POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.general : Slope 'bug' explained (Argh!) Server Time
27 Dec 2024 21:58:50 EST (-0500)
  Slope 'bug' explained (Argh!) (Message 1 to 2 of 2)  
From: Meow Cat
Subject: Slope 'bug' explained (Argh!)
Date: 16 Feb 2003 10:39:41
Message: <3e4fb0bd@news.povray.org>
After some extensive testing, including compiling my own version of POVray,
I have a conclusion. The 'slope bug' is not a bug but a feature, once again
the common case of the computer doing exactly as told, instead of doing as
wanted.

The easy demonstration about how the 'misfeature' occurs is to render the
'slope bug' scene with quality setting lower than 6, say, +Q3. This way both
sides look equal. With +Q6 or higher, the backfacing intersection kicks in,
and this time the intersection normal points inwards! Therefore, near the
top of the sphere, we first get totally transmitting blue on the incoming
ray, which is basically invisible. With the outgoing ray, however, the
normal points inwards, which in this case is almost entirely downwards, thus
giving the opaque yellow at the other end of the color map.

The 'equivalent function' does not have this behavior since it does not care
about the surface normal at all, but is a pattern based on the intersection
point coordinate.

I'll  let someone else decide whether this is a bug or not.

Another thing I noticed was that 'slope' function has no respect for any
object transformations at all, but always operates on the world-space
surface normal. Just a point of reference.

-- MeowCat


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From: hughes, b 
Subject: Re: Slope 'bug' explained (Argh!)
Date: 16 Feb 2003 19:05:56
Message: <3e502764@news.povray.org>
"Meow Cat" <wyr### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message
news:3e4fb0bd@news.povray.org...
>
> The easy demonstration about how the 'misfeature' occurs is to render the
> 'slope bug' scene with quality setting lower than 6, say, +Q3. This way
both
> sides look equal. With +Q6 or higher, the backfacing intersection kicks
in,
> and this time the intersection normal points inwards! Therefore, near the
> top of the sphere, we first get totally transmitting blue on the incoming
> ray, which is basically invisible. With the outgoing ray, however, the
> normal points inwards, which in this case is almost entirely downwards,
thus
> giving the opaque yellow at the other end of the color map.

I for one am glad you figured this out, I suspected it could be the inside
of the sphere but I was thinking it would have had to be using a matching
interior_texture (opposite of possible fix?). Which goes to show how little
I understand still about these kinds of things. I see you talked a little
more about it with Christopher Huff in the original thread.

Bob


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