I have to use some chrome effects for a cabview. In 3DC6 I generate a chrome texture which i apply and which is looking quite nice and shiny, not really chromy but I could live with it. After exporting to POV and rendering I only get some dull gray.
I get better results with some spotlights but now some of the other textures are too bright.
Is there a possibility to use the original 3DC picture with some AA 'cause that's the only missing effect in 3DC

Hannes,
You could try the AA, but I believe you will find that you still need to use the lighting in PovRay to bring out the shine of the chrome. Try using something like "gray50" for your light color. Just take out the numerical values in the light_source color and put that in its place. If you decrease the value by changing the 50 to 40 or 30 etc, or increase by going the opposite way, you will see how it affects the other parts of the scene.

Hope this helps,
Les

AA shouldn't affect the appearance of the chrome besides smoothing any edges around the surface or in the reflection.

I've had troubles getting any metallic appearance too. The chrome & brass don't appear very reflective (when using the quick-render interface to POV), but I haven't tried lighting them properly yet.

Cal.

Hey Les,
Could you possibly capture the section you are talking about ? I've tried putting "gray 50" in place of rgb, and other places without any luck. Can't really find " light_source color". There are 3 light_source settings.  :
 KB

Not sure, but I think he meant right click on the light, then replace the color of the light source with grey50.

blaydrnnnr,
 It's a setting in POV-Ray not 3DC, but if you have an idea let me know, POV gives me fits.

KB

KB,
Sorry I didn't catch your post sooner. Here is a line of code from PovRay describing the light_source. I've broken the line of code into parts

light_source { <8.058665E+01, 9.483661E+03, -3.170755E+03>, //Position of light source

rgb <5.960785E-01, 5.960785E-01, 5.960785E-01>//Color of light source

parallel point_at <0, 0, 0>//Type of light and where it's pointing

shadowless media_interaction off }//Light casting no shadows, and media interaction off.

All you have to do is delete the Color Portion and replace it with "Gray50" or "White", "Red", etc. This tells PovRay that the light is a simple Gray light with 50% ambient setting(I think). It's just a faster way to get a single color, and I believe Gray is the only color that you can set in percentages.

Hope this helps,

Les

Hannes44,
Well again it has taken me a long time to get back to these posts, and I'm sorry about that. You could also try adding(in PovRay) a reflection value to the line of code that describes the material, ie; ambient, diffuse, briliance, etc. This will add some shininess or reflection to just that particular material, and not affect the others as it does when using more lighting.

KB,
Yes, this line of code is strictly a Pov thing. PovRay is a little complicated and can be a real pain, but it's great for "fine tuning" the appearances of materials, textures, lighting, etc.

Also, I dont think I was too clear in describing how or where to put the Gray50 in the lighting code, so I'll do it this way.

light_source { <8.058665E+01, 9.483661E+03, -3.170755E+03>, //Position of light source

[color=Red]rgb <5.960785E-01, 5.960785E-01, 5.960785E-01>[/color]//Color of light source

parallel point_at <0, 0, 0>//Type of light and where it's pointing

shadowless media_interaction off }//Light casting no shadows, and media interaction off.

Now, where you see the red text, delete that portion of the color description and replace it with "color Gray50" without the quotes(in PovRay).


Sorry again for taking so long to get back here,
Les

Hi Les,
I've given up with POVRay.I've tried simple colored ball objects, POV'sandard files, etc. and I end up with several light source lines, none of which resemble the lines you explain, ending with "color of light source". No matter which one I change I get a parse error. Not your fault, I just don't get it. Much easier to use another renderer.

  KB