AC3D Forums - View Single Post - I May Have Terribly Misunderstood Something...

lisa · 5th January 2009, 06:03 PM

Hi HighXplosive!

Don't be so hard on yourself. If you got as far as the TCE on your first try, then you're doing great.

AC3D and POVRay handle lights and materials a bit differently. AC3D handles light basically the same way as video games do, but POV is a raytracer so it renders materials and lighting using a different method.

For the best results, you're going to want to tweak your lights and materials directly inside of POV after you export your scene. You can use any text editor you like, or POVRay for Windows comes with a very nice editor. There is also a program called PoseRay that can be used to setup lights and materials with a graphical interface, depending on what you are into.

Odds are, if your colors are looking off the lights are either too bright or too dark. Try moving the light further back, then inside POV adjusting the light.

Code:

light_source {<0, 0, 5> color rgb < 1 1 1 >}

The first three numbers in the light source are the position. The second are the color. If the colors are washed out or have hotspots, make the color less intense like so:

Code:

light_source {<0, 0, 5> color rgb < .5 .5 .5 >}

Same thing the other direction, increase the RGB numbers if it's too dark or muddy.

POVRay has quite a number of other lighting options, you may want to explore a bit. Here's a tutorial to point you in the right direction: http://library.thinkquest.org/3285/language/light.html The POVRay manual also has some tutorials in it that might help.

Also, if you are mixing textures and materials, it's best to set your material color to white and change the color in the texture bitmap using a paint program. Using the material setting to change how shiny \ hard the material is or what color the highlights are, but rely on the bitmap for your base color. This is much easier until you get the hang of how POV blends materials. If you do want to play with blending, the keywords you need are "transmit" and "filter" which change how the colors blend. You can read more about those here: http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/77/ (skip down to 1.3.4.1.4 Using Transparent Pigments and Layered Textures) and also here: http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/230/

POV takes a little bit to learn, but don't let it scare you. Once you figure it out, the results are well worth it.

I hope this helps!

5th January 2009, 06:03 PM	#2
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: I May Have Terribly Misunderstood Something... Hi HighXplosive! Don't be so hard on yourself. If you got as far as the TCE on your first try, then you're doing great. AC3D and POVRay handle lights and materials a bit differently. AC3D handles light basically the same way as video games do, but POV is a raytracer so it renders materials and lighting using a different method. For the best results, you're going to want to tweak your lights and materials directly inside of POV after you export your scene. You can use any text editor you like, or POVRay for Windows comes with a very nice editor. There is also a program called PoseRay that can be used to setup lights and materials with a graphical interface, depending on what you are into. Odds are, if your colors are looking off the lights are either too bright or too dark. Try moving the light further back, then inside POV adjusting the light. Code: light_source {<0, 0, 5> color rgb < 1 1 1 >} The first three numbers in the light source are the position. The second are the color. If the colors are washed out or have hotspots, make the color less intense like so: Code: light_source {<0, 0, 5> color rgb < .5 .5 .5 >} Same thing the other direction, increase the RGB numbers if it's too dark or muddy. POVRay has quite a number of other lighting options, you may want to explore a bit. Here's a tutorial to point you in the right direction: http://library.thinkquest.org/3285/language/light.html The POVRay manual also has some tutorials in it that might help. Also, if you are mixing textures and materials, it's best to set your material color to white and change the color in the texture bitmap using a paint program. Using the material setting to change how shiny \ hard the material is or what color the highlights are, but rely on the bitmap for your base color. This is much easier until you get the hang of how POV blends materials. If you do want to play with blending, the keywords you need are "transmit" and "filter" which change how the colors blend. You can read more about those here: http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/77/ (skip down to 1.3.4.1.4 Using Transparent Pigments and Layered Textures) and also here: http://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/230/ POV takes a little bit to learn, but don't let it scare you. Once you figure it out, the results are well worth it. I hope this helps!