Top Related Projects
Universal Scene Description
Mitsuba 2: A Retargetable Forward and Inverse Renderer
LuxCore source repository
Official mirror of Blender
A modern open source rendering engine for animation and visual effects
Advanced shading language for production GI renderers
Quick Overview
POV-Ray (Persistence of Vision Raytracer) is an open-source tool for creating three-dimensional, high-quality graphics. It uses a scene description language to define objects and lighting, then renders photorealistic images through ray tracing techniques. POV-Ray is known for its powerful features and the ability to create complex, detailed scenes.
Pros
- High-quality, photorealistic rendering capabilities
- Extensive documentation and active community support
- Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux)
- Powerful scripting language for creating complex scenes
Cons
- Steep learning curve for beginners
- Rendering can be time-consuming for complex scenes
- Limited real-time preview options compared to some modern 3D software
- Text-based scene description may be less intuitive for users accustomed to GUI-based 3D tools
Code Examples
- Creating a simple sphere:
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
pigment { color rgb <1, 0, 0> }
}
- Adding a light source:
light_source {
<2, 4, -3>
color rgb <1, 1, 1>
}
- Defining a camera:
camera {
location <0, 2, -3>
look_at <0, 0, 0>
}
Getting Started
- Download and install POV-Ray from the official website: http://www.povray.org/download/
- Create a new file with a
.povextension - Add the following basic scene code:
#include "colors.inc"
camera {
location <0, 2, -3>
look_at <0, 0, 0>
}
light_source {
<2, 4, -3>
color White
}
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
pigment { color Red }
}
- Save the file and render it using the POV-Ray application or command-line interface
- Explore the documentation and examples to learn more advanced features and techniques
Competitor Comparisons
Universal Scene Description
Pros of OpenUSD
- Industry-standard format for 3D content creation and exchange
- Extensive toolset for complex scene composition and animation
- Strong support from major studios and software vendors
Cons of OpenUSD
- Steeper learning curve compared to POV-Ray
- More complex setup and integration process
- Requires more computational resources for rendering
Code Comparison
POV-Ray:
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
texture {
pigment { color rgb <1, 0, 0> }
finish { phong 0.7 }
}
}
OpenUSD:
from pxr import Usd, UsdGeom, Gf
stage = Usd.Stage.CreateNew("sphere.usda")
spherePrim = UsdGeom.Sphere.Define(stage, "/mySphere")
spherePrim.CreateRadiusAttr().Set(1)
spherePrim.AddTranslateOp().Set(Gf.Vec3f(0, 0, 0))
OpenUSD offers a more flexible and extensible approach to 3D scene description, while POV-Ray provides a simpler, more direct method for creating 3D scenes. OpenUSD is better suited for complex production pipelines, while POV-Ray excels in quick, standalone rendering tasks.
Mitsuba 2: A Retargetable Forward and Inverse Renderer
Pros of Mitsuba2
- More advanced and physically-based rendering techniques
- Supports GPU acceleration for faster rendering
- Extensible plugin architecture for custom algorithms
Cons of Mitsuba2
- Steeper learning curve due to its complexity
- Less documentation and community resources compared to POV-Ray
- Primarily focused on research and may be overkill for simple scenes
Code Comparison
POV-Ray example:
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
texture {
pigment { color rgb <1, 0, 0> }
finish { phong 0.7 }
}
}
Mitsuba2 example:
sphere = mi.load_dict({
'type': 'sphere',
'center': [0, 0, 0],
'radius': 1,
'bsdf': {
'type': 'diffuse',
'reflectance': {'type': 'rgb', 'value': [1, 0, 0]}
}
})
Both examples create a red sphere, but Mitsuba2 uses a more flexible Python-based scene description format, while POV-Ray uses its own scene description language. Mitsuba2's approach allows for more programmatic scene generation and integration with other Python libraries.
LuxCore source repository
Pros of LuxCore
- More advanced rendering techniques, including bidirectional path tracing and metropolis light transport
- Supports real-time rendering and interactive preview
- Offers GPU acceleration for faster rendering
Cons of LuxCore
- Steeper learning curve due to more complex features and options
- Potentially longer render times for simple scenes compared to POV-Ray
- Less extensive documentation and community resources
Code Comparison
POV-Ray:
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
texture {
pigment { color rgb <1, 0, 0> }
finish { phong 0.7 }
}
}
LuxCore:
scene.objects.add(luxcore.SceneObject("sphere", {
"type": "sphere",
"radius": 1,
"material": "red_material"
}))
scene.materials.add(luxcore.Material("red_material", {
"type": "matte",
"kd": [1, 0, 0]
}))
Both POV-Ray and LuxCore are powerful rendering engines, but they cater to different user needs. POV-Ray is known for its simplicity and ease of use, making it ideal for beginners and quick scene creation. LuxCore, on the other hand, offers more advanced features and realistic rendering capabilities, making it suitable for professional-grade projects and users who require high-quality output.
Official mirror of Blender
Pros of Blender
- More comprehensive 3D creation suite with modeling, animation, and rendering
- Larger community and ecosystem of addons/plugins
- User-friendly GUI for easier learning curve
Cons of Blender
- Heavier resource usage due to its full-featured nature
- Less precise control over rendering parameters compared to POV-Ray
- Steeper learning curve for advanced features
Code Comparison
POV-Ray scene description:
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
texture {
pigment { color rgb <1, 0, 0> }
finish { phong 0.7 }
}
}
Blender Python API equivalent:
import bpy
bpy.ops.mesh.primitive_uv_sphere_add(radius=1)
material = bpy.data.materials.new(name="Red")
material.use_nodes = True
material.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"].inputs["Base Color"].default_value = (1, 0, 0, 1)
bpy.context.active_object.data.materials.append(material)
Both repositories offer powerful 3D rendering capabilities, but cater to different user needs. POV-Ray focuses on ray tracing with a text-based interface, while Blender provides a full 3D creation suite with a graphical interface. The choice between them depends on the specific requirements of the project and the user's preferred workflow.
A modern open source rendering engine for animation and visual effects
Pros of appleseed
- Modern, physically-based rendering engine with advanced global illumination techniques
- Supports interactive rendering and progressive refinement
- Extensive documentation and user-friendly interface
Cons of appleseed
- Smaller community and fewer resources compared to POV-Ray
- Less established history and potentially fewer features for specialized rendering tasks
Code Comparison
POV-Ray example:
#include "colors.inc"
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
texture {
pigment { color Red }
}
}
appleseed example:
from appleseed import *
sphere = asr.Object("sphere", "sphere_object", {"radius": "1.0"})
material = asr.Material("disney_material", "red_material", {"base_color": "1.0 0.0 0.0"})
Both examples create a red sphere, but appleseed uses a more modern, physically-based material system and Python scripting, while POV-Ray uses its own scene description language.
Advanced shading language for production GI renderers
Pros of OpenShadingLanguage
- More flexible and extensible shading system
- Widely adopted in the film and VFX industry
- Supports multi-threaded rendering for improved performance
Cons of OpenShadingLanguage
- Steeper learning curve for beginners
- Requires integration with a rendering engine
- Less suitable for standalone use compared to POV-Ray
Code Comparison
POV-Ray example:
sphere {
<0, 0, 0>, 1
texture {
pigment { color rgb <1, 0, 0> }
finish { phong 0.7 }
}
}
OpenShadingLanguage example:
shader RedSphere(
output color Color = color(1, 0, 0),
output float Phong = 0.7
) {
Color = color(1, 0, 0);
Phong = 0.7;
}
OpenShadingLanguage focuses on defining shaders that can be applied to geometry, while POV-Ray combines geometry and material definitions in a single scene description. OSL provides more flexibility in shader creation and reuse, but requires additional setup and integration with a rendering system.
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POV-Ray - The Persistence of Vision Raytracer
- License
- Forums
- Bug Reports
- Official Binaries
- Building POV-Ray
- IDE Versions
- 3D Modeller
- Documentation
- Contacting Us
License
As of version v3.7, the source for POV-Ray is licensed under the AGPL3. The documentation is under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 license, and support files such as SDL includes, macros, sample scenes and so forth are under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (see each file header for the specific one).
Forums
Discussion regarding POV-Ray is traditionally done via our forums at http://news.povray.org/. These are also available via NNTP at news://news.povray.org/ for those preferring that.
Please note that the POV-Ray developers do not monitor all forums regularly. The ones we tend to check most frequently are povray.general, povray.windows and povray.unix.
Bug Reports
It's generally a good idea to mention a bug in the forums prior to lodging a formal report; this can save you some time if it's a non-bug or a solution is known. You should also first check the known issues to see if it has been reported already.
If you're sure something is a bug then please do lodge a bug report on the GitHub issues tracker.
Official Binaries
At this point in time, the only platform for which the project distributes pre-built 'official' (i.e. supported) binaries is Microsoft Windows. These may be obtained via http://www.povray.org/download/. We do intend to provide Mac OS X binaries shortly, but these will be console-mode only (based on the unix build).
Official Windows binaries of selected development versions are made availabe at https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/releases on a semi-irregular basis.
Building POV-Ray
At this point in time we generally recommend building from the latest version of the
latest-stable branch. Alternatively,
you may want to opt for a recent tagged version
to test-drive features that have been added since the latest stable release.
Please do not build directly from the master branch (or any other non-stable branch for that matter), as versions from that branch may report ambiguous version numbers, making it difficult to obtain version-specific support or report bugs in a useful manner.
POV-Ray should compile on any POSIX-compliant system with the required tools (please see unix/README.md for build instructions), on Microsoft Windows systems that have Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 or later installed (targeting XP or later, both 32 and 64-bit - be sure to see windows/README.md, otherwise your build will not work), and also on Mac systems (console mode only, using an appropriately-modified version of the unix build - not currently provided by us).
If you are using an operating system with a package or ports system such as Ubuntu or FreeBSD, you may like to check whether or not POV-Ray is available via that route.
IDE versions
Currently the only version of POV-Ray with an IDE as such is the Windows build. We do want to change that, though. With the release of POV-Ray v3.7 we have added a clear split between the backend (renderer) and frontend (UI or console), along with a C++ layer which abstracts this into a fairly easily-understood set of classes (VFE, aka 'Virtual Front End').
We will offer support to those wishing to use this interface layer to integrate POV-Ray into an open-source cross-platform IDE. We would also be interested in hearing suggestions as to what we could base such an IDE on, should we go ahead to integrate it ourselves.
Putting it another way: we consider getting a cross-platform IDE a high priority.
3D Modeller
POV-Ray does not currently have its own 3d modelling application (at least, not one in a usable state). We do own the rights to the Moray modeller, which was formerly commercial, but it needs a little work to get it working with v3.7 or later. It is also Windows only (due to its use of MFC). Nevertheless we will be adding the source to the repository at a future date.
Authors of open-source modellers with a compatible licence wishing to directly integrate POV-Ray are welcome to contact us for support in doing so.
Documentation
When built and installed via the means provided in the source tree, all versions of POV-Ray come with documentation. For the Unix build, this is in the form of a manpage giving basic usage, and full HTML-based documentation. For the Windows version, there is a HtmlHelp (.CHM) file provided.
The official location for the online documentation is http://www.povray.org/documentation/. Further information, as well as online documentation for the current development version, can be found at http://wiki.povray.org.
Contacting Us
We prefer that you contact us via the forums mentioned at the head of this document. If the matter is one that requires direct email contact (and this generally will NOT include tech support requests, though exceptions are made for package maintainers) you may use the address listed at the bottom of http://www.povray.org/povlegal.html.
Top Related Projects
Universal Scene Description
Mitsuba 2: A Retargetable Forward and Inverse Renderer
LuxCore source repository
Official mirror of Blender
A modern open source rendering engine for animation and visual effects
Advanced shading language for production GI renderers
Convert designs to code with AI
Introducing Visual Copilot: A new AI model to turn Figma designs to high quality code using your components.
Try Visual Copilot