Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!eru.mt.luth.se!news-stkh.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!news-paris.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!news-lond.gsl.net!news.gsl.net!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!newsfeed.nacamar.de!news.nacamar.de!news.nacamar.de!howland.erols.net!feed1.news.erols.com!news-xfer.netaxs.com!news-xfer.mccc.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.bc.net!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!news.ucalgary.ca!adilger
From: [email protected] (Andreas Dilger)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing FAQ (part 1/2)
Supersedes: <[email protected]>
Followup-To: comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing
Date: 3 Mar 1997 11:00:52 GMT
Organization: ECE Department, U. of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Sender: [email protected] (Andreas Dilger)
Approved: [email protected]
Expires: 29 Mar 1997 11:00:02 GMT
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
NNTP-Posting-Host: [email protected]
Summary: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about raytracing
       software on comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing
Keywords: FAQ ray tracing rendering
Precedence: bulk
Lines: 1156
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing:20575 comp.answers:24634 news.answers:96124

Archive-name: graphics/raytrace-faq/part1
Last-modified: 1996/10/06
Posting-Frequency: every 10 days

               "But the Devil whoops, as he whooped of old:
                       'It's clever but is it art?'"
                                                       Rudyard Kipling
                                      _The_Conundrum_of_the_Workshops_

This is the comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) List.  It's not the most definitive ray tracing
reference you'll ever come across, but then, it was never meant to be.
What it does set out to do is to answer some of the questions which
keep cropping up on c.g.r.r and to give pointers to other references.
It keeps the noise down on the group and we get to spend an extra 10
minutes in bed.  This is a Good Thing.

It was originally cobbled together by Andy Wardley,
<[email protected]>, from answers posted to c.g.r.r (actually
from when it was c.g.r), from information people have supplied and from
other existing ray tracing lists and references, most notably, Eric
Haines' Ray Tracing News and other lists.  Since the spring of 1995, I
have taken over the maintenance of the FAQ.

You may distribute this document to whoever, or wherever you like, as
long as you keep the copyright message and give correct attributions
for material used.  This is just to stop nasty people with a
substantial lack of moral fibre from taking the document and fobbing
it off as their own.  The FAQ belongs to the group, Andy just wrote it
(and I update it).

Lines with a '+' in the first column have been added recently, while
lines with a '|' in the first column have been changed recently.  If
you think that parts of the FAQ are outdated, or need improvement,
please feel free to send me your updates, and I will try to maintain
and update it, as time permits.  Authors of utilities should definitely
send updated descriptions if they feel their tool has improved since
this was written.

The latest version of this FAQ is available via WWW at:

http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/bngusenet/top.html

under comp->graphics->rendering->raytracing.  It is also available via
anonymous ftp at:

ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/graphics/raytrace-faq/

If you only have email, you can get it by sending email to:

<[email protected]>

with both

"send usenet/news.answers/graphics/raytrace-faq/part1" and
"send usenet/news.answers/graphics/raytrace-faq/part2"

in the body of the message (without the quotes).

If you're only reading this document because your machine is locked
up tracing, remember that all things come to those who wait.

                                                       Andreas Dilger

 (C) Copyright 1994 Andy Wardley <[email protected]>
 (C) Copyright 1995, 1996 Andreas Dilger <[email protected]>

------------------------------

Subject: Table of Contents

What is Ray Tracing?

1 - Ray Tracing Software

  1.1 - POV-Ray
  1.2 - Rayshade
  1.3 - Radiance and ADELINE
  1.4 - Blue Moon Rendering Tools (BMRT)
  1.5 - Polyray
  1.6 - Vivid (including BOB)
  1.7 - Others
  1.8 - Non-Ray Tracing Software

2 - FTP Sites, Web Sites, Bulletin Boards, etc.

  2.1 - FTP Sites
  2.2 - Bulletin Board Systems
  2.3 - Mailing Lists
  2.4 - Others

3 - Modelling Software

  3.1 - SCED
  3.2 - MORAY
  3.3 - GUM
  3.4 - Breeze Designer
  3.5 - POVLAB
  3.6 - Other Modellers

4 - Utilities and Other Software

  4.1 - Image Display/Conversion Programs
  4.2 - Format Conversion Utilities
  4.3 - Creation Creators
  4.4 - Texture Editors
  4.5 - Animation
  4.6 - Miscellaneous Utilities

5 - Further Information and Resources

  5.1 - On-line Resources
  5.2 - Other Newsgroups
  5.3 - Books
  5.4 - Image Libraries
  5.5 - Texture Libraries
  5.6 - Internet Ray Tracing Competition

6 - Frequently Asked Questions

  6.1 - "Can I post binaries/images to this group?"
  6.2 - "Where can I find model data for..."
  6.3 - "How can I view these pictures?"
  6.4 - "What's the difference between rendering and ray tracing?"
  6.5 - "This picture doesn't trace."
  6.6 - "I traced my picture, but I can't see anything."
  6.7 - "I traced my picture, but the output is garbage."
  6.8 - "What does this mean..."
  6.9 - "Rotating/Scaling this object doesn't work properly."
  6.10 - "Why is the Z axis is pointing the wrong way?"
  6.11 - "Who is..."

7 - Roll The Credits...


------------------------------

Subject: What is Ray Tracing?

Ray Tracing, in a one-line description, is a method that allows you to
create stunning photo-realistic images on a computer.  All you need is
a computer, some ray tracing software, a little imagination and some
patience.

The first stage of creating this masterpiece is to "describe" what it
is that you want to depict in your picture.  You may do this using an
interactive modelling system, like a CAD package, or by creating a text
file that has a programming language-like syntax to describe the
elements.  Either way, you will be specifying what objects are in your
imaginary world, what shape they are, where they are, what colour and
texture they have and where the light sources are to illuminate them.
Having done all of this, you feed it into your ray tracer, sit back and
wait.

And wait...

That's the main drawback of ray tracing - it's not fast.  The software
actually mathematically models the light rays as they bounce around
this virtual world, reflecting, refracting and generally having a good
time until they end up in the lense of your imaginary camera.  This can
quite literally involve thousands and millions of floating-point
calculations and this takes time.  Tracing images can take anything
from a few seconds to many days.  It's a long process, I know, but the
results can make it all worth while.

Ray tracing isn't the only method for creating photo-realistic
pictures.  There are packages like 3D Studio which uses scanline
rendering, Radiance, which uses radiosity, and so on.  Although these
don't count as ray tracing, the methods you use from one system to the
next are often sufficiently similar to warrant their discussion in this
group.  So if you think it's relevant, feel free to bring it up.  These
systems will be mentioned in a little more detail later on.


------------------------------

Subject: 1 - Ray Tracing Software

------------------------------

Subject 1.1 - POV-Ray

 The Persistance of Vision Ray Tracer (POV-Ray) is an all-round
 excellent package, but there are two things that particularly make it
 stand out above the rest of the crowd.  Firstly, it's free, and
 secondly, the source is distributed so you can compile it on
 virtually any platform.  It's without doubt the most used package
 among the comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing crowd and well worth
 checking out if you  haven't already.

 POV-Ray is based on David Buck's original ray tracer, DKB-Trace and
 has been (and still is) developed and supported by a whole crowd of
 people on CompuServe Graphics Developers' Forum (GO GRAPHDEV).

 After a drought of over two years, a new release of POV-Ray (version
 3.0) is officially available.  For those of you who participated in
 the public beta testing, you can finally stop downloading new
 versions as the beta binaries expire.  Even better, the source code
 is finally available, so all those people who want to start tinkering
 and adding new features can do so.

 There are now three official distribution sites for POV-Ray.
 ftp://ftp.povray.org/ [204.216.27.14]  main site in North America.
 ftp://ftp.uwa.uwa.edu.au/ [130.95.128.1]  for the Southern Hemisphere.

 There is also a growing list of sites that mirror all or part of
 ftp.povray.org (see 2 - FTP Sites, Web Sites, Bulletin Boards, etc.).

 The files that make up official 3.0 versions of POV-Ray are:

 - povmsdos.zip     MS-DOS 32-bit binary, scene files, and docs
 - povmsd_s.zip     MS-DOS source code
 - povwin3.zip      Windows 32-bit binaries, scene files, and docs
 - povlinux.tgz     Linux for x86 ELF binaries, scene files, and docs
 - povsunos.tgz     SunOS SPARC binaries, scene files, and docs
 - povuni_s.tgz     Unix source files
 - povuni_d.tgz     Unix documentation, include, sample scene files
 - povmac68.sit.hqx Mac 680x0 with FPU binary, scene files, docs
 - povmacnf.sit.hqx Mac 680x0 witout FPU binary, scene files, docs
 - povpmac.sit.hqx  Mac PowerPC binary, scene files, docs
 - povmacs.sit.hqx  Mac source files

 There will also be official executables available for Amiga and OS/2,
 as well as unofficial executables for other platforms in the near
 future.  If your system is not in this list, it is recommended that
 you use the generic Unix sources for compiling POV-Ray.  You can also
 find the above archives packaged in different formats or binaries for
 other platforms.

 If you have access to several networked computers and a compiler,
 it is possible to have POV-Ray 2.2 render using multiple CPUs using
 the PVM system of distributed computing.  More information is at:
 http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/povray/pvmpov.html

 There is a large collection of software related to POV-Ray available
 on the Raytrace! CD-ROM from Walnut Creek.  This includes modellers,
 viewers, utility programs, scene files, and rendered images.  For
 For your browsing pleasure, you can have a look at almost the whole
 contents of the CD-ROM at http://www.povray.org/pov-cdrom/
 There will also be an updated version of the POV-Ray CD-ROM with the
 new 3.0 version sometime in the future.

------------------------------

Subject 1.2 - Rayshade

 Rayshade is a free ray tracing package originally developed in 1988
 by Craig Kolb <[email protected]>, David Dobkin, and David Hoffman
 for Unix/X11, but it has since been ported to several platforms and
 re-written and improved several times since.  Several non-UNIX ports
 are available, including DOS, Amiga, Mac, and OS/2.  This is the
 program often used by universities for teaching ray tracing and as a
 result, it is often also used for research on rendering and object
 generation.  Because of its extensibility, there are a large number
 of user-contributed additions and modifications to the base renderer.
 This means that many incredible images and ideas saw first "light"
 under Rayshade.  The image gallery at the Rayshade Homepage can bear
 witness to this.  The "official" FTP and WWW sites are located at:
 ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/Graphics/rayshade/
 ftp://graphics.stanford.edu/pub/rayshade/
 http://www-graphics.stanford.edu/~cek/rayshade/rayshade.html

 There are (at least) two programs to distribute rayshade traces over
 multiple systems.  One is inetray, the other raynet, available at:
 ftp://maggia.ethz.ch/pub/inetray/
 ftp://mars.sapham.debis.de/pub/raynet/

------------------------------

Subject 1.3 - Radiance and ADELINE

 Radiance is a free Unix software package that adopts a radiosity-type
 approach to lighting simluation.  A MS-DOS version is now available
 as part of the ADELINE 2.0 software package for a site license fee
 from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

 Greg Ward <[email protected]>, discusses Radiance here:

 "I've spent the past ten or so years developing a ray tracing program
 for lighting simulation and rendering called Radiance.  Although it
 doesn't use the typical finite-element/form-factor approach of
 radiosity programs, it does compute what they compute plus some.
 Specifically, Radiance computes diffuse, specular and directional-
 diffuse reflection and transmission in arbitrarily complicated
 environments.

 Here is a short description:

 Radiance is a suite of programs for the analysis and visualization of
 lighting in design.  Input files specify the scene geometry,
 materials, luminaires, time, date and sky conditions (for daylight
 calculations).  Calculated values include spectral radiance (ie.
 luminance & color), irradiance (illuminance & color) and glare
 indices.  Simulation results may be displayed as color images,
 numerical values and contour plots.

 The primary advantage of Radiance over simpler lighting calculation
 and rendering tools is that there are no limitations on the geometry
 or the materials that may be simulated.  Radiance is used by
 architects and engineers to predict illumination, visual quality and
 appearance of innovative design spaces, and by researchers to
 evaluate new lighting and daylighting technologies.

 Radiance has been written up in many technical and non-technical
 articles in various journals and magazines.  Most recently, a
 Radiance-generated image appeared on the cover of the 1992 Siggraph
 Proceedings.

 There are hundreds of happy Radiance users world-wide, including
 public and private research institutions as well as engineering and
 architecture firms.

 I guess that's all I can think of to say about it at the moment..."

                                                           -Greg

 The Unix version of the software is free, in source code, runs on
 most Unix/X11 platforms, and is available in source form:
 ftp://hobbes.lbl.gov/ [128.3.12.38] in California and
 ftp://nestor.epfl.ch/ [128.178.139.3] in Switzerland.

 The Radiance WWW home page can be found at:
 http://radsite.lbl.gov/radiance/HOME.html

 A version of Radiance for MS-DOS is available as part of a software
 package called ADELINE.  ADELINE is being distributed by Lawrence
 Berkeley National Laboratory.  For detailed information and an online
 order form, please see:
 http://radsite.lbl.gov/adeline/HOME.html

 An FTP site with basic info and an ASCII order form is available at:
 ftp://hobbes.lbl.gov/pub/adeline/

------------------------------

Subject 1.4 - Blue Moon Rendering Tools (BMRT)

 The Blue Moon Rendering Tools (BMRT for short), are a set of
 rendering programs and libraries, written by Larry Gritz
 <[email protected]> for his Ph.D. research work, which adhere to the
 RenderMan(R) standard as set forth by Pixar.  Pixar's implementation
 of the Renderman standard is a program called Photorealistic
 RenderMan (PRMan), which uses a method of rendering called REYES,
 which is based in scan-line rendering methods.

 BMRT, on the other hand, includes a simple wire-frame renderer, an
 OpenGL renderer, and most importantly, a renderer which uses some of
 the latest techniques of radiosity and ray tracing to produce near
 photorealistic images.  BMRT also supports RIB files directly, and
 can compile Shading Language (.sl) shaders using the included Shading
 Language Compiler (although the output is NOT compatible with the
 .slo files used by PRMan).

 BMRT is avaiable for most popular Unix platforms in binary form.  The
 BMRT licencing agreement allows unlimited free use for non-commercial
 users, but it must be registered for use by or for commercial
 applications.  Larry asks that people only download BMRT from the
 official FTP site:
 ftp://ftp.gwu.edu/pub/graphics/BMRT/ [128.164.9.5]
 http://www.seas.gwu.edu/student/gritz/bmrt.html

------------------------------

Subject 1.5 - Polyray

 The program Polyray is a shareware rendering program for producing
 scenes of 3D shapes and surfaces.  The means of description range
 from standard primitives like box, sphere, etc. to 3 variable
 polynomial expression, and finally (and slowest of all) surfaces
 containing transcendental functions like sin, cos, log.  Polyray
 supports rendering in a number of different modes: Raytracing,
 Zbuffered polygon rendering (fully textures or Gourad shaded),
 wireframe and hidden line, and raw triangles (as ASCII output, one
 tri per line).

 The texturing in Polyray is not limited to a few predefined styles -
 you can use mathematical expressions to modify any part of the
 shading.

 Note that the version available online is the complete thing. Polyray
 is not crippled in any way, nor are there any annoying nag screens.
 The extended DOS version of Polyray is available at:
 ftp://ftp.povray.org/pub/polyray/

 UNIX versions are available at:
 http://www.inf.fu-berlin.de/~leitner/grafik/polyray.html
 (binaries for: HP-UX, Linux, FreeBSD, Sun OS 4&5, SGI/IRIX 4&5)

------------------------------

Subject 1.6 - Vivid (including BOB)

 Vivid is a shareware ray tracer for IBM PC's by Stephen Coy
 <[email protected]>.  Version 2, the current publicly available
 version, is available from several FTP sites as vivid2.zip.
 Version 3 is expected soon (I expect it is already available [AED]).

 Compared to POV-Ray, Vivid doesn't have as many features, but in many
 cases it can run faster.  Source code isn't available, so the package
 is limited to systems which can run DOS executables.

 Stephen Coy, Christopher Watkins and Mark Finlay co-authored a book
 on Ray Tracing called "Photorealism and Ray Tracing in C".
 Distributed free with the book was an example ray tracer called BOB.
 This was actually a cut down version of Vivid which did include
 source.  (see also 5 - Further Information and Resources).

------------------------------

Subject 1.7 - Others

 There are many other ray tracing packages available; ART, DKBtrace,
 RTrace, RAY4, MTV, QRT, and DBW for instance, and some for parallel
 tracing: XDART, RRLib, prt, and VMpRAY.  Eric Haines' <[email protected]>
 Ray Tracing News (see 5 - Further Information and Resources), or the
 comp.graphics.misc FAQ for more info.

------------------------------

Subject 1.8 - Non-Ray Tracing Software

 * Pixar's Photo-Realistic Renderman
   Because of the excellent and sophisticated techniques used in
   PRMan, many people think that it is a ray tracer, when in fact
   PRMan is a REYES based software package (REYES is based in scanline
   methods).  PRMan is the grand-daddy of all high-end rendering
   packages, and was the source of many of the techniques used in
   rendering software today.  Pixar showcased their skills in short
   animations such as Tin Toy and Red's Dream.  PRMan was used to
   render the Walt-Disney feature film Toy Story.

   There is a newsgroup news:comp.graphics.rendering.renderman devoted
   to the discussion of all implementations of the Renderman language.

 * 3D Studio
   Autodesk's 3d Studio is an interactive 3d modelling, rendering and
   animation package for the IBM PC platform.  It employs scanline
   rendering to achieve photo-realistic effects rather than
   ray tracing.  Because of this, it cannot do true shadows,
   reflections or refractions, but can, in many cases, simulate them
   accurately enough for most purposes.  The package costs several
   thousand dollars, even with an educational discount.  There is a
   newsgroup for discussions on this package.
   news:comp.graphics.packages.3dstudio

 * Alias
   The newsgroup for this software is news:comp.graphics.apps.alias

 * Lightwave
   The newsgroup for this is news:comp.graphics.apps.lightwave

   Note that there is also a group news:comp.graphics.rendering.misc
   for the discussion of general rendering issues.

------------------------------

Subject: 2 - FTP Sites, Web Sites, Bulletin Boards, etc.

------------------------------

Subject 2.1 - FTP Sites

 The following list details some of the main graphics related FTP
 sites, their maintainers (where known) and any other info.

 For a more complete list of FTP sites, see the list by Eric Haines
 <[email protected]> and Nick Fotis <[email protected]> from which
 much of the following has been taken.

 * ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/ [128.252.135.4]
   George Kyriazis <[email protected]>

   A huge repository of graphics stuff, particulary:

   - /graphics/graphics - get CONTENTS file.
   - /graphics/graphics/objects/TDDD - the TDDD objects/converters.
   - /mirrors/unix-c/graphics - Rayshade, MTV, FBM, PBMPLUS, etc.
   - /mirrors/msdos/graphics - DKB ray tracer, FLI RayTracker demos.
   - /graphics/graphics/mirrors - mirrors many sites.
   - /pub/rad.tar.Z - SGI_RAD.
   - /graphics/graphics/radiosity - Radiance and Indian packages.
   - /systems/ibmpc/msdos/graphics - loads of PC graphics stuff.

 * ftp://ftp.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/ [134.106.1.9]
   Frank Neumann <[email protected]>

   Another good site for ray tracing, particulary POV-Ray.

   - /pub/pov-ray - get INDEX for full details
   - /pub/pov-ray/conv - format converters
   - /pub/pov-ray/edit - graphical editors
   - /pub/pov-ray/ext - source extensions
   - /pub/pov-ray/gen - data file generators
   - /pub/pov-ray/misc - other tools, ray tracers, etc.
   - /pub/pov-ray/new - uploads
   - /pub/pov-ray/obj - objects
   - /pub/pov-ray/pack - compression
   - /pub/pov-ray/pix - pictures
   - /pub/pov-ray/scen - scenes
   - /pub/pov-ray/text - text articles
   - /pub/pov-ray/view - viewers
   - /pub/pov-ray/pbin - unofficial POV binaries

 * ftp://ftp.povray.org/ [192.216.222.14]
   http://www.povray.org/ [192.216.222.14]
   Christopher Cason <[email protected]>

   This has become the primary site for POV-Ray.  It contains a large
   number of POV-Ray utilities, executables, and scenes.  This site
   has also grown to have a mirror of avalon.vislab.navy.mil (see
   below), as well as polyray and rayshade.

   - /pub/povray/Hall-Of-Fame - incredible ray traced images
   - /pub/povray/Official - official sources and executables
   - /pub/povray/Ray-Tracing-News - archive of Eric Haines' newsletter
   - /pub/povray/animation - animations created with POV-Ray
   - /pub/povray/ezine - a magazine about POV-Ray
   - /pub/povray/fonts - font utilities
   - /pub/povray/modellers - CAD packages for creating scene files
   - /pub/povray/objects - a collection of POV objects
   - /pub/povray/scenes - complete POV-Ray scene files
   - /pub/povray/unofficial - modifications and executables by others
   - /pub/povray/utilities - tools and programs to make life easier
   - /pub/competition - images from old ray tracing competition
   - /pub/irtc - images from new bi-monthly ray tracing competition
   - /pub/mirrors/avalon - avalon.vislab.navy.mil mirror (See below)
   - /pub/polyray - Polyray source files

   Due to increasing demand for better access, ftp.povray.org now has
   several mirror sites around the world.

   ftp://uniwa.uwa.edu.au/               (Official)    [130.95.128.1]
   ftp://sunsite.wits.ac.za/pub/mirrors/               [146.141.15.214]
   http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/graphics/graphics/mirrors/ [128.252.135.4]
   ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/graphics/graphics/mirrors/ [128.252.135.4]
   ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/graphics/graphics/mirrors/ [139.130.23.2]
   ftp://ftp.shu.ac.uk/pub/computing/packages/raytrace/ [143.52.20.24]
   http://www.hensa.ac.uk/ftp/mirrors/povray/          [129.12.200.129]
   ftp://www.hensa.ac.uk/ftp/mirrors/povray/           [129.12.200.129]
   http://ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/ray-tracing/    [192.150.251.33]
   ftp://ftp.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/ray-tracing/     [192.150.251.33]
   ftp://ftp.etsimo.uniovi.es/pub/raytrace/            [156.35.23.24]
   ftp://ftp.tu-clausthal.de/pub/mirror/povray/        [139.174.2.10]

   The POV-Ray CD-ROM from Walnut Creek Raytrace! is now available
   online.  Check it out at:
   http://www.povray.org/pov-cdrom/

 * ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/ [128.112.128.1]
   Craig Kolb <[email protected]>

   Home of Rayshade, and other graphics tid-bits.

   - /pub/Graphics/GraphicsGems - source code from Graphics Gems books
   - /pub/Graphics/URT - Utah Raster Toolkit
   - /pub/Graphics/SPD - Standard Procedural Database
   - /pub/Graphics/rayshade - rayshade source code
   - /pub/Graphics/RTNews - Ray Tracing News
   - /pub/Graphics/Papaers - ray tracing papers, bibliographies

 * ftp://avalon.viewpoint.com/ [204.212.34.3]
   http://www.viewpoint.com/ [204.212.34.10]
   Webmaster <[email protected]>

   Avalon was created to be a 3D object "repository" for the net.  3D
   objects (multiple formats), utilities, and file format documents
   are only part of what is available here.  Since July 1995, Avalon
   has been run by Viewpoint, a commercial 3D model vendor, but they
   insist that the Avalon models will still be available for free to
   all.  This site is also mirrored by (among others):

   http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/graphics/graphics/mirrors/avalon/
   ftp://ftp.povray.org/pub/mirrors/avalon/
   ftp://sunsite.wits.ac.za/pub/mirrors/ftp.povray.org/mirrors/avalon/

 * http://cedar.cic.net/~rtilmann/mm/ [192.131.22.3]
   Webmaster <[email protected]>

   Meshmart is a repository of 3D objects in a variety of formats.
   Not only does MeshMart have objects available, they also have
   objects on consignment as well as an "objects wanted" area.

 * ftp://hobbes.lbl.gov/ [128.3.12.38]
   http://radsite.lbl.gov/radiance/HOME.html [128.3.12.33]
   Greg Ward <[email protected]>

   Official distribution site for Radiance ray trace/radiosity package.

 * ftp://ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/ [128.32.35.31]

   - /pub/graphics/mm/encode - MPEG encoding software
   - /pub/graphics/mm/play - MPEG decoding/display software

 * ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/ [18.70.0.209]
   http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/bngusenet/top.html
     [164.107.8.52]

   - /pub/usenet/news.answers - the land of FAQs.

------------------------------

Subject 2.2 - Bulletin Board Systems

 The following list details some Bulletin Boards Systems dedicated to
 graphics and, in particular Ray Tracing.  At the end of the section
 there is a list of BBS'es of PCGNet (Professional CAD and Graphics
 Network) kindly provided by Bjorn-Kare Nilssen <[email protected]>
 This list may be out of date at the time of printing.  If you know
 one of the boards here no longer works please let me know.

 * The Graphics Alternative

   TGA is heavily orientated around Ray Tracing, 3D Rendering,
   Modelling and Animation.  It's the official support BBS for Vivid
   and has an extensive library of utilities, programs, source and
   images built up by its 1300+ users.

   Location:  El Cerrito, CA, USA.
   Sysop:     Adam Shiffman
   Data:      (510) 524-2780 (PM14400FXSA v.32bis 14.4k, Public)
              (510) 524-2165 (USR DS v.32bis/HST 14.4k, Subscribers)
   WWW:       http://www.tgax.com/

 * Pi Squared

   On the East Coast of the USA is Pi Squared.  Alfonso Hermida is the
   sysop and he is the creator of POVCAD.  All the latest POV files
   available as well as support for his own products.

   Location:  Maryland, USA.
   Sysop:     Alfonso Hermida (CIS: 72114,2060)
   Data:      (301) 725-9080 (14.4K, 24hrs)

 * The Tackle Box

   A huge BBS dedicated to POV-Ray with hundreds of modelling
   utilities, source, pictures and animations.  2 GIG online, 24 hours
   a day.  Walnut Creek "RayTrace!" CD ROM is now loaded with 200 file
   areas.  The first month is 100% FREE with subscription.

   Location:  Edmond, Oklahoma, USA.
   Sysop:     Neil Clark <[email protected]>
   Data:      (405) 359-3301 (14.4K, N/8/1, 24hrs)
   WWW:       http://www.ionet.net/~clark/ (Files available for ftp)

 * The New Graphics BBS

   A graphics specific system for those interested in 3D, objects,
   image processing, animation, MPEG, JPEG, GIF, file formats, etc.
   Knowledge Media "Graphics 1" CD-ROM available, 645 Mb "MultiMedia"
   CD online shortly.

   Location:  ?
   Sysop:     Bob Lindabury <[email protected]>
   Data:      (908) 469-0049 (14.4K, 24hrs)

 * The Graphics Emporium BBS

   A BBS for the graphics professional and hobbyist to exchange ideas,
   information and creativity.  Not dedicated to any one platform.

   Location:  Redondo Beach, CA, USA.
   Sysop:     ? <Emporium_Admin%[email protected]>
   Data:      (310) 374-8805

 * Windows World BBS

   Specializing in DOS/MS-Windows based ray tracing, mathematics,
   stock market technical analysis and also the latest CICA Windows
   CDs (1 gig). No fees and free access. Requires MS-Windows 3.1 and
   the Excalibur(tm) client communications program to access the BBS.
   It is down-loadable on the first call.

   Location:  Dayton, OH, USA
   Sysop:     H. Lawrence Rowe ([email protected])
   Data:      (513) 866-8181 (V.22-V.34, 24hrs)

 * Boards of the Professional CAD and Graphics Network

   USA and Canada
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   SAUG BBS                     Bellevue          WA      206-644-7115
   Joes CODE BBS                West Bloomfield   MI      810-855-0894
   Engineering Services         Atlanta           GA      404-325-0122
   Autodesk Global Village      Sausalito         CA      415-289-2270
   The Graphics Alternative     El Cerrito        CA      510-524-2780
   PC-AUG                       Phoenix           AZ      602-952-0638
   Convergence Spline BBS       Richmond          BC      604-275-3462
   Graphicly Speaking           Langley           BC      604-534-2954
   Tern Solution BBS            Ottawa            ON      613-228-0539
   Canis Major                  Nashville         TN      615-385-4268
   CAD Engineering Services     Hendersonville    TN      615-822-2539
   The Virtual Dimension        Oceanside         CA      619-722-0746
   The Drawing Board BBS        Anchorage         AL      907-349-5412
   The University               Shrewsbury Twp    NJ      908-544-8193

   France
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   CAD Connection               Montesson                33-1-39529854
   Zyllius BBS!                 Saint Paul                 33-93320505

   United Kingdom
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   Raytech BBS                  Tain, UK                44-1862-832020
   The Missing Link             Surrey, England         44-81-641-8593
   CADenza BBS                  Leicester, UK            44-533-596725

   New Zealand
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   The Graphics Connection      Wellington               64-4-566-8450

   Australia
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   The Baud Room                Melbourne                61-3-481-6873
   Sydney PCUG Compaq           New South Wales          61-2-540-1842
   My Computer Company          Erskineville             61-2-557-1489

   Slovenia
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   MicroArt                     Koper                     386-66-34986

   Germany
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   NEWS BBS                     Duesseldorf            49-211-680-1458

   The Netherlands                        old number     new number
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   BBS_Bennekom: Fractal Board  Bennekom  31-8389-15331  31-318-415331
   CAD-BBS                      Amsterdam 31-3402-90287  31-30-6090287
   Foundation One               Baarn     31-2154-22143  31-35-5422143

   Some of the above may require additional country or long-distance
   codes.

------------------------------

Subject 2.3 - Mailing Lists

 Listed below is a selection of mailing lists related to graphics
 and/or ray tracing.  If I haven't included specific details on
 subscription, it's because I don't know.  Best bet is to send a
 "help" message.

 * POV-Ray

   Called the dkb-list for historical reasons (POV-Ray was based on
   David Buck's "DKBTrace"), the list exists for users of POV-Ray and
   associated products, on all platforms.

   Subscription:  listserv%[email protected]
     Body Text:   subscribe dkb-l <Your full name>
   Posting:       DKB-L%[email protected]

 * Rayshade

   Mailing list for Rayshade users, mainly on UNIX platforms.

   Subscription:  [email protected]
   Posting:       [email protected]
   Archive:   ftp://graphics.stanford.edu/pub/rayshade/rayshade-users/

 * Radiance

   Greg Ward, the author of Radiance has a distribution list of all
   users.  Register with him: [email protected]

 * Imagine

   For users of the Imagine 3d rendering and animation package for the
   Amiga and, more recently, the IBM PC.

   Subscription:  [email protected]
     Body Text:   subscribe imagine <first name> <last name>
   Posting:       [email protected]

 * Toaster

   This list deals with the Video Toaster system for the Amiga.

   Subscription:  [email protected]
     Body Text:   subscribe <address> toaster
   Posting:       [email protected]

 * Lightwave

   Lightwave is part of the suite of programs that come with the
   Video Toaster system for the Amiga.

   Subscription:  [email protected]
     Body Text:     subscribe <address> lightwave
   Posting:       [email protected]

 * TrueSpace

   This is a mailing list for users of trueSpace, maintained by
   Shane Davison <[email protected]>.

   Subscription:  [email protected]
     Body Text:     subscribe <address> truespace
   Posting:       [email protected]

 * 3D Studio

   Autodesk's 3d modelling and rendering system for the IBM PC.

   Subscription:  [email protected]
     Body Text:     subscribe <address> 3dstudio
   Posting:       [email protected]

------------------------------

Subject 2.4 - Others

 * CompuServe

   The CompuServe POV-Ray Forum (GO POVRAY) is the home of POV-Ray
   (multiple sections devoted to POV and POV images).  This is where
   the POV-Team hangs out and discusses what they will put in the next
   version.  There are also many other forums devoted to computer
   graphics, animation, and morphing.  You can get information on
   joining CompuServe (in the US) by calling (800) 848-8990.

 * America On-Line

   AOL also has a section (PCGRAPHICS) dedicated to POV-Ray support.

------------------------------

Subject: 3 - Modelling Software

------------------------------

Subject 3.1 - SCED

 SCED is a constraint based scene editor written by Stephen Chenney
 <[email protected]>.  Stephen also maintains a
 mailing list for bug reports, patches, and early notification of new
 releases.

 Sced is a scene modeller for UNIX and X. It runs on many UNIX platforms,
 including Linux.  It is being distributed as source code.  The latest
 version is always available at:
 http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~schenney/sced/sced.html
 ftp://ftp.povray.org/pub/povray/modellers/sced/
 ftp://ftp.cs.su.oz.au/stephen/sced/

 An enhancement to SCED by Denis McLaughlin, called SCEDA, has all the
 features of SCED, but also adds support for keyframed animation.
 Animated objects have their position, rotation, and scale
 interpolated smoothly across multiple keyframes via a (modified)
 spline function.  SCEDA is available at:
 ftp://ftp.cyberus.ca/pub/sceda/

 You can find out more about SCEDA at:
 http://www.cyberus.ca/~denism/sceda/sceda.html.

 Feature List:

 * Cube, Cylinder, Cone, Plane, Sphere primitives.
 * Full support for CSG, including CSG wireframes that look like CSG
   objects.
 * A constraint based editing interface, which supports the accurate
   placement of object relative to other objects, and dynamic
   constraint maintenance.
 * Previewing using your favorite renderer.
 * Arbitrary, dynamic view of the scene.
 * Support for Radiance, RenderMan, POV-Ray, Rayshade, and VRML.
 * Target renderer specific attributes - allowing the full range of
   POV textures to be accessed, including the declaration of new
   textures and the inclusion of files.
 * Arbitrarily dense wireframes.
 * A simple input file format.
 * Support for arbitrary OFF format polygonal objects.
 * Automatic compression and decompression of files.
 * Spotlight and Area light sources.
 * Removal of many restrictions on the editing of CSG objects,
   including the ability to change the basic type of an object.
 * Lots of bug fixes. This version is now very stable under Linux and
   Solaris at least. The last very was regretably unstable.
 * Lots of small improvements to things like previewing, selection,
   handling of objects behind the eye and so on.

 Tutorials are provided to introduce use of the interface.

 The system has been tested on several platforms, and appears to be
 easy to port to different systems.  It REQUIRES X11 Release 5.  Note
 that POV 2.2 NEEDS TO BE PATCHED to use files created by SCED.
 Binaries will soon be available for Linux and Solaris.  Binaries for
 other platforms are also desired.

 Planned in the future:
 * POV->Sced conversion program, for editing an old POV file.
 * Bezier patch and arbitrary wireframe support.

------------------------------

Subject 3.2 - MORAY

 MORAY, by Lutz and Kretzschmar [CIS: 100023, 2006], is a shareware
 modeller for PC's that directly supports POV-Ray 2.x primitives and
 more.  Registration is required to get you a protected mode version,
 allowing full memory usage, plus the usual support and upgrade info.

 MORAY is a program with which you can design scenes for the POV-Ray
 raytracer to render. Contrary to normal scene design, with MORAY you
 design the scenes graphically. Up to now it was pretty difficult to
 imagine what the scene looked like, without laying it out on graph
 paper, or doing many test renders. MORAY is like a graph paper, it
 lets you place and change objects in wireframe while you see them.
 MORAY then generates the text file that POV needs to read.

 MORAY can thus also be used as a rapid prototype tool, to place
 objects quickly and write the scene file. You can then edit scene
 files to suit your needs, just like you have been doing up to now.

 MORAY stores and works with POV-Ray primitives, as opposed to normal
 CAD systems, which mostly convert all objects to triangle meshes or
 similar polygon based formats when outputting. This ensures optimum
 performance and image quality from the raytracer.

 If you're a POV enthusiast and have access to CompuServe you should
 check out the POVRAY forum for the latest news and tips on using POV.
 The RayTracing conference on PCGnet carries tips for using POV.

 The emphasis in designing MORAY was to be able to work as easily and
 as graphically as possible. Most of the work can be done with the
 mouse.

 Three 2D views and a 3D view of your scene are visible on screen.
 You can perform all transformations of the objects in the 2D views
 with the mouse. The 3D view shows what the current camera will see,
 i.e.  how POV will raytrace it.  MORAY allows you to:

 *  scale, rotate and translate an object interactively
 *  define cameras with which to view your scene
 *  view the scene in wire frame as POV-Ray will raytrace it
 *  specify the wire-frame complexity of on screen objects
 *  graphically place a bounding box around an object
 *  automatically create bounding boxes of any objects
 *  make nested CSG or composite objects
 *  assign textures from the TEXTURES.INC file to your objects
 *  define a new texture from within MORAY
 *  place imagemaps interactively on objects
 *  manipulate the control points of a bezier patch to create shapes
    not easily created otherwise
 *  create bezier patch meshes
 *  create rotational, translational and tapering sweeps that are
    output as smooth triangles
 *  copy complex nested objects
 *  create multiple copies of objects, transforming each independently
 *  specify a region of the 3D view to render
 *  call POV-Ray from within MORAY to render scenes

 Features new with MORAY 2.0 include:

 * A complete 100% Texture Editor for POV-Ray 2.2 with Preview.
 * Polyray V1.8 support and output of all scenes.
 * Faster, more streamlined (and more attractive) interface.
 * Fewer redraws and they're now interruptible.
 * Right-Mouse-button support.
 * New Sweep editors and types.
 * New Objects (Blobs, RAW triangles, User-defined objects).
 * Completely new File Handling.
 * Shallow and deep copies.
 * CSG evaluation.
 * Actual Heightfield display (for TGA).
 * Improved, more efficient output.
 * Freely definable viewports.
 * Manipulations in 3D views.
 * Spotlight views.
 * Multi-level Undo for major scene operations.

 MORAY requires at least a 386, a VGA card and a mouse, although this
 is not recommended.  The minimum usable system for larger scenes
 would be a 486DX/25 and 4MB memory.  The shareware version needs 2MB
 EMS, but this limitation is removed in the registered version, since
 it runs in protected mode.

------------------------------

Subject 3.3 - GUM

 GUM is a solid and surface modeller that currently supports POV,
 Polyray and Rayce and runs in MS-Windows.  The author is Lex van der
 Sluijs <[email protected]>.

 GUM is DemoWare: the demo is yours and you have NO obligation to
 register whatsoever, but there is a limitation: only 50 objects can
 be saved.  The registered version naturally has no such limitation.

 GUM stands for 'Grand Unified Modeller' which means two things:
 * It will never be done.
 * The fact that its internal data structure can accomodate all major
   object types, that is solids (implicit, b-rep), surfaces
   (parametric and polyhedral) and wireframe objects.  (and yes, a
   layout of its C++ class hierarchy takes many pages).

 The current version can be found at:
 ftp://ftp.povray.org/pub/povray/modellers/gum/
 CAD BBS Holland (+31-3402-90287) where it is a free file
 CompuServe, in the GRAPHDEV forum, thanks to Harry Rowe

 I won't list the list of supported objects here since that would
 become a bit long. Instead, some highlights:

 * CSG evaluation, (wireframe representation of CSG Differences)
 * 3D direct manipulation: 3D handles on objects like on the SGI
 * support for trimmed surfaces (trimmed with a solid, that is)
   Polyray can render these.
 * real-time pan and zoom (non-real-time also possible)
 * several renderers can be supported at once
 * relatively advanced texture- (and other types of declaration)
   handling, resulting in self-contained scene-files.
 * heightfield reading for Targa files: see what you're doing
 * Custom objects for external/not-yet-supported/huge objects
 * support for 'extra special' features via the Header dialog (timer
   variables, directional & textured lights, etc)
 * the ability to find all used files used in the scene
 * a robust RAW file reader
 * Object library feature: use objects from other GUM scenes
 * flexible FastDraw: Full, Skip(variable), Bounding Box. Static,
   during viewport change/object dragging (multiple-viewport too)
 * Automatic starting of the specified renderer, automatic starting of
   your favourite imageviewer when the image is done

 Some 'lowlights' (all of which will -naturally- be addressed):
 * cumbersome installation procedure
 * lack of sweeps
 * lack of blobs
 * cylinders, cones and paraboloids must be capped manually by
   intersecting them with discs

 System requirements: 386+387 @ 40 MHz with 4 Mb RAM. An 800x600
 display is highly recommended, although 640x480 can be used. GUM plus
 one renderer takes about 6 Mb on your harddisk.

 Here are some frequently asked questions and their answers about GUM,
 but first there are two things that should be brought to your
 attention:
 * there's already a FAQ in the manual, see the Contents topic. The
   Q&A's here have popped up after the release of the program.
 * most questions about usage of the program can be eliminated if you
   do the Quick Start, also in GUM's help-file.

 Q: I get a list of warnings every time I try to render or save
    something, saying that some 'pages' could not be found. However,
    all these 'pages' are POV/Polyray/Rayce keywords, such as
    'marble', 'green' and 'diffuse'.

 A: You need to move GUM.INI from GUM's directory to your WINDOWS
    directory.  If it's not there, extract a fresh GUM.INI from
    GUM091EX.ZIP. In it are the keywords that have special meaning to
    programs like POV, and without the file GUM can't discern between
    references to other definitions (like using the normal 'Bumpy' in
    'BumpyGlass') and keywords (such as 'red' and 'ior').

 Q: When I try to start the program I get an error message saying that
    CTL3DV2.DLL is not correctly installed.

 A: More than one copy of this DLL could be found by MS-Windows, which
    is not allowed for this particular file, hence the cryptic error
    message. You should find the most recent copy of it on your system,
    move it to WINDOWS\SYSTEM and delete all others.

------------------------------

Subject 3.4 - Breeze Designer

 Breeze Designer is a freeware 32-bit 3D modelling and design tool
 written by John Neville <[email protected]> for MS-Windows
 (NT, 95, Win32s).  It has been written to primarily interface with
 the Persistance of Vision raytracer (POV-Ray version 2.0 & 3.0),
 there is also support to export to a number of other popular
 renderers including Pixars's RenderMan.  Some of its features
 include:

  *  Modelling primitives; cube, sphere, cone, cylinder, torus,
     bicubic "Bezier" patches
  *  Text objects using TrueType fonts
  *  Heightfields, spline paths and extruded shapes
  *  Iso-surfaces; blobs (metaballs).
  *  Surfaces of revolution (sweeps).
  *  Built-in texture builder and shaded preview.
  *  Object grouping with CSG support.
  *  Keyframe animation support, with tween function and spline paths.
  *  Import Autodesk 3D-Studio(TM) 3DS and AutoCAD DXF format models.
  *  Export POV-Ray, RenderMan RIB, VRML scene, Polyray, AutoCAD DXF.
  *  Built-in macro language and third party plug-in module support.
  *  Support for OpenGL with texture mapping for Windows NT/95
  *  Support for the Intel(R) 3DR rendering library.
  *  On-line help & tool tips support.

 Breeze is available for download at:
 ftp://ftp.povray.org/pub/povray/modellers/breeze/
 ftp://blitzen.canberra.edu.au/pub/povray/breeze/

------------------------------

Subject 3.5 - POVLAB

 POVLAB is a shareware DOS based 3D graphic modeller for POV-Ray 3.0
 written by Denis Olivier <[email protected]>. Here's are
 some of its features:

 * Very friendly to use (new style interface, never seen before!).
 * Plug-ins allow you to program you own object generators/animators.
 * Support for a lot of the new options in POV-Ray 3.0.
 * 4 viewports (left, front, top and camera), full viewport allowed.
 * Material/texture preview/editing, library management, add your own.
 * Real time camera, like 3D Studio does.
 * Uses real camera, based on FOV in POV-Ray, including focal blur.
 * Normal/fast/boxed display, freezed/ignored objects, heightfield.
 * Raw objects - sphere, box, cone, blobs, tube, torus, plane, ...
 * CSG (copy, merge, difference, union).
 * 3D TrueType fonts (thanks to Jean Arnaud).
 * Selection (rotation, scale, translate, copy, ...).
 * Deformation (matrix scale, translate and rotate based).
 * Lights : omni, spot, area light (color, shadows, on/off).
 * Atmospheric effects (fog, distance attenuation, atmosphere)
 * Built-in or external image viewers can be used.

 System requirements for POVLAB are floating point unit (387/487SX
 or 486/P5/P6), 8MB RAM (up to 32 MB virtual memory), 30MB disk space,
 mouse, and 16/256 color SVGA/VESA 1.2.  It also works under OS/2 and
 Win95, and supports rendering with WinPOV.

 POVLAB images, tips, faq, plug-ins and more are available at:
 http://www.cyberstation.fr/~dolivier/povlab.html

------------------------------

Subject 3.6 - Other Modellers

 * AC3D
   AC3D, by Andy Colebourne <[email protected]>, is reportedly
   a very easy to use 3D object/scene modeller currently available
   for SGI, SUN, and Linux platforms.  It outputs POV, Renderman,
   VRML, Dive, and Massive files.  The Linux binary is shareware,
   while the SGI and SUN versions are free.  Source is not available.
   More details, manual, and binary downloads are available at:
   http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/users/andy/ac3d.html

 * Blob Sculptor
   Blob Sculptor, by Alfonso Hermida, Steve Anger and Truman Brown
   allows you to model shapes using blob primitives.   Output is to
   RAW, DXF, BLB (internal format), POV, Polyray, Rayshade and CTDS.
   In addition, the MS-Windows version, ported by Ronal Praver,
   supports NFF, VideoScape and others.  NeXTStep and Open GL ports
   are expected soon.

--
Andreas Dilger   University of Calgary  \"If a man ate a pound of pasta and
(403) 220-8792   Micronet Research Group \ a pound of antipasto, would they
Dept of Electrical & Computer Engineering \   cancel out, leaving him still
http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/       hungry?" -- Dogbert

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