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<strong class="NavBar">POV-Ray 3.6 for UNIX documentation</strong><br> <strong>3.1
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<h2><a name="s03_01">3.1 </a>Introduction</h2>
<p>
This book provides a reference for the Persistence of Vision Ray-Tracer (POV-Ray). The documentation applies to all
platforms to which this version of POV-Ray is ported. The platform-specific documentation is available for each
platform separately.
</p>
<p>
This book is divided into these main parts:
</p>
<ol>
<li>
This introduction together with a complete reference on "<a href="s_64.html#s02_02_08">POV-Ray Options</a>"
which explains options (set either by command line switches or by INI file keywords) that tell POV-Ray how to render
the scenes.
</li>
<li>
A complete reference on "<a href="s_96.html#s03_02">Scene Description Language</a>" in which you
describe the scene.
</li>
<li>
A complete reference on the "<a href="s_131.html#s03_07">Standard Include Files</a>" that come with the
POV-Ray package, to be used in your scenes.
</li>
<li>
Finally, a consolidation of the POV-Ray Scene Description Language in the "<a href="s_152.html#s03_08">Quick
Reference</a>".
</li>
</ol>
<p>
This book covers only the generic parts of the program which are common to each version. <strong>Each version has
platform-specific documentation not included here.</strong> We recommend you finish reading the tuorial book then read
the platform-specific information before using this reference.
</p>
<p>
The platform-specific docs will show you how to render a sample scene and will give you detailed description of the
platform-specific features.
</p>
<p>
The Windows version documentation is available on the POV-Ray program's Help menu or by pressing the F1 key while
in the program.
</p>
<p>
The Mac platform documentation is available via the "Help" menu as well as for viewing using a regular
web browser. Details may be found in the "<code>POV-Ray MacOS Read Me</code>" which contains information
specific to the Mac version of POV-Ray. It is best to read this document first.
</p>
<p>
The Unix / Linux version documentation can be found at the same place as the platform independent part. Usually
that is <code>/usr/local/share/povray-3.?/html</code>
</p>
<p><strong>
Section Contents
</strong>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_94.html#s03_01_01">3.1.1 Notation and Basic Assumptions</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02">3.1.2 Command-line Options</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_01">3.1.2.1 Animation Options</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_01_01">3.1.2.1.1 External Animation Loop</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_01_02">3.1.2.1.2 Internal Animation Loop</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_01_03">3.1.2.1.3 Subsets of Animation Frames</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_01_04">3.1.2.1.4 Cyclic Animation</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_01_05">3.1.2.1.5 Field Rendering</a>
</ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_02">3.1.2.2 General Output Options</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_02_01">3.1.2.2.1 Height and Width of Output</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_02_02">3.1.2.2.2 Partial Output Options</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_02_03">3.1.2.2.3 Interrupting Options</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_02_04">3.1.2.2.4 Resuming Options</a>
</ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_03">3.1.2.3 Display Output Options</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_03_01">3.1.2.3.1 Display Hardware Settings</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_03_02">3.1.2.3.2 Setting your Display Gamma</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_03_03">3.1.2.3.3 Display Related Settings</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_03_04">3.1.2.3.4 Mosaic Preview</a>
</ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04">3.1.2.4 File Output Options</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04_01">3.1.2.4.1 Output File Type</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04_02">3.1.2.4.2 Output File Name</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04_03">3.1.2.4.3 Output File Buffer</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04_04">3.1.2.4.4 CPU Utilization Histogram</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04_05">3.1.2.4.5 File Type</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04_06">3.1.2.4.6 File Name</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_04_07">3.1.2.4.7 Grid Size</a>
</ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_05">3.1.2.5 Scene Parsing Options</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_05_01">3.1.2.5.1 Constant</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_05_02">3.1.2.5.2 Input File Name</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_05_03">3.1.2.5.3 Include File Name</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_05_04">3.1.2.5.4 Library Paths</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_05_05">3.1.2.5.5 Language Version</a>
</ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_06">3.1.2.6 Shell-out to Operating System</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_06_01">3.1.2.6.1 String Substitution in Shell Commands</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_06_02">3.1.2.6.2 Shell Command Sequencing</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_06_03">3.1.2.6.3 Shell Command Return Actions</a>
</ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_07">3.1.2.7 Text Output</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_07_01">3.1.2.7.1 Text Streams</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_07_02">3.1.2.7.2 Console Text Output</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_07_03">3.1.2.7.3 Directing Text Streams to Files</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_07_04">3.1.2.7.4 Warning Level</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_07_05">3.1.2.7.5 Help Screen Switches</a>
</ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_08">3.1.2.8 Tracing Options</a>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_08_01">3.1.2.8.1 Quality Settings</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_08_02">3.1.2.8.2 Automatic Bounding Control</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_08_03">3.1.2.8.3 Removing User Bounding</a>
<li>
<a href="s_95.html#s03_01_02_08_04">3.1.2.8.4 Anti-Aliasing Options</a>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
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<strong>3.1 Introduction</strong>
</td>
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<a href="s_94.html">3.1.1 Notation and Basic Assumptions</a>
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