I'm writing this tip due to the lack of any actually helpful instructions on how to get your Bricksmith Lego creations into POV-Ray all on a Mac. I'm using the Windows version of POV-Ray through Crossover because the version for Mac doesn't work with OS 10.5 or 10.6. However, it's not as simple as installing POV-Ray and expecting everything to work (as other "resources" seem to imply).
Before proceeding further, make sure you have installed POV-Ray through Crossover. After installation, be sure to launch the program as this creates the necessary system folders which I will reference below.
In order to open your model in POV-Ray, you need to translate your .ldr file (saved Bricksmith file) into a .pov file. To do this I use an application called LDView (Mac version).
Once you open the model in LDView, you don't have to do anything. Go to File > Export... > File Format: POV: POV-Ray Scene File > Save.
Unfortunately even though we now have a .pov file that can be read by POV-Ray, the file won't be able to render without the LGEO library. The LGEO library contains information like colors, textures, and other crap that POV-Ray needs. Put the downloaded "lgeo" folder here: /Users/Steven/Documents/POV-Ray
Now launch Crossover and POV-Ray for Windows. In POV-Ray go to Render > Edit Settings/Render and in the box for Command line options: type the following: +L/Users/Steven/Documents/POV-Ray/lgeo/lg
Click Set but don't Render and then go to File > Open File... and open your .pov file. Choose an output resolution from the pull down menu in the upper left and click the "Run" button. If a dialog box pops up complaining about lack of permissions just grant it permission.
This is how I produced the rendering you see in the Screenshots tab above.
Sources:
