POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.off-topic : 3D modelling in the 70's : Re: 3D modelling in the 70's Server Time
5 Sep 2024 01:25:15 EDT (-0400)
  Re: 3D modelling in the 70's  
From: Darren New
Date: 22 Nov 2009 12:20:57
Message: <4b0972f9$1@news.povray.org>
Warp wrote:
>   Maybe it's like I suggested, ie. with the lack of support for division in
> hardware, they implemented a completely naive division algorithm in whatever
> interpreted scripting language they were using. 

Perfectly reasonable, to accomplish a one-time tasks when you're not on the 
critical path.  I know a guy[1] who worked on some of the graphics routines 
in Antz. The cost of human time has to be factored into the cost of the 
render time, so if you spend two days of programming time coming up with an 
algorithm that'll save 5 seconds of render on each of 2000 frames, you don't 
do it.

[1] He was an awful programmer, but clever. He got into exactly the field he 
should have been after he left where I was: a place where it's OK to come up 
with a half-decent solution that you run once for one particular input and 
then throw away. ;-)

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Is God willing to prevent naglams, but unable?
     Then he is not omnipotent.
   Is he able, but not willing, to prevent naglams?
     Then he is malevolent.


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