#POV vs. commercial
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I am currently in the market for rendering software, and would like to give
POV-Ray a try before sinking $500-$3000 into a commercial package. I work
in an Autocad environment and would like to continue using Autocad as a
modeller. I'm aware that there is a DXF-to-POV utility available. How well
does this work? Am I better off using a different modeller?
Also, I'd like to get an idea of how POV compares to packages such as
3-D Studio, Renderstar, etc. (pc-based packages) in terms of image quality,
speed, and ease-of-use.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks,
-Joe
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If you're using ACAD release 12 then you really should look at AccuRender.
It's a _fast_ ray tracer which works from within AutoCAD and produces great
results. Right now you can get the beta release for only $95 from NcNeel and
Associates at (206)545-7000.
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Stephen, I seem to have missed some messages on TGA, but from some replies, it
sounds as though you're making a few changes in your (and Vivid's) life? If
you've deliberately kept quiet here, don't let me pry, but I'm curious.
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Things haven't fully settled out but I can give you a quick overview of what's
up. First of all, July 9th will be my last day at Boeing. Starting July 19th
I'll be working for Microsoft. They're actually willing to pay me to write ray
tracing software! I'll be working for Martin Hash. Because of "conflict of
interest" problems I won't be able to continue developing Vivid so I've
recruited a friend of mine, Mike Thompson, to take over for me. He's been
hacking ray tracer code for a few years now and should add some fresh blood to
Vivid's feature list. I know for sure that he's got CSG and ehight fields
working in his code so I expect to see them in Vivid within a couple of months.
While I won't be developing new code for Vivid I will still be providing some
support and I'll actually have a chance to use Vivid just for fun. Full info
about the transfer of Vivid support and "stuff" will be included in the next
release of Vivid which will be "real soon now."
Well, in a nutshell, that's what's up. One nice side-effect is that I will get
to go to SIGGRAPH this year. Hurray!
Stephen
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Stephen,
Do I hear "multi-media"?
So, Microsoft wants a raytracer of their own, huh? Interesting. Guess
that since they were kind of late getting on the bandwagon that they'd
better hire the best, huh? Good luck with the new job, and say "Hi" to
Bill. Microsoft has an ad showing some of their employees… (pretty
motley crew, to tell the truth)… wonder if you'll make it into one of
those ads someday.
RE: CSG and heightfields… hey, great ideas! <g>
Dan
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re:"I'll be working for Martin Hash."
Before you sign that NDA… what's going on with Martin's Playmation
character-animation package? Is somebody else developing it now? Is MS taking
it over? Inquiring minds…
Gavin.
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Microsoft bought the Playmation technology and licensed it back to Hash
Enterprises. Hash will continue to develope and support Playmation. I will
continue to work on my spelling and typing. 🙂
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Mondo good news Stephen. So you are going to be behind Microsoft's new venture
into 3D.
Or….. Maybe this is just Bill Gates scheme for giving the bride to be a
rendered image of a diamond rather than a real one …. "Really honey, this is
just as good & it was created with software, and you can show it to everyone in
the company as our new Windows 3.2 background pattern, …."
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I don't think Bill needs to fake diamonds although if he follows the "2 month
salary" guideline she might need a wheelbarrow.
BTW the next version of Windows will probably be 4.0, not 3.2.
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