The Implementation in D3PLOT Using POV-Ray

The implementation in D3PLOT: using POV-Ray

We do not perform these calculations inside D3PLOT, rather we export an intermediate file to an external Ray-Tracing package called "POV-Ray", which stands for the "Persistence Of Vision Ray tracer", and that performs the actual rendering in a separate external process.

POV-Ray is freeware that can be downloaded and used freely for any purpose, and indeed you will need to download and install it on your system in order to perform ray-tracing. The POV-Ray home page is http://www.povray.org/ where you can find information about the tracer itself, its licensing, and also online documentation.

We have only just started to use this technology, and therefore our understanding of what is possible is quite limited. It is clear that absolutely stunning images can be produced, but when you start to use ray-tracing it also quickly becomes clear that creating these scenes requires a huge amount of effort, which is likely to be impractical for most of our users. Therefore our export of rendering data is quite simplistic, but the nature of POV-Ray input means that you can take this basic file and tweak it as much as you like, and we would welcome feedback about this process.