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POV-Ray(1)			 Version 3.8.0			    POV-Ray(1)

NAME
       povray -	POV-Ray: The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer

SYNOPSIS
       povray [+Ooutput_file] [+/-option ...]  [input_file]

       povray [+Iinput_file] [+Ooutput_file] [+/-option	...] [INI_file]

DESCRIPTION
       POV-Ray	is a free, full-featured ray tracer, written and maintained by
       a team of volunteers on the Internet.  On the UNIX platform POV-Ray can
       be compiled with	support	for preview capabilities using the Simple  Di-
       rectMedia Layer V1.2 library (https://www.libsdl.org).

       This  manual  page  only	lists the basic	POV-Ray	and UNIX specific fea-
       tures and command-line options for this version of POV-Ray.  For	a com-
       plete description of the	features of POV-Ray and	its scene  description
       language	(a.k.a.	POV-Ray	SDL), or for a better explanation of the mean-
       ing of the command-line and INI file options, please consult the	online
       documentation  at http://wiki.povray.org/content/Documentation:Contents
       or the documentation capture that  should  accompany  all  versions  of
       POV-Ray.	The documentation is installed in PREFIX/share/doc/povray-3.8,
       where PREFIX is /usr/local by default, or a path	specified when config-
       uring the source	package	for compilation	and installation.

       http://www.povray.org

       Some of the UNIX-specific features are:

	      ASCII  graphics  in  the text-mode version allow a basic view of
	      the current rendering on text-only terminals.

	      An interrupt handler allows rendering to	be  interrupted	 in  a
	      safe way,	so that	any data not currently written to disk will be
	      saved  before  exiting.	Control-C  or SIGINT will cause	a user
	      abort, and save the  current  rendering,	before	exiting.   See
	      kill(1) for more information.

	      Platform	and  architecture-independent rendering	means that the
	      same scene will render in	the same way on	all computers and  op-
	      erating  systems	(with the exception of the rendering speed, of
	      course).

OPTIONS
       Options can be specified	with either a leading '+' or  a	 leading  '-'.
       Many options are	switches, meaning a '+'	turns the option on, and a '-'
       turns the option	off.  For other	options, it doesn't matter if a	'+' or
       a  '-'  is used.	 Most options cannot have spaces in them so you	should
       specify +FN rather than +F N, and combining options is not allowed,  so
       +SC is very different from +S +C.  Options are not case sensitive.

       The  command-line  options are shown below with their corresponding INI
       file options.  If the same option is specified multiple times,  whether
       in INI files or on the command-line, the	last such option overrides any
       previous	 ones,	with  the  exception of	the +L or Library_Path option,
       which is	cumulative.

   Parsing options:
       I<input_file_name> or Input_File_Name=file
	      Specifies	the input file to use.	If the input file name is '-',
	      the scene	description will be read from the standard input.  The

       HI<header_include_file_name> or Include_Header=file
	      Specifies	a file as the first include  file  of  a  scene	 file.
	      This can be used to always include a specific set	of default in-
	      clude files used by all your scenes.

       L<library_path> or Library_Path=path
	      Specifies	 a directory to	search for input files,	include	files,
	      fonts, and image maps, if	the specified file is not in the  cur-
	      rent  directory.	 This  may  be specified multiple times	to in-
	      crease the number	of directories to search.

       MVn.n or	Version=float
	      Treat scene files	as if they were	version	 n.n  instead  of  the
	      current  version.	  This may be overridden from within the scene
	      file.

       SU or Split_Unions=bool
	      Split bounded CSG	unions if children are	finite.	  This	allows
	      automatic	bounding of CSG	objects	to take	place.

       UR or Remove_Bounds=bool
	      Remove  unnecessary  bounding  objects.	This  allows automatic
	      bounding of older	scene files to take place.

       BM1 or Bounding_Method=1
	      Enable BVH (Bounding Volume Hierarchy) bounding (the default).

       BM2 or Bounding_Method=2
	      Enable BSP (Binary Space Partitioning) tree bounding.

   Output options:
       Hn or Height=integer
	      The image	should be n pixels high.

       Wn or Width=integer
	      The image	should be n pixels wide.

       SRn or Start_Row=integer
	      Start the	rendering at row n from	the top	of the screen.

       SR0.n or	Start_Row=float
	      Start the	rendering n percent from the top of the	screen.

       ERn or End_Row=integer
	      End the rendering	at row n from the top of the screen.

       ER0.n or	End_Row=float
	      End the rendering	at n percent from the top of the screen.

       SCn or Start_Column=integer
	      Start the	rendering at column n from the left of the screen.

       SC0.n or	Start_Column=float
	      Start the	rendering at n percent from the	left of	the screen.

       ECn or Start_Column=integer
	      End the rendering	at column n from the left of the screen.

       EC0.n or	Start_Column=float
	      End the rendering	at n percent from the left of the screen.

       C or Continue_Trace=bool
	      Continue a previously interrupted	scene trace.

       CC or Create_Continue_Trace_Log=bool
	      Create trace state file needed to	later continue an  interrupted
	      scene trace.

       P or Pause_When_Done=bool
	      If previewing, pause when	the rendering is complete before clos-
	      ing the window.

       V or Verbose=bool
	      Output verbose status messages on	the progress of	the rendering.

       WLn or Warning_Level=integer
	      Set warning level	to n.

   Output options - display related:
       D or Display=bool
	      Turns  graphic  display on/off, if program built with Simple Di-
	      rectMedia	Layer library.

       SPn or Preview_Start_Size=integer
	      Start mosaic preview with	blocks n pixels	square.

       EPn or Preview_End_Size=integer
	      End mosaic preview with blocks n pixels square.

       UD or Draw_Vistas=bool
	      Draw vista rectangles before rendering has been deprecated.

   Output options - file related:
       F[BCEHJNPT][n] or Output_to_File=bool Output_File_Type=char
	      Store the	rendered image using one  of  the  available  formats,
	      namely   BMP,  Compressed	 TGA,  OpenEXR,	Radiance High Dynamic-
	      Range, JPEG, PNG,	PPM, and TGA given all the image libraries are
	      available. If no image output option specified, output  defaults
	      to (PNG).

       O<output_file> or Output_File_Name=file
	      Write  the output	to the file named output_file, or the standard
	      output if	'-' is given as	the output file	name.

       MIn or Max_Image_Buffer_Memory=n
	      Sets the allowable size of the output image cache	in megabytes.

   Tracing options:
       MBn or Bounding=bool Bounding_Threshold=integer
	      Use automatic bounding slabs if more than	n objects are  in  the
	      scene.

       Qn or Quality=integer
	      Render  at  quality  n.  Qualities range from 0 for rough	images
	      and 9 for	complete ray-tracing and textures, and 10 and  11  add
	      radiosity.

       A0.n or Antialias=bool Antialias_Threshold=integer
	      Do antialiasing on the pixels until the difference between adja-
	      cent  pixels is less that	0.n, or	the maximum recursion depth is
	      reached.

       AMn or Sampling_Method=integer
	      Specify the method of antialiasing used, non-adaptive (n	=  1),
	      or adaptive antialiasing (n = 2).

       Jn.n or Jitter=bool Jitter_Amount=float
	      Specify  maximum	radius,	 in  pixels,  that antialiased samples
	      should be	jittered from their true centers.

       Rn or Antialias_Depth=integer
	      Set the maximum recursion	depth for antialiased  pixel  sub-sam-
	      pling.

       UA or Output_Alpha=bool
	      Use alpha	channel	for transparency mask.

       UL or Light_Buffer=bool
	      Use light	buffer to speed	up rendering has been deprecated.

       UV or Vista_Buffer=bool
	      Use vista	buffer to speed	up rendering has been deprecated.

   Animation options:
       Kn.n or Clock=float
	      Render a single frame of an animation with the clock value n.n.

       KFIn or Initial_Frame=integer
	      Specify the initial frame	number for an animation.

       KFFn or Final_Frame=integer
	      Specify  the  final frame	number for an animation.  This must be
	      set at a value other that	1 in order to render  multiple	frames
	      at once.

       KIn.n or	Initial_Clock=float
	      Specify the clock	value for the initial frame of an animation.

       KFn.n or	Final_Clock=float
	      Specify the clock	value for the frame final of an	animation.

       SFn or Subset_Start_Frame=integer
	      Render  a	 subset	of frames from an animation, starting at frame
	      n.

       SF0.n or	Subset_Start_Frame=float
	      Render a subset of frames	from an	animation, starting n  percent
	      into the animation.

       EFn or Subset_End_Frame=integer
	      Render  a	 subset	of frames from an animation, stopping at frame
	      n.

       EF0.n or	Subset_End_Frame=float
	      Render a subset of frames	from an	animation, stopping n  percent
	      into the animation.

       KC or Cyclic_Animation=bool
	      Generate clock values for	a cyclic animation.

       UF or Field_Render=bool
	      Rendering	alternate frames using odd/even	fields has been	depre-
	      cated.

       UO or Odd_Field=bool
	      Starting a field rendered	animation on the odd field rather than
	      the even field has been deprecated.

   Redirecting options:
       GI<name>	or Create_Ini=bool or Create_Ini=file
	      Write  all  INI parameters to a file named after the input scene
	      file, or one with	the specified name.

       G[ADFRSW]<name> or <Stream>_File=bool or	<Stream>_File=file
	      Write the	stream to the console and/or the specified file.   The
	      streams  are  All_File  (except status), Debug_File, Fatal_File,
	      Render_File, Statistics_File, and	the Warning_File.

   Exit	status:
       0  if OK,

       1  if minor problems (e.g. invalid options),

       >1 if serioues trouble (e.g. Sementation	fault).

FILES
       POV-Ray for UNIX	allows a povray.ini file in the	current	 directory  to
       override	  the	individual  setting  in	 $HOME/.povray/3.8/povray.ini.
       POV-Ray looks for  initial  configuration  information,	like  the  Li-
       brary_Path  settings, which gives the location for the standard include
       files, first in the environment variable	$POVINI, then in ./povray.ini,
       then	in     $HOME/.povray/3.8/povray.ini,	 then	  in	  PRE-
       FIX/etc/povray/3.8/povray.ini.  The  PREFIX directory can be changed at
       compile-time using the --prefix option of the  configure	 script.   For
       backward	 compatibility	with  POV-Ray  version	3.5  and  earlier, the
       $HOME/.povrayrc and $PREFIX/etc/povray.ini files	are also searched  for
       when none of the	above files were found.

       Since  version  3.5 POV-Ray features an I/O Restriction mechanism.  I/O
       Restrictions attempt to at least	partially protect  a  machine  running
       POV-Ray from having files read or written outside of a given set	of di-
       rectories.  The settings	are defined in two configuration files,	a sys-
       tem-level  PREFIX/etc/povray/3.8/povray.conf  file  and	an  user-level
       $HOME/.povray/3.8/povray.conf  file with	more restrictive settings.  As
       of POV-Ray v3.6 the format of these configuration  files	 has  changed,
       and  no backward	compatibility is retained with the configuration files
       in POV-Ray 3.5. See the documentation for further details and  examples
       of I/O Restriction settings.

SEE ALSO
       kill(1) and Full	documentation at:
	 http://wiki.povray.org/content/Documentation:Contents

COPYRIGHT
       Persistence  of	Vision	Ray Tracer ('POV-Ray') version 3.7.  Copyright
       (c) 1991-2017 Persistence of Vision Raytracer Pty. Ltd.

       POV-Ray is free software: you can redistribute it and/or	modify it  un-
       der  the	terms of the GNU Affero	General	Public License as published by
       the Free	Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License,  or  (at
       your option) any	later version.

       POV-Ray	is distributed in the hope that	it will	be useful, but WITHOUT
       ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of  MERCHANTABILITY  or
       FITNESS	FOR  A	PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Affero	General	Public
       License for more	details.

       You should have received	a copy of the GNU Affero  General  Public  Li-
       cense  along  with  this	 program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/li-
       censes/>.

TRADEMARKS
       The terms Persistence of	Vision Ray Tracer, POV-Team  and  POV-Ray  are
       trademarks of Persistence of Vision Raytracer Pty. Ltd.

       UNIX  is	 a  registered trademark of The	Open Group in the US and other
       countries.

BUGS
       Before	 reporting    a	   bug	  to	our    bug-tracking	system
       https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/issues	 you should make sure you have
       the latest version of the software, in case the bug  has	 already  been
       fixed.  There  are  a  large  number  of	 POV-Ray  users	on the POV-Ray
       newsserver  news.povray.org   availble	by   a	 web   interface   at:
       http://news.povray.org/groups.  You  should try to find help and	assis-
       tance in	there before lodging a bug report.

AUTHORS
       Primary POV-Ray v3.8 Architects/Developers: (Alphabetically)

	 Chris Cason	     Christoph Lipka

       With Assistance From: (Alphabetically)

	 Jerome	Grimbert     James Holsenback	 William F. Pokorny

       Past Contributors: (Alphabetically)

	 Steve Anger	     Eric Barish	 Dieter	Bayer
	 David K. Buck	     Nicolas Calimet	 Chris Cason
	 Aaron A. Collins    Chris Dailey	 Steve Demlow
	 Andreas Dilger	     Alexander Enzmann	 Dan Farmer
	 Thorsten Froehlich  Mark Gordon	 Jerome	Grimbert
	 James Holsenback    Christoph Hormann	 Mike Hough
	 Chris Huff	     Kari Kivisalo	 Nathan	Kopp
	 Lutz Kretzschmar    Christoph Lipka	 Jochen	Lippert
	 Pascal	Massimino    Jim McElhiney	 Douglas Muir
	 Juha Nieminen	     Ron Parker		 William F. Pokorny
	 Bill Pulver	     Eduard Schwan	 Wlodzimierz Skiba
	 Robert	Skinner	     Yvo Smellenbergh	 Zsolt Szalavari
	 Scott Taylor	     Massimo Valentini	 Timothy Wegner
	 Drew Wells	     Chris Young

       Other contributors are listed in	the documentation at:
	 http://wiki.povray.org/content/Documentation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
       POV-Ray is based	on DKBTrace  2.12  by  David  K.  Buck	and  Aaron  A.
       Collins.

POV-Team			   July	2021			    POV-Ray(1)

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