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From: upl@puff.WISC.EDU (Future Unix Gurus)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: AmigaWorld Ray-Tracing Article:  Algrothm complexity
Message-ID: <750@puff.WISC.EDU>
Date: Mon, 4-May-87 15:55:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: puff.750
Posted: Mon May  4 15:55:53 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 5-May-87 03:33:34 EDT
References: <1514@sphinx.uchicago.edu> <804@elrond.CalComp.COM> <312@pembina.UUCP> <820@elrond.CalComp.COM>
Reply-To: upl@puff.WISC.EDU (Future Unix Gurus)
Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept
Lines: 34

In article <820@elrond.CalComp.COM> amamaral@elrond.CalComp.COM (Alan Amaral) writes:
>
>Look at it this way: Would you rather have a volkswagon that you can
>drive today, one that gets you where you want to go when you want to go
>there, or, would you like to stay at home and go NOWHERE until you can
>save enough for a Ferrari to get you where you want to go quickly?
>Me, I'll take the volkswagon. I've got places to go...

Come on, you're being facitious aren't you? A slight extension of your own
argument defeats this point. IF I have a LONG way to go, then obviously
there will be a break even point, after which the time to buy the Ferrari
is LESS than the time to drive there with the volkswagon.

In my original article (which started all this) I was talking about 
movie making techniques, I
presume we still are. In such a case, the raytracer is the center of
a HIGHLY reiterated set of loops. (24 frames/sec * 60 sec/miniute * however
many minuits of footage you need.) This  is the equivalent of a VERY long
journey indeed. In such a case it CERTAINLY makes sense to spend time striving
for effeciency!


>> >I'll just about guarantee that my ray tracer
>> >that will render a correct picture 99.999% of the time, and look as
>> >good or better than just about ANY "conventional" renderer, 
>>     [ ^^^^^ whatever that means]
>> >AND do it with easily 1/10 to 1/50 of the code.
>> 

But not fast enought to be of ANY use to me. (Honestly, however, I don't think
it is POSSIBLE to ray trace fast enough on a 68000 for movies.)

Jeff Kesselman
upl@puff.cs.wisc.edu