Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!world!katefans
From: katefans@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: FTP list of modelers and renderers
Message-ID: <1991Feb12.075204.12542@world.std.com>
Date: 12 Feb 91 07:52:04 GMT
Organization: The World
Lines: 40



Harold G. Andrews II posted a FTP list of ray tracers and modelers:

>      In addition to George's posting, Mr. Frank Bennett posted a brief
> description of a number of raytracing programs a while back that Mr. Karwin
> was kind enough to send me.  I was able to find all the programs he listed
> in Mr. Haines' information with the exception of the following two.
>
> o Dante, Eric Haines, 3DEYE & Hewlett Packard - Build a model & view it in
> "real time" using polygons or NURBS, then go get a raytraced or Radiosity
> rendition of the scene. The only tracer I know which will trace Bspline
> patches.
> 
> o Wavefront - Build a model, animate it (that is get the key frames
> right ), use splines to get the inbetweening right, then ask for raytraced
> frames of interest.
> 
>  [Any information on the location of Dante and Wavefront (if they are
> FTPable from a PD site) would be helpful.]

   If Wavefront were made available from an FTP site, someone would have a
large lawsuit on their hands, as it is one of the most famous commercial
3d animation systems around. (So much so that it has become a synonym for
"3d animation system" to video producers.) A watered-down version is 
supplied as a "teaser" on SGI machines."Dante" is a program that uses 
custom hardware in HP workstations to do fast radiosity rendering. I believe
it is only available on HP, and may well be the only commercial radiosity
around.It isn't the only ray-tracer to render patch objects; "Explore" from
Thomson Digital Image (France) traces Bspline patches. It doesn't work with
the patches directly (what does?), instead it sub-divides the patches
adaptively based on z-distance from the camera. This works very well, and
avoids Phong shading edges on the objects by creating micro-polygons one
pixel in size.

                           Chris Wiliams
                                katefans@chinet.chi.il

     *** TDI_Explore *** Digital Arts *** Video Toaster *** Topas ***
              and anything else I can get my hands on ...