Welcome to

If this is your first visit, you may want to start on the Path of Learning below. Or, if you are interested in specific information, you may want to browse through the Exploration Toolkit, Reference Shelf and Libraries below. You can also read about the Tutorial's design.

If you're not sure where to find what you want, try the Help Desk.

NEW!: A word about the release of POV-Ray 3.0.

The Path of Learning

The Path of Learning is meant to lead you, step by step, from a ray-tracing novice to a full-fledged POV-Ray expert. If you are a beginner, we recommend you start at Step 1. If used other ray-tracing programs before, or just can't wait any longer, jump ahead to step Step 3.

Step 1: Introduction to POV-Ray and Ray-tracing: What is ray-tracing? What is POV-Ray? If you've never done any ray-tracing before, this is a good place to start reading. It provides a brief overview of what ray-tracing is, how it works, and how it's used. This section will also tell you what exactly POV-Ray is, how it relates to the rest of the ray-tracing world, where to find it and how to set it up.
Step 2: POV-Ray Basics: What do I need to know before I start? This section covers all the vital information you need to know before you can start creating your own scenes in POV-Ray, including the mathematical background necessary (yes, there is a little) and information about source code.
Step 3: Creating Simple Scenes: How do I get started? This section covers the basics of scene creation in POV-Ray. If you're anxious to get going, start here.
Step 4: Advanced POV-Ray Features: What else can POV-Ray do? This section covers some of the more powerful (and complex) elements of the language, including advanced objects, attributes, lighting techniques and camera options.
Step 5: Conclusion: What now? A few words of advice, and some congratulations on your new-found skills. The (sigh) end of the Path of Learning.

Reference Shelf

If you need quick access to specific information, one of the resources below may be able to help you.

POV-Ray Language Reference: A searchable glossary of all keywords and directives of the POV-Ray language. Covers the meaning, syntax and usage of all POV-Ray terms.
Glossary / Index: A combination glossary and index containing ray-tracing, POV-Ray, and other technical terms, as well as references to the Tutorial and Language Reference.
Command-line Parameter Reference: A complete description of all command-line parameters that POV-Ray takes, what they do, and how to use them.
Tips and Tricks: Tips and tricks covering the practical and the artistic sides of ray-tracing. Find out how to save yourself time in ray-tracing, as well as what makes your scene look realistic, artistic and, of course, cool.

Libraries

The libraries below contain useful bits of information. You can browse through each of them, or even submit your own for the rest of the world to use.

Texture Library: A library of included and contributed textures. Contains source code and sample images for all textures included with POV-Ray releases, as well as textures contributed by other readers.
Object Library: A library of built-in, included and contributed objects. Contains source code and sample images for all non-primitive objects included in POV-Ray releases, as well as objects contributed by other readers.
Scenes Library: A library of nifty scenes, with source code! Feel free to contribute your own, if you think you've got something worth sharing.
Resource Library: A library of contributed POV-Ray resources: web pages, programs, and anything that can be of use to POV-Ray artists.

Exploration Tools

These tools are provided in order to give you a quick and accurate "look-and-feel" of many of POV-Ray's features. Note that if your web browser does not support forms, Javascript or Java, some of the tools may not work.

Color Tool: Displays the color corresponding to a particular RGB vector. The vector elements are selected by the user. Helpful in finding the right color for an object.
Normal Tool: An explorable interactive graphical demonstration of all the normal attributes: bumps, dents, ripples, waves, and wrinkles.
Finish Tool: An explorabale interactive graphical demonstration of all the finish attributes: ambient, brilliant, crand, diffuse, phong, reflection, refraction, roughness, specular.