so i use matlab a little at school.  i actually only use it for a
limited amount of work, but recently i was looking at the general list
of functions and other nifty things it supports.  one of the things
people like about matlab is its speed in multiple calculations at a time
(in matrices).  so i was wondering two things: 1) how is pov's speed in
math computations compared to matlab, and 2) would matlab be a good
platform to do serious calculations for export to pov (if that's
possible)?

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Ryan Constantine wrote:

> and 2) would matlab be a good platform to do serious calculations for
> export to pov (if that's possible)?

Somewhat related (I think) - http://www.mathconsult.ch/showroom/ray/index.html

-- 
Ken Tyler - 1400+ POV-Ray, Graphics, 3D Rendering, and Raytracing Links:
http://home.pacbell.net/tylereng/index.html http://www.povray.org/links/

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On Fri, 16 Feb 2001 23:27:47 -0800, Ryan Constantine
<rco### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

>(in matrices).  so i was wondering two things: 1) how is pov's speed in
>math computations compared to matlab, and 2) would matlab be a good
>platform to do serious calculations for export to pov (if that's
>possible)?

Matlab is a great tool for numerical computations, but if speed is
crucial Fortran does a better job in my experience. This is probably
because Matlab's routines are often unnecessary complex; if you write
a routine in Fortran (or C) you can make more efficient code. I think
the same goes for Povray, since it's code is optimized for raytracing.

As for you second question, the only way to utilize Matlab in Povray
is to generate pov code in Matlab.

sig
-- 
ICQ 74734588

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I have been using J as a 'math tool' along with pov for several years.

It's free and more powerful than anything else that I have worked with.
Needs no compiler and seriously fast both to write as well as run.

Have a look at www.jsoftware.com.

By the way... that is J NOT Java.......

David

"Sigmund Kyrre Aas" <as### [at] studntnuno> wrote in message
news:h7ns8tc45frvkirn05efnl4kshgro03a31@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 16 Feb 2001 23:27:47 -0800, Ryan Constantine
> <rco### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
>
> >(in matrices).  so i was wondering two things: 1) how is pov's speed in
> >math computations compared to matlab, and 2) would matlab be a good
> >platform to do serious calculations for export to pov (if that's
> >possible)?
>
> Matlab is a great tool for numerical computations, but if speed is
> crucial Fortran does a better job in my experience. This is probably
> because Matlab's routines are often unnecessary complex; if you write
> a routine in Fortran (or C) you can make more efficient code. I think
> the same goes for Povray, since it's code is optimized for raytracing.
>
> As for you second question, the only way to utilize Matlab in Povray
> is to generate pov code in Matlab.
>
> sig
> --
> ICQ 74734588

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On Sun, 18 Feb 2001 14:13:41 -0800, David Vincent-Jones wrote:
>I have been using J as a 'math tool' along with pov for several years.

I suppose I should just look and see if this is the same thing, but the
last time I heard of a language called J it was a new version of APL. 
Have they managed to eliminate the write-only qualities of APL?

-- 
Ron Parker   http://www2.fwi.com/~parkerr/traces.html
My opinions.  Mine.  Not anyone else's.

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Not sure what you mean by write-only....
It uses standard ASCII char set..
"Ron Parker" <ron### [at] povrayorg> wrote in message
news:slr### [at] fwicom...
> On Sun, 18 Feb 2001 14:13:41 -0800, David Vincent-Jones wrote:
> >I have been using J as a 'math tool' along with pov for several years.
>
> I suppose I should just look and see if this is the same thing, but the
> last time I heard of a language called J it was a new version of APL.
> Have they managed to eliminate the write-only qualities of APL?
>
> --
> Ron Parker   http://www2.fwi.com/~parkerr/traces.html
> My opinions.  Mine.  Not anyone else's.

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On Tue, 20 Feb 2001 12:48:58 -0800, David Vincent-Jones wrote:
>Not sure what you mean by write-only....

APL is notorious for being practically indecipherable once you're finished
writing it, regardless of the character set.

>It uses standard ASCII char set..

That, at least, is an improvement.


-- 
Ron Parker   http://www2.fwi.com/~parkerr/traces.html
My opinions.  Mine.  Not anyone else's.

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Ryan Constantine wrote:
> 
> so i use matlab a little at school.  i actually only use it for a
> limited amount of work, but recently i was looking at the general list
> of functions and other nifty things it supports.  one of the things
> people like about matlab is its speed in multiple calculations at a time
> (in matrices).  so i was wondering two things: 1) how is pov's speed in
> math computations compared to matlab, and 2) would matlab be a good
> platform to do serious calculations for export to pov (if that's
> possible)?

I have been using matlab extensively during my PhD in Chemistry. As I
also have been a fan of povray I use both programs in conjunction.
Matlab's language is more suitable for real programming (but maybe this
will change with newer versions of povray?).

At the moment I'm visualizing a physics experiment at our institute: A
cloud of protons flying through a particle accelerator. I use matlab to
build a pov include file which contains the particle accelerator (simple
tubing which is built from the trajectory data of the proton clouds).
The Clouds are rendered as two isosurfaces (the outer one transparent).

I calculate the Isosurfaces with matlab (the input data is a discrete
matrix which has to be interpolated by matlab). I have scripts, which
then automatically convert the matlab internal graphics objects into
povray files. The whole run (usually ~1000 frames) is then rendered on
our linux farm with 32 processors and I get a nice animation (kind of a
rollercoaster ride).

Matlab has a lot of functionality but yes, it's not free. But it's very
nice to get things done fast. Hopefully povray will improve over time,
so that it has better mathematics support.

Derek
 
-- 
Dr. Derek Feichtinger                   Tel:   +41 56 310 47 33
Scientific Computing                    Fax:   +41 56 310 36 49 
Paul Scherrer Institut                  email: der### [at] psich
CH-5232, Villigen-PSI

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