Povraygen is a hobby project that aims to randomly generate realistically looking fantastic landscapes.
Currently it works as follows:
- Bunch of python scripts that generate povray files and then call povray raytracer.
- Povray raytracer generates images.
Example images:
Example image.
Example image.
FAQ
What is povray
Povray is an open-source binary program that uses raytracing to generate very real looking images.
Images are defined using text files and then rendered.
Why use povray
It's API (i.e. plain-text files) is best and most understandable I found.
Pros:
- Very good documentation;
- Very good quality of produced images;
- I could start experimenting quickly;
Cons:
- Requires me to generate povray images programatically;
I evaluated:
Blender --- it has a Python API, however this python api is callable from inside blender application, and is really geared towards writing plugins, that is: you need to worry about state of the UI when managing 3d objects (for example --- you can't select an object UI needs to be in a state that allows selecting objects).
Note
Above opinion is based on working with blender python API for couple of so my experience is extreamly limited.
Panda3d --- it is a nice 3d game engine (allegedly) in Python, however:
- Tutorial did not explain to me how to put objects and/or how to define them.
- It is geared towards "game engine" use case --- that is: you load assets created in 3d program, and then you move and animate them. I want to dynamically generate my assets.
Will you show us the code
Once I get around to it, I'll release the code :)