VMD-L Mailing List

From: Axel Kohlmeyer (akohlmey_at_cmm.chem.upenn.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 11 2008 - 11:59:04 CST

On 1/11/08, Igor Schapiro <igor.schapiro_at_uni-due.de> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I have a question about automaticaly including VMD graphics like
> text,lines and bars into POV-ray animations. Is there any special script?
>
> Following Axel Kohlmeyer's VMD tutorial I'am using the time bar to display
> the time of a trajectory. Using movie maker and POV-Ray for rendering, the
> background color (with gradient) and the time bar are not adopted to the
> animation. Tachyon export the bar but not the text. The only workaround I
> have found at the moment is to use Screen snap instead of POV-Ray.

unless you program it yourself. there is no (simple) workaround.
since movie compression, does not require that high a image quality,
i would suggest to get a decent GLSL supporting graphics card and
then use snapshots in GLSL mode. those are frequently about as good
as povray outputs, sometimes i like them even more...

if you insist on using povray, you can write your own script, modify
all codes that output text and replace them with markers (.eg. small
spheres of a special color) and then write a postprocessing script,
that replaces them with the text you want to see. the same goes for
adding the background gradient. you'll have to add this manually to
the povray input, or render to a transparent background and then
superimpose that image on a snapshot of the background gradient.

i don't know how much you value any hour of your work, but i found
that getting the better graphics card (nvidia highly recommended)
is the overall cheaper option.

cheers,
   axel.

>
> Thanks in advance!
> Igor
>
>
>
>
> 

-- 
=======================================================================
Axel Kohlmeyer   akohlmey_at_cmm.chem.upenn.edu   http://www.cmm.upenn.edu
  Center for Molecular Modeling   --   University of Pennsylvania
Department of Chemistry, 231 S.34th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6323
tel: 1-215-898-1582,  fax: 1-215-573-6233,  office-tel: 1-215-898-5425
=======================================================================
If you make something idiot-proof, the universe creates a better idiot.