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POV-Ray-Rendering Workbench

From FreeCAD Documentation
POV-Ray-Rendering Workbench icon

Introduction[edit | edit source]

The POV-Ray-Rendering Workbench is an external workbench built to make rendering easy but it also offers options for advanced users. The workbench uses the POV-Ray renderer.

Features[edit | edit source]

Applying textures[edit | edit source]

There are more than 100 predefined textures you can apply, but you can also define your own textures.

Thumbnails and live preview[edit | edit source]

To see the impact of the selected texture options you can check the pre-rendered thumbnail or use the live preview to render the texture.

Lighting[edit | edit source]

With the three light types: area light, point light and spot light, and their different options, you can create advanced lighting.

Indirect lighting (GI)[edit | edit source]

The workbench has the option to enable indirect lighting to create more realistic images.

HDRI environments[edit | edit source]

With support for HDRI environments, beautiful environments are simple to use.

User inc file[edit | edit source]

Power users who want access to all options of the POV-Ray renderer can do so by creating a special file. For more details see the Power User page on our Wiki.

Usage[edit | edit source]

Here is a simple demonstration of the workbench:

There are many more options on the other tabs, please explore them yourself, or you can visit our Wiki: Workbench Wiki

Installation[edit | edit source]

This workbench can be installed and updated from the Addon Manager. The POV-Ray renderer used by the workbench has to be installed separately. For Windows users, the installer can be downloaded from the POV-Ray Download Page, for Linux users it can usually be installed from the package manager. Look up the detailed instructions in the POV-Ray Wiki if you're on a Mac.

To complete the installation the path to the POV-Ray executable has to be defined in the workbench preferences, usually these are the default paths:

  • Windows: C:/Program Files/POV-Ray/v3.7/bin/pvengine64.exe (the v*.* folder may change depending on the POV-Ray version)
  • Linux: /usr/bin/povray
  • MacOS: Not available. If you have more information, please let us know.

Tools[edit | edit source]

  • OpenDialog: Opens the dialog where most of the work is done. Here you can apply textures, add HDRI environments, etc. and start the rendering.
  • Point Light: Inserts a Point Light.
  • Area Light: Inserts an Area Light.
  • Spot Light: Inserts a Spot Light.

References[edit | edit source]

Links to POV-Ray Workbench[edit | edit source]

Other useful links[edit | edit source]