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From: ehg@alice.att.com (Eric Grosse)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Scene Description Standard (Renderman isn't good enough)
Summary: RenderMan not so bad
Message-ID: <20322@alice.att.com>
Date: 8 May 91 14:49:22 GMT
References: <1991Apr30.211131.7166@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill NJ
Lines: 33



Since there have been several postings this week critical of RenderMan
and I have seen no spirited defense from Pixarfolk, I'd like to mention
my positive experience with RIB as an interface.  In the course of my
work in scientific computing, I frequently have occasion to write filters
that map numerical simulation data (like finite element solutions) into
geometry files to pass off to graphics packages.  I suppose these filters
qualify as "modelers", though they have little or no interactive component.
After exploring a number of alternatives over the years, RIB has come out
the winner in my application.  The pieces of RenderMan are easy enough to
understand, the RIB syntax is easy to parse, and every graphic construct
that has been needed for my images was already in the language.

In response to particular criticisms:  I did get a license from Pixar to write
a renderer;  it took a couple letters and phone calls, but if you don't have
enough energy for that, you probably wouldn't finish the renderer anyway.
I've had no trouble writing small driver programs that read the subset of
RIB that I happen to be using at the moment and call GL or whatever local
graphics library is convenient for quick images.  Although my main output is
videotape, I'm satisfied with rendering images independently;  the surfaces
and objects in my images are moving under control of differential equations
much too complex for any graphics language to solve.

The basic advantage RIB has given me is the ability to make complex images by
pasting together the output of several small, independently written tools.
I don't need to buy into one of the big visualization programs and figure out
how to connect my code to their interface.

Eric Grosse
AT&T Bell Labs 2T504
Murray Hill NJ 07974
ehg@research.att.com