Those are beautiful.

I hope you can help me. I don't know anything about Sunflow or Structure Synth. I messed around with something called POV-Ray a long time ago (8 years I think).

What would be the best way to get started with these programs? Should I start with Synth? Something else? And where can I read about how to use them?

Thanks!

1. Download and install Structure Synth

2. Try out the various examples

3. Use the built-in renderer till you're comfortable with the grammar. The SS website + Syntopia's blog is very helpful. Also you'll find good Flickr images with exact SS script in them.

4. Download and extract Sunflow (requires Java)

5. In SS, Render > Template Export to Sunflow-Colored

6. Open the output.sc file in Sunflow (may have to click Build Scene)

7. Click IPR for quick preview, Render for hi-res.

8. Camera view in SS and Sunflow is a pain initially. Press Shift and Control when you drag our mouse to change axes of rotation and zoom.

9. The best part of the SS grammar is that you can define the same rule {} multiple times and each one could contain a slightly different command. When you call the rule repeatedly, any of the matching rules are randomly executed. That's how I got the spikes in the virtue.png to look so organic.

10. Keep this open all the time: http://structuresynth.sourceforge.net/reference.php

11. To really make all of this work, learn a bit about 3D graphics / transformations. You don't need to be able to make the Quake engine but knowing what happens when you apply an RX over an RY can help. Of course, you can play around with the code in the IDE and keep hitting F5 to see what effect each change has on the final object. However, due to the nested nature of the grammar, you might get the wrong impression. The one tip I can give is to think in the rule's local coordinates. Each rule is called with its own 3D coordinates, inherent from the parent rule. Anything you do in that rule is only for that rule and child-rules. The global coordinates aren't affected. Rotation inside a rule is only for rules & objects called within the rule.

Thanks! That's a great help.

About step 11), any recommendations about learning 3D graphics? I'm just doing this for a little fun, so I don't want anything too heavy... just a kind "Graphics 4 dummies" if it exists.

Well, all you really need to know is how coordinates work, and how rotation about the x, y and z axes work, which corresponds to the rx, ry and rz parameters. You also need to be able to follow the control flow of the rules, which can sometimes be tough if you make them deeply recursive, referencing each other everywhere.

Lovely renders!

Btw, how do you combine SS with Sunflow? (link to a blog post/how-to would be helpful :))

I agree. Sunflow renders look fantastic, but is it also dead in the water? Last build is from 2007. Yikes.

Maybe with all of the hubbub over GPU ray-tracing at SIGGRAPH this year it's time to see development re-ignited?

There are packages for Ubuntu 10.04 and for the upcoming 10.10, yes - the last SS version is from 2009 - now spankin new, but not outdated, and the packages are always kept fresh.

Please see my other post: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1681697

Thanks, I figured it out the installation in Ubuntu (it has both SS and Sunflow packages, I only had to give Sunflow parameter to use more memory in the launcher/Java heap)