 32*24 = 768 blocks.

You can set the type of the output file (Comma separated, PNG, PPM, Uncompressed Targa) with the pop-up.

#### 4.1.3.2. Directing text streams

While parsing and rendering, POV-Ray™ displays some messages or errors in the "MegaPOV Message Window". You can decide which messages are directed to that window and which ones are written in a file. Select the appropriate checkboxes under 'To File' or 'To Screen' in the 'Redirect Text Streams' panel for the required type of messages.

Whenever you redirect a stream to a file, the file name is created automatically. The input file's name is used to do this. The extension "`.pov`" is replaced with:

`.war` |  | for the warning stream;
`.fat` |  | for the fatal stream;
`.sta` |  | for the statistic stream
`.deb` |  | for the debug stream;
`.ren` |  | for the render stream.

These files are located in the same folder as the input scene file. Only those files that hold information will be created and will get the icon. When there were no warnings when the warning stream was directed to file you won't find a file!

The status stream is not implemented in POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial!

| Note:
When the buffer of the message window is full, it will be cleared and the last lines are displayed at the top. When this happens while important information is displayed it can be lost. If you direct the text streams to files, you can still find that information in the saved file.

#### 4.1.3.3. Bounding system

To reduce rendering time, POV-Ray™ has an automatic bounding system. In previous versions of POV-Ray™ this system wasn't as sophisticated as now and you had to manually add bounds. For the majority of scenes you render in POV-Ray™ 3.x the internal bounding is more effective than the manual bounding.

When deactivating the 'Auto Bounding System' group box, automatic bounding is always turned off.

If you select any number in the pop-up, internal bounding is turned on whenever the scene contains as much, or more objects than the number specified in the pop-up. The default setting is 25 objects, it's a good idea to set it lower, something like 5!

For more information, please read the POV-Ray™ manual! These are important options which will let you enjoy POV-Ray™ more, since these options affect the rendering time of a scene!

| Note:
In this version of POV-Ray™ the option 'Draw Vista Buffers' is very useful. Make it a habit to turn it on (when possible). It gives a quick idea of the location of the objects in the scene. The size and location of the rectangles can give a rough idea if the objects are at the right locations. It helps you decide if the camera is at the right location. You will only have to wait until the scene is parsed, it is faster than the 'mosaic preview'.

Unlike the official compile, in this version the vista buffer is drawn very fast. Just try it and you will like it that much that you can't live without! :-)

#### 4.1.3.4. Mosaic Preview

To gradually see the result of a scene you created, you can let POV-Ray™ render your image in blocks. For example if you set the 'From' pop-up at 32x32 and the 'To' pop-up at 16x16, POV-Ray™ will render every 32nd pixel, exploding that pixel to a square. This gives a rough idea of the location of the objects, showing almost no detail. When the last pixel ('pixel-block') is rendered, rendering will restart at the top, now rendering every 16th pixel. More details are visible now. When the 'To'-value is reached, POV-Ray™ will start rendering the image completely, doing every pixel again. Therefore, when you want to do a total render, make sure you don't turn mosaic preview on because POV-Ray™ will waste time while rendering a mosaic preview, a preview you are not interested in at that time!

| Note:
To get a rough idea on the location of the objects it is better to use the option 'Draw Vista Buffer'. It is faster. With the mosaic preview you have to render with small blocks because you could miss little objects! However, mosaic preview is the only way to gradually see the "real" image and colors and gain some time while creating a scene!

### 4.1.4. Clock Settings

POV-Ray™ has a built in animation loop. This allows to easily create animations.

Turn it on and off with the check-box.

| Note:
If animation settings are turned on, a green indicator appears above the 'Clock Settings' tab. This way you will always know if the clock is active or not, without having to open the pane.

To set the clock values, enter the desired values in the edit fields.

'Clock Initial' and 'Clock end':

These set the value of the variable "`clock`" for the first frame and the last frame. POV-Ray™ calculates the values for the frames in between.

'Initial Frame' and 'Final Frame':

These set the number of frames POV-Ray™ will render and determine the "`clock`" value for each frame. Normally the "`Initial Frame`" will always be 1.

'Subset Start' and 'Subset End':

If you wish to render an animation in steps you should use these options instead of changing the 'Initial Frame' or 'Final Frame'.

| Example:
If you want to render frames 40 to 60 of an animation that consist of 100 frames, you set the 'Initial Frame' to 1, the 'Final Frame' to 100. To make sure POV-Ray™ only renders scenes 40 to 60 you set 'Subset Start' to 40 and 'Subset End' to 60. Only frames 40 to 60 will be rendered now and the right value for 'clock' will be calculated.

### 4.1.5. Misc

Here you could specify a folder in which all rendered images (individual or batch) will be saved. If it is turned off, the output path in the 'Files & Paths' will be used. If this option is turned on, a green indicator above the 'Misc' tab reminds you that all images go to this specified folder. This option can be particularly interesting when rendering a batch, so that all rendered images can be found in one folder.

## 4.2. Editor

"Comment / Undo-comment". With a click on the button, the '//' characters will be placed before each line of a selected block of text. All these lines will thus be read as comment lines by POV-Ray™. With a click on the button, the '//' characters preceding a line in a selected text block will be removed.

"Shift block". With the and buttons, a selected block of text can be moved one tab to the left or to the right with each click.

"Check braces". To do so, use the button in the tool bar of the "Text Editor Window". First, put your cursor before an opening or closing brace - { ( [ ] ) } - or select that brace. When you then click this icon, the text between the two matching braces will become selected, quickly showing you where the start and end of that scene file block are. It also checks if any nested braces are matched. If no matching brace is found it will beep.

Another possibility to check the braces is to double click on a brace: the scene file block between this brace and the matching one is highlighted.

"Set Up". Clicking on will bring the "Render Preferences Window" to the front, allowing to change or check some rendering preferences before actually rendering the scene.

"Render". The button transfers the name and path of the text file to the "Render Preferences Window" and puts the rendering engine to work! All current options set in the window of rendering options are transmitted to POV-Ray™. Most menu's will be disabled.

Typing text in the "Text Editor Window". This follows most common rules of any text editor. A few things that makes it easier to use for POV-scenes are:

- This editor uses auto indenting. If you have set tabs and hit the return key, these are copied in the next line and the insertion point is placed after the last tab. This helps to write clean and structured source code.

  | Note:
  When hitting the return key while holding the Cmd-key, the cursor will not indent but go to the margin line.

- If the option 'Syntax Color' is set in the 'Editor' panel of the "Application Preferences Window", all keywords are colored when they are correct. If not so, you should better check the spelling of that keyword.
- #includes, #declared items, #macros, comment lines (// and /*...*/) and strings get their own colors, which makes it easier to recognize them as such.
- Include files mentioned in the scene are copied into the pop-up at the top of the window. Selecting a file from that pop-up will open that file in a new text editor window.
- Declared identifiers or macro identifiers are also copied in their respective pop-ups at the top of the window. Selecting an item from these pop-ups will select it in the scene file where it has been declared.
- Moving selected blocks, commenting blocks or checking if braces are balanced have already been mentioned.
- Don't forget to read about the template forms (see Chapter 6, Template forms), because they really make the difference in writing a scene!

  | Note:
  The content of a template form is always written at the cursor's position if no block is selected. If there is a selection in the text, it will be replaced with the content of the template form. Therefore, first place your cursor at the spot where the item should be inserted ( or select a block that should be replaced) and only then open the template form.

"Go to line". At the bottom of the editor's window there is a field to go to a specific line in the text. It shows the line where the cursor stands on. Overwrite it and click enter to jump to a required line.

## 4.3. Message Window

This window shows all messages and warnings.

At startup, there is a bit of info on the system.

When rendering, more information shows: the version of MegaPOV used, authors and contributors, libraries used, rendering options and paths. All this information is shown in blue text.

Also all text streams (debug, warning, fatal, statistics and render) directed to screen are displayed in this window.

Statistics are colored violet. Fatal errors and important warnings are shown in red. Warnings and reminders use geen text and debug streams are displayed in black.

In the bottom status bar, progress on parsing and rendering is displayed.

## 4.4. Progress Window

This window shows the same progress as shown in the bottom status bar of the message window.

Open the window via the Windows Menu.

## 4.5. Display Window

This window displays the rendering image.

| Note:
If an image is larger than 4092 pixels, the display is scaled down. The output is not affected.

At the top you will find the name and image type of the scene which is rendering. When not saving to disc, it is also mentioned in the window title.

A possible way to abort rendering is to use the button at the top right of this window.

To pause rendering, use the button on the display window. Clicking a second time on it, will continue the rendering process.

With the button you can toggle between displaying the alpha_channel or not. When it is on, any part of the scene that has partial or full alpha-channel transparency will be displayed as a grayscale checkerboard showing through the scene. This could slow down rendering slightly in some cases. To turn this feature off, click the "Alpha-channel"-toggle to turn it off.

It is possible to specify the partial image directly in the image window by dragging it (use the option ). The selection is shown with a marquee and the coordinates of the partial image are shown on the pane next to this button. When releasing the mouse button the "Render Preferences Window" is brought to the front. So you still have the opportunity to change to a larger image size: the proportions of the partial image will be adjusted to the new size.

## 4.6. Batch Window

Depending on the type of computer you are using, rendering a scene can take quite a while! When using a batch job, you can create (write) a few scenes and let them render automatically. This could be done during the night or at a time when you normally won't use your computer. (Don't leave the Image Type at 'Don't Save Image' in the "Render Preferences Window" for each entry in the batch, or else you will not see the results in the morning :-) )

To open the batch window, go to the menu "Batch > Show".

To add jobs to the batch, drag a ".pov" file on the list. You can also use "add" from the Batch menu or the button at bottom of the window to open the file dialog. Using the button at bottom of the window will add a job just before the selected line. Repeat this for all other scenes that should be rendered.

Newly added jobs get the status 'Queued' and the render preferences from the "Render Preferences Window". This is marked in the 'Setting' column as 'Current default'.
For different render preferences, choose from the "Settings" pop-up. This pop-up menu contains all preferences which have been saved previously in the "Render Preferences Window". Select one or more jobs in the usual way and change the default settings all at once with the desired ones from the "Settings" pop-up.

When running the batch file there are a few possibilities in the 'Status' column:
-Before rendering, all jobs in the queue and marked 'Queued' (Black);
-The scene that is being rendered is marked 'Rendering' (Orange);
-All queued jobs are now 'Waiting' for rendering (Violet);
-Every scene that was rendered successfully is marked 'Complete' (Blue) and disabled;
-A batch job can be aborted and run again later. The job that is partially rendered is marked 'User Abort' (Green);
-If an error should occur, it will be marked with 'Fatal Error' (Red);

When the batch file is run again, the scenes already done will be skipped. The aborted ones will continue from the point where they have been aborted.

When clicking the "Reset All" button, all scenes are marked as not rendered and will be processed again when the batch is run again.

| Note:
There is no limit (except memory available) on the number of entries in the batch list, but only the ones with a marked checkbox are actually used to run the batch. It makes things a bit easier when you are creating a few scenes simultaneously. Modify your scenes, reset the Batch File, tick the ones you want to run and click the "Run All" button. Do this over and over until your scenes win some awards :-). Changing the order of the list is done by simple 'drag and drop': move the selected entry up or down the list.

"Run" is intended to run only the selected jobs. Select the lines for the required jobs in the list.

"Reset" rests all selected jobs to the status 'Queued'.

"Skip" aborts the current job and moves to the next in the list.

## Chapter 5. Template forms

## 5.1. General guidelines

These are accessible from the 'Templates' menu or through the "Templates" pop-up in the "Text Editor Window". Pick the item you want to enter at the cursor position in your source scene and a dialog will open.

| Note:
Since this compile is a multi-patched version, all items corresponding to an added patch feature are marked with an asterisk (*) or are shown in blue. This way it is easy to make the distinction between features of the official POV-Ray™ and our patched Unofficial compile.

The dialogs are usually self-explanatory:

- The options are defined by POV-Ray™'s legal keywords: these are explained in the POV-Ray™'s documentation or the keywords added in MegaPOV which are explained in the manual for the patches.

- If a vector entry is required you are presented with two, three or four edit fields where the coordinates can be entered. Example:

  Often you can specify the kind of vector you want through a pop-up (all coordinates equal; parallel to one of the main axis; or all entries different) which allows you sometimes to type only one coordinate instead of three;

- If the entry should be a float or integer value, only one edit field is presented;
- When there is a choice between several keywords, a pop-up presents the possible choices;
- For items which are optional, a check box is provided where you can turn them on and off. If a value should be specified, an edit box will appear as soon as the check box is turned on;
- Whenever a color has to be specified, a color field is shown. Clicking on this will open a color dialog. Enter the Red, Green and Blue components in the edit fields. The change in color will immediately be displayed in the field next to it. Clicking on the display field opens the system's color picker, where you can set the desired color. If you want no hue, but only a gray-value, use the "=" toggle button. The value entered in the edit field for "Green" will specify the gray density.

- The "Reset to default" button will reset all edit fields and pop-ups to the default values (usually POV-Ray™'s defaults) and switch most options off.

  | Note:
  To create your own defaults, enter all values in the template and go to the "Save" button at the bottom of the template. The file dialog will open, so that the settings and values of the template can be saved. It is up to you to enter a significant name and save it. When opening the template again later on, go to the "Open" button and choose your default set from the file dialog where you have saved it before. Your defaults are now entered in the template.

- Clicking the "Cancel" button closes the dialog, nothing is written to your scene text and all changes to this dialog are 'forgotten';
- Hitting the "OK" button will write all entries to your scene text in a correct MegaPOV syntax and formatted with tabs. When the dialog is opened again, it will show all entries and options that were set when you last clicked "OK".

- All dialogs have extensive tooltips help. Place the cursor over a mysterious item. A text balloon appears with some explanation. If it doesn't answer your question, you will have to look at the official POV-Ray™ docs or the docs about the MegaPOV patches for more explanation!

- The values entered in each template dialog can be saved, and later be loaded again. This way you can create libraries of popular template values. To do so, use the "Save" and "Open" buttons at the bottom of the templates.

  It is best to make a backup of these files when you have saved a number of template sets. This version of the template library should be regarded as a beta version, likely to change a bit in the next version - but we will consider the possibility to convert to the next system.

  | Note:
  The values on nested panels (other templates called from the main template) are saved as well. If you need the values of nested panels, you have to make sure they have been turned on. If you do not want to save the content of the nested panels, then check if they have been turned off.

- Since most dialogs are self-explanatory, only the dialogs that may raise questions or which have unusual options will be treated here.

## 5.2. Camera

The camera template consists of two panes. One tab opens the classic predefined cameras. The other tab opens a pane where the user can define his own camera projections.

### 5.2.1. Predefined camera

"Aspect ratio": Normally the aspect ratio is set through the up and right vectors. When using these, you should not forget to adjust the size of your image accordingly. If not, your image might be deformed.

If you want to leave it to MegaPOV to write an aspect ratio that will not deform your image, select the "auto" option. The information from 'image_height' and 'image_width' is used to write a combination of 'up' and 'right' vectors without deformation. Every time the image size is changed, the camera ratio is still right, because it is calculated from the image ratio.

Normal: when this option is enabled, the normal template can be called and edited. After confirming, the chosen normal options will perturb the camera rays.

### 5.2.2. User defined camera

Both location and direction can be defined by means of a set of three u-v functions or a pigment.

When choosing for function, the insert buttons can help you to find some of the allowed functions. It will open the function dialog with a series of predefined functions, although many of them are 3D x-y-z functions. Probably most useful here are the "math" and "trigonometry" functions.

When choosing for pigment, the "Edit Pigment..." button will open the pigment template to design a suitable pigment.

## 5.3. Light source

Reading the introduction on Template forms (see Section 5.1, “General guidelines”) should clear any problems here.

## 5.4. Object

This opens the object's template to choose an object from the "object" pop-up men (listed alphabetically).

Options that will show for most objects when appropriate are:

- Adding material, transformations and/or photons to the object.

  Material: This will write a material {...} statement with the current content of the material editor. When clicking the edit button, the material editor is opened so that it can be checked or edited. The content of the material can be changed later on in the editor: either using the material, pigment, finish, normal or interior template forms or typing it manually.

  Transform: This will write a transform {...} statement with the current content of the transformations template. When 'ignore material' is checked, the transform block is written before the material, so that it isn't affecting the objects' material. When clicking the "Edit" button, the transformation template is opened so that it can be checked or edited.

  Photons: This will write a photons {...} statement with the current content of the photons template. When clicking the "Edit" button, the photons editor is opened so that it can be checked or edited.

- Object controls:

  For some objects the closing endcaps can be removed. Ticking the "`open`" keyword will do so if available for that object. Some objects need the keyword "`sturm`" for more accurate rendering. When this is the case, it will show, so that it can be set. Objects allowing `uv-mapping` will show the 'uv_mapping' checkbox. When set, the keywords "`no_image`", "`no_reflection`", "`no_shadow`" and/or "`double_illuminate`" are added to the object. When using an interior with an object or when a camera is inside an object, you should always add the "`hollow`" keyword to that object to get correct results.

### 5.4.1. Bicubic patch

This will write a flat patch with diagonally opposite corners (corner 1 and corner 2) as symmetrically placed control points.

### 5.4.2. Blob

You can enter the required number of spherical and/or cylindrical components. A blob object, listing the requested number of components with the specified options is inserted in your text file.

Spherical components have their center at the origin. Position and size of cylindrical components can be set freely. Optionally a `texture`{} keyword can be added to each component. However, all components will have the same specifications and must for each component be modified manually in the text.

### 5.4.3. Box

Corner 1 is the lower frontmost corner on the left of a box parallel to the main axis.

Corner 2 is the higher corner on the right and back of that box.

### 5.4.4. Cone

Should be obvious.

Remember that a base_radius or cap_radius of 0.0 will create a sharp point, other values will clip the point.

### 5.4.5. Cylinder

Should be obvious.

### 5.4.6. Disc

Should be obvious.

### 5.4.7. Height field

Now it is possible to use an internal image (select 'function image', 'pattern image' or 'pigment image' from the "File type" pop-up) that will be created by MegaPOV and then immediately used as image for the creation of a height_field. The pigment or pattern image to be used can be specified in the pigment template, called upon with the "Edit pigment..." or "Edit pattern..." button. For a function image, enter the desired function. Image width and image height are the dimensions of this image in pixels.

The "Select image file ..." button opens the file dialog so that you search for the image you had in mind to create the height_field. After selecting the file and clicking "open", the exact name of the file is copied in the edit field.

Of course, if your memory is impeccable, you can enter the name directly in the edit field.

Don't forget to specify the kind of image file you are using. When using "sys", all image types recognized by QuickTime™ can be used - so you are not limited to the types allowed by POV-Ray™.

### 5.4.8. Isosurface

Type the required function in the edit field or use the insert button to open the function template to help you do so. They are inserted at the cursor's point or replace any selection made in the edit field.

If the 'show container' option is set, the chosen contained_by shape is also written to the text as transparent object. This allows you to visualize this container and then correct its size if necessary (if the container is too big, rendering time will be much slower!). This is best seen on a white background.

The option "Message On / Off" controls whether the warnings about the max_gradient should be displayed in the "MegaPOV Message Window".

### 5.4.9. Julia fractal

This should also be obvious if the POV-Ray™ docs about the julia fractal holds no secrets for you.

### 5.4.10. Lathe

Hit the "Edit..." button to open the "Graphical Editor Window" where you can create your lathe profile. The options of this graphical editor are explained in a separate chapter (see Section 5.4.23, “Graphical editor”), since it is also used for the polygon, prism and sor objects.

### 5.4.11. Parametric

Three edit fields are available for the x(u,v), y(u,v) and z(u,v) functions to describe a parametric surface. Type the required function in the edit field or use the insert button to open the function template to help you do so. They are inserted at the cursor's point or replace any selection made in the edit field.

If the 'show container' option is set, the chosen contained_by shape is also written to the text as transparent object. This allows you to visualize this container and then correct its size if necessary. This is best seen on a white background.

### 5.4.12. Plane

Specify the normal vector pointing out of the plane and the distance the plane should be moved along this vector.

### 5.4.13. Poly

First, select the kind of polynomial you want to use (Quadric, Cubic, Quartic, Poly 5, Poly 6 or Poly 7). You will be presented with a list of all terms for that degree of polynomial. Enter the coefficients for the required terms and hit the "OK" button. The correct syntax is written at your cursor's position.

### 5.4.14. Polygon

Hit the "Edit..." button to open the "Graphical Editor Window" where you can create your polygon profile. The options of this graphical editor are explained in a separate chapter (see Section 5.4.23, “Graphical editor”), since it is also used for the lathe, prism and SOR objects.

### 5.4.15. Prism

Hit the "Edit..." button to open the "Graphical Editor Window" where you can create your prism base profile. The options of this graphical editor are explained in a separate chapter (see Section 5.4.23, “Graphical editor”), since it is also used for the lathe, polygon and SOR objects.

After confirming the profile with the "OK" button, select the sweep_type and heights for the prism object.

When choosing the linear_sweep, you could use the 'Bevel prism' option. From the prism, a specified fraction of its height will be beveled. The total height of the prism will not change. For a 'fraction of height' of 1/2, the top half of the prism is beveled. 1/10 will bevel one tenth of the prism height. With the 'angle' option the beveling angle is specified, measured from the prism's axis.

| Note:
this angle will only be used for the widest point of the prism. For points closer to the axis, the beveling angle will become smaller. At the center of the prism the angle will be zero.

When choosing the conic_sweep the base profile is scaled while being swept between base_height and top_height. Only at height 1.0 and -1.0 the profile gets its real dimensions, growing rapidly in size beyond these points. If you want the original dimensions of the base profile at the specified base_ or top_height use the 'keep dimensions' option: the size of the profile is then kept constant while being swept along the y-axis.

### 5.4.16. SOR

Hit the "Edit..." button to open the "Graphical Editor Window" where you can create the profile for the 'Surface Of Revolution' object. The options of this graphical editor are explained in a separate chapter (see Section 5.4.23, “Graphical editor”), since it is also used for the lathe, polygon and prism objects.

### 5.4.17. Sphere

Should be obvious

### 5.4.18. Spheresweep

You can enter the required number of control spheres and specify the type of spline to be used. A spheresweep object, listing the requested number of spheres is inserted in your text file.

The control spheres are written to the scene text with their centers at the origin. So, all components will have the same specifications and therefore must be modified manually in the text for each sphere.

### 5.4.19. Superellipsoid

Set the required rounding for the east-west and north-south exponents.

### 5.4.20. Text

The "Select ttf..." button opens the file dialog so that you search for the true-type font you had in mind to create the text object. After selecting the font and clicking "open", the exact name of the font is copied into the edit field.

Of course, if your memory is impeccable, you can enter the name directly in the edit field.

Next enter the text string you want to be rendered, set the thickness and offset if required and click "OK".

With the options of the "align horizontal" pop-up the horizontal alignment of the text object can be changed. Choose between 'right', 'left' or 'center'.

With the options of the "align vertical" pop-up the vertical alignment of the text object can be changed. Choose between 'top', 'center' or 'bottom'.

See the chapter on 'Text object enhancements' in the MegaPOV manual for more information.

### 5.4.21. Torus

Should be obvious.

### 5.4.22. Triangle / mesh

Enter the coordinates of the triangle's corners.

If you need a smooth triangle tick the 'smooth triangle' option and enter the values of the normal vectors at the corresponding corners.

If you have the courage and patience to manually create an object from a mesh of triangles, you could specify the needed number of triangles (smooth or not) and have it written as a triangle mesh into your scene text. Then you can enjoy yourself with substituting each corner and normal value with the ones you have in mind.

### 5.4.23. Graphical editor

The "Graphical Editor Window" is opened from the template forms of the objects lathe, polygon, prism and sor.

It presents you with a graphic display on the left of the window and a list of points on the right side.

#### 5.4.23.1. Spline type

For the lathe and prism objects, you get an additional pop-up on the top-left side where you can specify the kind of spline that you want to use (linear, quadratic, cubic or bézier).

#### 5.4.23.2. Drawing a new set of points

To get started you could go to the bottom of the window. Enter the number of sides/segments you will be using in your profile. Then hit the "Draw now" button. Because this option will overwrite all previous work, an alert box is shown to ask if this really is what you want.

For prism and polygon a regular closed polygon with the specified number of sides is drawn with each point one unit from the center. Control points are placed in such way that it remains a regular smoothed polygon.

For SOR and lathe a semi-circle with the specified number of segments is drawn. Points start at (0, 0) and end at (0, 1).using (0, 0.5) as the rotation center.

#### 5.4.23.3. Background image

With the 'Background Image' option you could load or remove an image from the display. With the pop-up item 'Load' you select an image (normally all types supported by your Quickdraw version) that will be displayed as a background on the grid. With this option you could easily copy curves from images that have been generated or scanned through other programs. There are however a few things you should keep in mind:

- The image is centered and fits with its largest side in that grid.
- Since the graphical editor has a resizable window, the background image is enlarged with the window. So, for precise work, an image with a higher resolution is recommended.
- Because the overlaying profile line consists of blue, red and green colors it is a good idea to use light gray images as background. With the 'Grayscale' item of the pop-up, the image can be converted to a grayscale background. When the background image is too dark, use the 'Brighten' item in the pop-up. Every time you select this option the image is brightened a bit. Repeat this until you get the right density. To darken the image, use the 'Darken' option.

If an image is loaded, a toggle button will be visible and can be used to show or hide the background image.

There are a few tools to position the background image.

- The 'Zoom' slider lets you zoom into the image part at the center.
- The 'Size' slider lets you enlarge the image while the lower left corner remains in place.
- With the 'arrows', the image can be moved to position it at the desired spot.
- The 'crosswire' lets you quickly reset the image's lower left corner.

With the 'Remove' option the image can be removed (the toggle button disappears also). When the graphical editor is closed, the image is also removed.

#### 5.4.23.4. Controlling the graphic display

All parts of the profile display can be turned on and off using the toggle buttons at the right hand side:

- is only available if a background image has been loaded. Toggling this button shows or hides that loaded image.
- turns the grid (gray color) on and off. Distance between two lines is 0.1 unit. The slightly darker lines show the axis. For polygon and prism the grid has a size of two units by two, centered around the origin. For SOR and lathe the grid has a size of one unit square, with its left and lowest corner at the origin.
- turns the profile (blue color) on and off. Note that the line connects only the points of the profile: no connection is made between points and their control points (quadratic and cubic splines).
- shows or hides the points (red color) where the profile passes through.
- is only available for bézier splines and shows or hides the control points and their handles (green color).

#### 5.4.23.5. Selecting points

All points can be selected with a mouse click and dragged around while holding the mouse button. Selecting multiple points is done by holding the shift-key, when selecting or de-selecting points. The selected points are highlighted by a black circle surrounding it. When releasing the mouse button, the actual coordinates of the points are fixed and are shown in the selected lines of the list of points.

| Note:
Since POV-Ray™ does not allow negative x-values for the SOR and lathe (except first and last point), you can not drag a point to the left side of the y-axis!! To avoid gaps between two segments of a bézier spline, the endpoint of one segment is always linked with the starting point of the next segment. They are always dragged together. To get smooth transitions between segments of a bézier spline the endpoint of one segment, the starting point of the next segment and the control points at these points should always be on a straight line. Therefore, when dragging a control point (green), the opposite control point is also moved together to stay on that line. (Except for the lathe when it risks to get a negative x-value: it will be unable to cross the y-axis). In the same fashion, when moving a point (red) around, the slopes of the curve at that point are locked and the control points will follow the same move. (Except for the lathe when it risks to get a negative x-value: it will be unable to cross the y-axis). If you want to create a sharp edge in your curve, you can force it by holding the ALT-key when selecting (point or control point) and dragging. Only the selected point moves with the cursor, all other points stay put. The SOR object can not compute more than one x-value for each y-value. Therefore, when trying to drag a point below the previous point or beyond the next point the dragging is blocked. If your profile line (blue) is disconnected, move a little back or adjust the height of the other points. This editor is designed to create unit sized objects. So, keep in mind to use values between 0.0 and 1.0. Sometimes however a point might get off the display and not been selectable anymore. The graphical editor has a re sizable window: try resizing it to the greatest possible width and smallest height or vice versa to recover lost points. If this fails, use the edit fields to get the values back into the 0.0 to 1.0 range.

#### 5.4.23.6. Toolbox

At the bottom left of the display you will find a toolbox, allowing some transformations on the selected points.

In the first place, you should specify if the transformation has to be applied to "All" points or only to the "Selected" ones.

Scale: enter the desired scale value and hit the "Apply" button to execute. Values smaller than 1.0 will squish the curve, 1.0 will leave it unchanged and values larger than 1.0 will enlarge the curve.

Move: enter the desired moving distance and hit the appropriate "arrow" button to move the point(s) in the required direction.

Rotate: enter the angle by which points should be rotated and hit the "Apply" button to execute.

Undo: The last operation is canceled and the curve is restored to the previous situation.

#### 5.4.23.7. List of points

To the right hand side a table of edit fields with the coordinates of the points is shown.

- The first column shows the kind and number of the point. Successive points of the profile are numbered from 1 to n. Control points are designated by a capital "C". An "s" means start and "e" means end. For bézier splines the numbers increase for each next segment. Segment n starts with "Sn", "Csn" controls the curve at Sn, "Cen" controls the curve at En, and "En" is the last point of segment n.
- The second column gives the x-location from the origin. Notice that this editor has been designed to create unit sized profiles: therefore, use entries between 0.0 and 1.0. Later on it is easy to scale it to the required size. To move a point, select the corresponding edit field and edit the value in the usual way. The point follows immediately on the display. POV-Ray™ does not allow negative x-values for the SOR and lathe objects (except first and last point). Therefore, when you enter negative values the editor replaces them with 0.0!!
- The third column gives the height (y for polygon, lathe and SOR) or depth (z for prism) from the origin. Notice that this editor has been designed to create unit sized profiles: therefore, use entries between = 0.0 and 1.0. Later on it is easy to scale it to the required size. To move a point, select the corresponding edit field and edit the value in the usual way. The point follows immediately on the display. The SOR object can not compute more than one x-value for each y-value. Therefore, when you enter a value lower than the previous point or higher than the next point the editor replaces them with a legal limit value.
- Select a point by clicking on one of the edit fields. The selected point is highlighted with a dark frame and the edit field with a blue frame.

#### 5.4.23.8. Add, insert or remove points

- To add a point at the end of the list, use the button. For the bézier spline a whole segment is added. Notice that for polygon and bézier this option is not available, since the profile is a closed one (use insert instead).
- To insert a point before the selected point, use the button. The inserted point gets the average value of the points between which it is inserted. For the bézier spline the segment to which the selected point belongs is split into two segments, placing a point halfway the points of the original segment.
- To remove a point from the list, select it and click the button.

## 5.5. Transformations

The use of each panel individually should be obvious.

| Note:
Only the transformations on active panels (set check box) are written to the text at the cursor's position. Three transformation items can be inserted at once (in the sequence shown on the template form).

## 5.6. Functions

Choosing the function template opens a dialog which allows the user to select a function and read a description. After entering the desired parameters and confirming, the function is written at the cursor's position in the text (or replaces the content of a selected block).

Functions can be chosen by type from the "types" pop-up.

In the next list, an overview of syntax and result is shown for the chosen group of functions. When a function is selected in the list, its description and possible parameters with description are shown in the next frame.

In the last frame, edit fields are shown for the required parameters. They can be filled out here.

Clicking "OK" will write the function to the text or function field.

## 5.7. Pigment

At the bottom you can go directly to the transformations template to set up to three transformations if required. You could also choose a quick color from the color template by activating the option and clicking on the display square. At the very bottom the option 'don't wrap in pigment{}' lets you substitute certain parts (a color vector for instance) of a pigment statement in the text.

### 5.7.1. Full color

Specify a plain color (perhaps with some filter or transmit) for the object's pigment.

The option 'add comment //' allows you to give a short description of the color shown in the display. (visualizing a color from a color vector isn't that easy!)

### 5.7.2. Color patterns

The usage of each pattern is explained in POV-Ray™'s docs or in the Textures chapter of the MegaPOV manual and shouldn't cause any problems in this template dialog.

Choose any of the list patterns (brick, checker, hexagon or object) or any other color pattern.

When choosing the density_file pattern, the "Select image..." button opens the file dialog so that you can search for the "`*.df3`" file you had in mind to create the pigment. After selecting the file and clicking "open", the exact name of the df3 file is copied in the edit field. Of course you can also enter the name directly in the edit field.

Only appropriate options for each pattern can be set.

Whenever a map should be used, you have the choice between two predefined color_maps (black&white and rainbow colors) and the option 'color_map customized' where you could jump to the color_map editor (see Section 5.15, “Color map” for more information).

There is also a possibility to jump to the pigment_map editor with the choice 'pigment_map customized' (see Section 5.20, “Pigment map” for more information.

Substituting the default wave type with any legal wave type is also possible through a pop-up.

### 5.7.3. Image map

Now it is possible to use an image that will be created by POV-Ray™ and then immediately used as image_map. The image type to be used can be specified in the "file type" pop-up. Choose gif, hdr, jpeg, pgm, png, pot, ppm, sys, tga, tiff, function image, pigment image or pattern image. For the last three, the "Edit pigment ..." or "Edit pattern ..." button opens the pigment template to specify the type of pattern. Image width and image height are the dimensions of this image in pixels. See the pattern chapter in the POV-Ray™ manual for more information.

The "Select image..." button opens the file dialog so that you can search for the image you had in mind to wrap around the object. After selecting the file and clicking "open", the exact name of the file is copied into the edit field. Of course, if your memory is impeccable, you can enter the name directly in the edit field.

Don't forget to specify the kind of image file you are using. When using "`sys`", all image types recognized by QuickTime™ can be used.

### 5.7.4. Function pattern

Enter a function to be used in the edit field. You can choose any operator from the bevel pop-up to be inserted at the cursor point.

To use a map, there is a choice between two predefined color_maps (black&white and rainbow colors) and the option 'color_map customized' where you could jump to the color_map editor. For more information, see Section 6.15, “Color map”.

There is also a possibility to jump to the pigment_map editor with the choice 'pigment_map: customized'. For more information, see Section 6.20, “Pigment map”.

Substituting the default wave type with any legal wave type is also possible through a pop-up menu.

### 5.7.5. Camera view

Click "Edit Camera..." to choose a camera that will capture the required pigment.

Choose between the possible output options from the 'output' pop-up menu. For more information, see the MegaPOV doc's.

## 5.8. Finish

The 'don't wrap in finish {...}' option allows you to add or replace parts of the finish statements because only the selected options are written at your cursor's position. The finish keyword and its brackets are omitted.

## 5.9. Normal

At the bottom of the dialog you could go directly to the transformation dialog to set up to three transformations if required. Here you can also set the 'no_bump_scale' and 'accuracy' options.

At the very bottom the option 'don't wrap in normal{}' allows one to substitute certain parts of a normal statement in the text.

### 5.9.1. Normal patterns

The usage of each pattern is explained in POV-Ray™'s docs or in the chapter 'Textures' of the MegaPOV manual and shouldn't cause any problems in this template dialog. Choose any of the list patterns (brick, checker, hexagon or object) or other normal pattern.

When choosing the density_file pattern, the "Select image..." button opens the file dialog so that you can search for the "`*.df3`" file you had in mind to create the normal. After selecting the file and clicking "open", the exact name of the df3 file is copied in the edit field. Of course you can always enter the name directly in the edit field.

Only the appropriate options for each pattern can be set.

Also, only for the patterns where the use of a wave_type could be specified, a pop-up is provided to make your choice.

There is also a possibility to jump to the slope map's graphical editor which is explained in a separate chapter (see Section 5.21, “Slope map”). After having created a new slope_map you will come back to the normal template form.

An option to open the normal_map's editor is also available (see Section 5.19, “Normal map”). After creating a normal_map and confirming it, you will be brought back to the normal template form.

### 5.9.2. Bump map

Now it is possible to use an image that will be created by POV-Ray™ and then immediately used as bump_map. The image to be used can be a function image, pigment image or pattern image.

Image width and image height are the dimensions of this image in pixels. See the chapter about pattern in the POV-Ray™ manual for more information.

The "Select image..." button opens the file dialog so that you can search for the image file you had in mind to create the bump_map. After selecting the file and clicking "open", the exact name of the image file is copied in the edit field. Of course, if your memory is impeccable, you can enter the name directly in the edit field.

Don't forget to specify the kind of image file you are using. When using "`sys`", all image types recognized by QuickTime™ can be used - so you are not limited to the types allowed by POV-Ray™.

### 5.9.3. Function pattern

Enter a function to be used in the edit field. You can choose any operator from the insert bevel pop-up to be inserted at the cursor point. See the chapter about function pattern in the POV-Ray™ manual for more information.

Substituting the default wave type with any legal wave type is also possible through a pop-up.

There is also a possibility to jump to the slope map's graphical editor which is explained in a separate chapter (see Section 5.21, “Slope map”). After having created a new slope_map you will come back to the normal template form.

An option to open the normal_map's editor is also available (see Section 5.19, “Normal map”). After creating a normal_map and confirming it, you will be brought back to the normal template form.

## 5.10. Interior

- Ior-index: In the "ior index" pop-up you will find a list of predefined indexes of refraction. Pick one and it will be displayed in the edit field next to the pop-up menu. If you do not find the index you need in the list, then enter the required value in the edit field.
- Dispersion: The 'dispersion' group box controls the settings for the dispersive refraction. Violet light bends more than red. All the intermediate colors -- orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue -- bend in amount proportional to their place between red and violet. Thus, white sunlight breaks up into a rainbow. The dispersion value is the ratio of IOR values for violet to red. Good numbers are 1.01 to 1.1. The number of dispersion elements (keyword "`dispersion_samples`") specifies how much intermediate colors will show in the 'rainbow'. Therefore; with higher numbers you get more colors and a smoother rainbow. See the chapter on dispersion in the POV-Ray™ manual for more information.
- Light attenuation: To colorize the attenuation caused by fade_distance and fade_power in the interior of your objects use the "`fade_color`" keyword. More information in the chapter on fade color in the POV-Ray™ manual.
- Media: If you want to include a media in this interior statement, then tick the 'Media' check box and click the "Edit" button. This will bring you to the Media template. More information on the media template form can be found in another chapter (see Section 5.11, “Media”).

## 5.11. Media

For a full explanation of all options used in the media statement, please read the POV-Ray™'s docs.

Media can be used as an atmospheric effect or inside an object when written in the interior {} statement. For the last option you get access to this media template from within the interior's template form.

For density you could use any legal pattern. With the "Edit pattern..." button the pigment template is opened so that a pattern can be edited. The usage of each pattern is explained in POV-Ray™'s docs and shouldn't cause any problems in that template dialog. Choose any of the list patterns (brick, checker, hexagon or object) or other density pattern. After confirming you will be back to the media template.

## 5.12. Photons

After reading the chapter on photons in the POV-Ray™ manual, this panel shouldn't cause any problems.

## 5.13. Background, Fog, Rainbow, Sky sphere, Glows

### 5.13.1. Background

This is a simple dialog with a color-field. Click on it to go to the color template.

### 5.13.2. Fog

To use "fog", choose the fog-type "Ground_fog" or "Constant fog". The appropriate options and edit fields for your choice appear.

### 5.13.3. Rainbow

This also is quite obvious how to use if you read the POV-Ray™ Documentation about the rainbow.

### 5.13.4. Sky sphere

Through this dialog you can only specify how many pigment { } entries should be written in your sky_sphere { } statement. The content of each pigment { } statement must still be entered manually in the text. After positioning the cursor between the pigment braces, you could also use the pigment dialog with the 'don't wrap in pigment{ }' option.

### 5.13.5. Glow

When reading the MegaPOV docs the use of this panel shouldn't cause difficulties.

## 5.14. Bump map

For more information, see Section 5.9.2, “Bump map”.

## 5.15. Color map

Through the color_map dialog you can design your own color_map and see the result immediately on the display (only the color is displayed: there is no visual control yet for filtered or transmitted transparency ).

The height of this dialog is re sizable to show more lines if your screen's resolution allows for it.

To add a point at the end of the list, use the button. The last line will be duplicated. There is a limit of 256 entries.

To insert an entry just before the selected line, use the button. The inserted line gets the average value of the lines between which it is inserted. You may insert up to 256 lines.

| Note:
If your last created color_map was a large one, it may take some time before the dialog is displayed on screen.

To remove an entry from the list, select it and click the button.

For each entry line, the specified color is displayed in the 'Color Picker''s column and changes are displayed immediately. You may also click on the displayed color to open the system's color picker and set the desired color.

If only a grayscale map is needed, use the "Use Gray Color" button just above the Red, Green and Blue columns. The values entered in the Green column are then used for all three colors.

If anywhere a filter or transmit value is needed, you should click the "Filter" or "Transmit" buttons above these columns. If these buttons are not highlighted, filter or transmit will not be written to your color_map.

## 5.16. Density map

The density_map dialog shows two columns.

In the first one the location of the density pattern is entered.

In the second column the name of a previously #declared density can be typed. It is also possible to type the body content (without the wrapping density { }) of a legal density statement. However, the number of typing characters is limited to 256 and must all be written on one line (No returns or tabs).

To add an entry at the end of the list, use the button. The last line will be duplicated. There is a limit of 256 entries.

To insert an entry just before the selected line, use the button. Only the location of the inserted line gets the average value of the lines between which it is inserted. You may insert up to 256 lines.

| Note:
If your last created density_map was a large one, it may take some time before the dialog is displayed on screen.

To remove an entry from the list, select it and click the button.

## 5.17. Image map

For more information, see Section 5.7.3, “Image map”

## 5.18. Material map

Now it is possible to use an image that will be created by POV-Ray™ and then immediately used as image for the material_map. The image to be used can be a 'function image', 'pigment image' or 'pattern image'. The pigment and pattern images can be called upon with the "Edit pigment ..." or "Edit pattern ..." buttons.

Image width and image height are the dimensions of this image in pixels. See the chapter on patterns in the POV-Ray™ manual for more information.

The "Select image..." button opens the file dialog so that you can search for the image you had in mind to wrap around the object. After selecting the file and clicking "open", the exact name of the file is copied in the edit field. Of course you can always enter the name directly in the edit field.

Don't forget to specify the kind of image file you are using. When using "`sys`", all image types recognized by QuickTime™ can be used - so you are not limited to the types allowed by POV-Ray™.

The material_map dialog shows two columns.

- The first one is showing a counter with index numbers.
- In the second column the name of a previously #declared texture can be typed next to the index number where it should be assigned to. It is also possible to type the body content (without the wrapping texture { }) of a legal texture statement. However, the number of typing characters is limited to 256 and must all be written on one line (no tabs or returns are allowed).

To add an entry at the end of the list, use the button. There is a limit of 256 entries.

To insert an entry just before the selected line, use the button. All following entries will be moved to the next index value. You may insert up to 256 lines.

| Note:
If your last created material_map was a large one, it may take some time before the dialog is displayed on screen.

To remove an entry from the list, select it and click the button.

## 5.19. Normal map

The normal_map dialog shows two columns.

- In the first one the location of the normal pattern is entered.
- In the second column the name of a previously #declared normal can be typed. It is also possible to type the body content (without the wrapping normal { }) of a legal normal statement. However, the number of typing characters is limited to 256 and must all be written on one line no tabs or returns are allowed).

To add an entry at the end of the list, use the button. The last line will be duplicated. There is a limit of 256 entries.

To insert an entry just before the selected line, use the button. Only the location of the inserted line gets the average value of the lines between which it is inserted. You may insert up to 256 lines.

| Note:
If your last created normal_map was a large one, it may take some time before the dialog is displayed on screen.

To remove an entry from the list, select it and click the button.

## 5.20. Pigment map

The pigment_map dialog shows two columns.

- In the first one the location of the pigment pattern is entered.
- In the second column the name of a previously #declared pigment can be typed. It is also possible to type the body content (without the wrapping pigment { }) of a legal pigment statement. However, the number of typing characters is limited to 256 and must all be written on one line (no tabs or returns are allowed).

To add an entry at the end of the list, use the button. The last line will be duplicated. There is a limit of 256 entries.

To insert an entry just before the selected line, use the button. Only the location of the inserted line gets the average value of the lines between which it is inserted. You may insert up to 256 lines.

| Note:
If your last created pigment_map was a large one, it may take some time before the dialog is displayed on screen.

To remove an entry from the list, select it and click the button.

## 5.21. Slope map

The graphical slope_map editor is opened from the template forms of normal / normal pattern or directly from the slope_map entry in the 'template form...' menu.

It presents you with a graphic display on the left of the window and a list of points on the right side.

All parts of the profile display can be turned on and off using the toggle buttons at the bottom:

- turns the grid (gray color) on and off. Distance between two lines is 0.1 unit. The grid has a size of one unit square, with its left and lowest corner at the origin.
- turns the profile (blue color) on and off.
- shows or hides the points (red color) where the profile passes through.
- shows or hides the slope handles (green color).

All points can be selected with a mouse click and dragged around while holding the mouse button. The selected point is shown with a black circle surrounding it.

While dragging a point (red), the actual coordinates are shown at the bottom of the display.

When selecting a slope point (green) a vertical yellow line appears. The slope point can only be dragged along this line. The figure displayed at the bottom is the actual slope. It is best to keep slope values between -3 and 3.

When moving a point (red) around, the slopes of the curve at that point are locked and will follow the same movement.

To the right hand side a table of edit fields with the coordinates of the points is shown.

- The first column gives the x-location from the origin. Notice that this editor is designed to create unit sized profiles: therefore, use entries between 0.0 and 1.0. To move a point, select the corresponding edit field and edit the value in the usual way. The point follows immediately on the display.
- The second column gives the height from the origin. Notice that this editor is designed to create unit sized profiles: therefore, use entries between 0.0 and 1.0. To move a point, select the corresponding edit field and edit the value in the usual way. The point follows immediately on the display.
- The third column shows the slope of the curve at that point. Edit it in the usual way, but it is best to keep slope values between -3 and 3.
- Select a point by clicking on one of the edit fields. The selected point is highlighted with a dark frame and the edit field with a blue frame. The corresponding point in the preview is shown with a black circle surrounding it.

To add a point at the end of the list, use the button.

To insert a point just before the selected point, use the button. The inserted point gets the average value of the points between which it is inserted.

To remove a point from the list, select it and click the button.

## 5.22. Texture map

The texture_map dialog shows two columns.

- In the first one the location of the texture pattern is entered.
- In the second column the name of a previously #declared texture can be typed. It is also possible to type the body content (without the wrapping texture { }) of a legal texture statement. However, the number of typing characters is limited to 256 and must all be written on one line (no tabs or returns are allowed).

To add an entry at the end of the list, use the button. The last line will be duplicated. There is a limit of 256 entries.

To insert an entry just before the selected line, use the button. Only the location of the inserted line gets the average value of the lines between which it is inserted. You may insert up to 256 lines.

| Note:
If your last created texture_map was a large one, it may take some time before the dialog is displayed on screen.

To remove an entry from the list, select it and click the button.

## 5.23. Headers / includes

Allows you to quickly add a header with some general information to your scene text. Just type the required information and tick the checkbox of that line.

A few standard include files are also listed. Select the needed include files or enter the name of other files needed.

The last two lines contain a version directive and a default texture, but can be used for any kind of information.

Note that all entries and settings of template forms are remembered for the next call if "OK" was clicked.

## 5.24. Global settings

In this template form, you will find all items that can be contained in the global_settings { } statement. Refer to the POV-Ray™ Documentation and MegaPOV Documentation on string encoding, tone mapping, radiosity, photons, motion blur etc.

| Note:
Note that the "Open" and "Save" buttons at the bottom will save the settings of all tabs of the global_settings. To save and open the settings of each tab individually, use the "Import" and "Export" options in the "File" menu.

## 5.25. Material editor / preview

This template groups the templates for pigment, normal, finish and interior on one panel, so that a whole material can be specified at once. Refer to the appropriate chapters for more information on each panel.

As a bonus, this material can also be previewed on a few objects (sphere, box, ...) which can be chosen from the object pop-up. You could also preview their interaction with reflected (choose from the reflect pop-up) and/or refracted (choose from the background pop-up) environments.

The scene is lit by a light source at a great distance in front of the object. This light can be moved by rotating it. Use the top slider to rotate it to the left or the right, or enter the value directly in the edit field marked 'H:'. Moving the light up or down is done with the left slider or directly in the edit field marked 'V:'. A fill light at the camera's position can be switched on and off with the 'Fill' option. Enter a percentage to set the strength of this light.

Under the "Layers" tab turn on the panels that should be used for the preview AND that will be written to the scene text at the cursor's location. Green indicators above the "Pigment", "Normal", "Finish" and "Interior" tabs show whether these panels have been turned on.

Do not forget to turn the layer on. This is the layer that is selected in the layer panel.

On top of the panels, above their respective tabs, a green indicator shows whether it is in use or not.

"Draw layer" will render a preview with all settings from the selected panels for the selected layer. Every time you made a change, to one of the settings, you should hit this button for an updated preview.

"Draw material" will render the material with all the layers which have been turned on. For this version you have to select them one by one to check if the 'Layer On' check box is ticked or not.

"OK" will write the material to your scene, with all the selected items.

## Chapter 6. Known bugs, things to do, ...

## 6.1. Known bugs

At this time there are no known bugs. But if there are some, we will inform you on our home page. Please drop in from time to time.

If you stumble across a problem, please report this to us. Include all information on the machine you are running POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial on (type, processor, memory, system version, screen & resolution, ...). Also mention the version of POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial and the compile date: to be found in the about box.

## 6.2. Things to do

There are still things to do :-).

If you have a small suggestion, a bright idea, found some weird or annoying behavior of this program, or when you are delighted about some feature: don't hesitate to contact us.

We can be contacted at `<yvo.s@gmx.net>`

## 6.3. E-mail, Snail-mail and internet

E-mail: `<yvo.s@gmx.net>`

url: http://users.skynet.be/smellenbergh/

snail-mail:

      Yvo & René Smellenbergh
      Kuringenstraat 6
      3511 Hasselt
      Belgium

Please, check out our home page on the internet. Doing this, you will be kept informed on new versions, bugfixes and other relevant news concerning POV-Ray™ and POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial! If you want to be informed about new updates, you could register - subscribe at our Web Page.

We would also like to thank our beta testers:

- Windell H. Oskay (U.S.A.) who did a fine job testing the Universal Binary version;
- Virtu Halttunen (Finland) who did a fine job testing the PPC version;
- Joost Egelie (Dutch but living in Belgium) helped us out with the PPC version;
- Riccardo Mottola (Italy);
- Arthur Strange (U.S.A.);
- Dan Hawkins (U.S.A.);
- Robert Knuth (Germany) who joined us recently;
- We also have to say a big thank you to: All the POV-addicts :-) who send in bug reports and motivated us to continue to work on our unofficial POV-Ray™ versions. Thanks for your wonderful comments! The authors of the patches we now implemented in this version. You'll find more about them in the appropriate chapters of the MegaPOV Documentation.

Enjoy POV-Ray™ through POV-Ray 3.7 Unofficial!