New POV Raytracer
Persistence of Vision, the multi-platform public domain rendering software,
has been updated. Persistence of Vision is a public domain raytracing program for
several platforms, including the Amiga. Joel Newkirk, one of the Amiga programmers,
has released the latest incarnation, version 3.02. What Persistence of Vision lacks
is a GUI: you have to stage your 3D scene by hand, although several helpful examples
are included and if you're good with graph paper, it's a manageable task.
What POV has in abundance are algorithmic textures to make your objects
visually appealing. With so many authors working on the project, they've amassed quite
a lot, to rival the included Imagine textures. Newkirk also promises support for the
Phase5 PowerUP cards in the near future, allowing much faster rendering times. There
are presently versions available for all Amigas, even those without FPU units.
To learn more about POV-Ray, check out
http://www.wearefamily.com/newkirk