Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Mathematics/2013 July 31

= July 31 =

Software for making images
Hello. What software was used to make the red and gold model on tetrahedron? Is it free? If not, what free software would you guys recommend to produce similar images? Thanks, Robinh (talk) 21:39, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I am having trouble identifying which one is red and gold, but I recommend clicking on it and contacting the editor who created it on their talk page. Apteva (talk) 21:41, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Probably Robinh refers to File:Tetrahedron.png (it has red sides, silver bars on edges and gold balls on vertices) or File:Compound of two tetrahedra.png (similar, plus yellow sides). Both pictures were made with Stella software, as their Licensing sections say. --CiaPan (talk) 05:27, 1 August 2013 (UTC)
 * In addition to Apteva's good advice, Stella (software) has been used to make a number of polyhedral images used in WP articles, such as the stella octangula image in the tetrahedron article. --Mark viking (talk) 22:27, 31 July 2013 (UTC)


 * If you're looking to make similar looking images, but not necessarily of polyhedra, the programs POV-Ray and Blender are a good possibility. The downside of those programs is that they leave the mathematical heavy lifting to you. -- 205.175.124.72 (talk) 22:59, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
 * (OP) I should have clarified that I meant free as in beer.  Stella looks the best, but is expensive.  Blender and POV-ray both look good.  I don't mind doing the heavy lifting, so long as the final result is mathematically exact.  Anyone got any further advice?  Would blender be better than POV-ray?  thanks, Robinh (talk) 01:51, 1 August 2013 (UTC)
 * if you are looking for free, you might also check out antiprism--it is open source and free, but not quite as do it yourself as Povray or Blender. --108.210.201.111 (talk) 03:22, 1 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I think the image was made with POV-Ray, File:Poly.pov looks like it might contain the source.--Salix (talk): 03:38, 1 August 2013 (UTC)