MoVib is a program written in pure TclTk that allows to convert a Moray's .pov exported file to a VirtuaLight Interface ASCII format one. The input file must be a POVray .pov file as exported by Moray (versions 3.3a and 3.5) for POV renderings and it must not be edited by hand in anyway. The output is ASCII files describing the same Moray/POVray scene, intended for use with VirtuaLight Global Illumination Renderer.
MoVib will produces the following file types:
file.vib(the VIB scene file to use as input for VL)
file.geo(optional file containing Meshes and Bicubic patches objects defined as triangle/bicubic meshes)
file.log(conversion messages)
file.m2v(this is an internal file for use with MoVib, it is needed in case you want to reload and edit a previously converted scene)
The files really needed for VL renderings are the .vib and .geo (if present) ones, the other ones are only needed if you want to use MoVib as a simple VIB editor. MoVib can be used as a simple editor in order to define some objects and scene settings like assign a material, specifing light properties, SunLight, SkyLight and so on. Several scene settings are allowed by means of dedicated graphical panels.
Requirements
Windows 98/NT/2000
TclTk installed on your system (I personally use ActiveTcl 8.3.4.2 but any Tcl installation after 8.3 should be ok)
nconvert: a freeware image conversion program available at XNview. It is sufficient to install nconvert.exe
No other type of entity should be present in the POV scene file. Unrecognized objects could probably cause a Tcl's Application Error during parsing phase (in this case I will be really glad if you can send me the pov file that causes the error).
User interface
As you can see in the image above the interface is splitted in some dedicated areas. The first one, togheter with the classic main toolbar (File, View, ecc.), is for input and output files setting (in the showed example bsa.pov is the input file and untitled.vib is the output .vib). The little 'arrowed' icon button will run the conversion whereas the red one near the output file name will save the .vib.
There are three listboxes at the bottom of the files settings area for currently converted main objects listing: lights, toplevels (hierarchically converted 'father' items, as defined in Moray) and declared items (equivalent to #declare in POVray).
In the frame numbered 4 you can see conversion messages like recognized valid objects, unsupported ones and so on. On the right (5) you can find a hierarchy tree widget representing the Moray converted hierarchy. You can use this window to select/deselect objects in several ways (see File->Usage in the toolbar for more info).
The following window is intended for listing of materials (as defined in dedicated archive VL files) availables for objects assignement.
At last, a test rendering stage, from which you can run VirtuaLight directly to test the current (saved or unsaved) scene. Some basic vlight options are available to change the rendering environment and is possible to create a 'thumbnail'.
In MoVib I've make an extensive use of the right mouse button to access functionalities and properties of the program. The following snapshots shows the three main popup menus as they appear in 'Lights' 'Hierarchy tree' and 'Material' windows. See 'File->Usage' for more info.
By means of dedicated panels the user may change and sets several objects and scene options: Lights properties,
Camera settings,
Sun&Sky settings,
General options,
Scene settings
Examples
In the example page you can find some renderings of Moray converted models (many of them founded in the Internet), some of them rendered with POVray and then converted and rendered with VL inside MoVib.
Download
MoVib it has not really tested at this time. It's freeware, you are invited to download and test the program, I will really appreciates any comment/suggestions and bug info of any kind from you. In case of Application errors, please send me the pov file that causes the error.
This program was written (and currently developed) for fun and I consider it as a Tcl exercise. Please tell me what do you think and if it is useful for you:
