Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!csus.edu!ucdavis!iris!zerkle From: zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) Newsgroups: comp.graphics Subject: Re: "VIDEO THING" video converter for PCs ... Message-ID: <8164@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> Date: 14 Jan 91 09:29:43 GMT References: <1991Jan14.054313.24338@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> Sender: usenet@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu Reply-To: zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) Organization: U.C. Davis - Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Lines: 33 In article <1991Jan14.054313.24338@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> rjc@geech.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell) writes: >In article lindahl@arrisun3.utarl.edu (Charlie S. Lindahl) writes: [stuff deleted] >>Please send EMAIL directly, as I do not normally read this bboard. >> > This spectacular device is called the Video Toaster from NewTek. Its [more stuff deleted] >LightWave3d modeler/ray-tracer, ToasterPaint, a production level switcher, [yet more stuff deleted] From what I hear, you don't get a ray tracer. The renderer apparently uses Phong shading, which can do pretty well. I would guess that you can get pretty much the same sort of pictures that a ray tracer would give you, but without reflections or refractions. The ordinary Phong system doesn't usually give you shadows, but I remember seeing them on a Toaster picture, so LightWave probably does something clever like a double visible surface algorithm to get them. The easiest way to tell the difference is that Phong shading is fast, and ray-tracing is very, very slow. Since the Toaster is for professionals, you probably don't want to make them wait the many hours that ray tracing can gobble up. The DKBTrace package has a sample picture that took my 3000 about 14 hours! > The Hardware is not availible for the IBM (if thats what you meant by 'PC') >and never will be. Its made for the Amiga2000 and its sisters (2000HD,2500) Never say never. Even non-mainstream computers like the IBM PC and compatibles may eventually catch up. Where there's a market opportunity, there's a way. Dan Zerkle zerkle@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu (916) 754-0240 Amiga... Because life is too short for boring computers.