Features

Features of PovChem v2

This is version 2 of PovChem. The original version had a text-only interface, but otherwise had similar capabilities; the major improvement in version 2 is of course the graphic interface that makes it much faster and easier to set up your chemical model before exporting to POV-Ray. See the introduction page for some screen shots. Here is a brief list of features currently available, as well as those planned for the future. Remember that if you purchase a license now, it will be good for any version 2.x release!

If there is a feature not listed here that you'd like to see included, please send mail to povchem-features@ChemicalGraphics.com, describing your idea in detail.

Current features (as of version 2.1):

reads PDB files
simple and intuitive graphic interface with mouse-adjustable view orientation
writes POV-Ray (version 3) scenes
three different model types: CPK, Ball-and-Stick, and Cylinder
fine control over model details
many options for setting up atom/bond colors
save/read options, view, and periodic table in configuration files
calculates and displays hydrogen bonds, with adjustable parameters
adjustable camera distance/zoom, and front/rear clipping planes
automatic or manual rendering quality configuration
built-in hypertext help system
New in 2.1!

complete periodic table
calculates bonds from atomic coordinates, so connectivity information is not required in PDB files
can manually add/remove bonds/H-bonds
write to PDB - so you can use PovChem as a PDB file editor! (for registered users only)
between PDB and configuration file output, you can now save your work for later use

Coming in future release 2.x:

color selector/editor
VRML output
stereo pair output
dump model window to graphics file
allow manual adjustment of individual atom/bond radii/colors
include some different optional POV textures
background color selection
basic placement of backdrop or "floor" POV planes to cast shadows on
more intelligent/configurable parser of element type from PDB records

Coming eventually - possibly in 2.x, possibly later:

put in something to indicate bond order - multiple cylinders?
calculation of bond order
orthographic projection
manual editing of PDB fields used as tags
allow different subsets of atoms to be of different model type
make adjuster slider track w/ changes to its variable