If I generate a tree using PovTree I usually get very large files. Then I 
plant trees (a lot of them) to achieve a wood. The more trees, the longer it 
takes to compute, which is self-evident and not the point of the question.

My questions now, in the hope that some guru may enlighten this unworthy 
disciple ;-)

How do I determine the maximum number of trees I can use in a PovRay scene? 
Or better put: what are the limitations of objects in PovRay?

Is it better to use one tree and just modify size, orientation and rotation 
or could I use multiple different trees (different outputs from PovTree)? 
Or, more generally, does PovRay put an object like a tree in some kind of 
cache and uses this one object to compute the thousand scaled, rotated and 
translated clones?

What is the maximum number of different PovTrees you used in a scene (really 
complex trees or other objects)?

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TC <do-not-reply@i-do get-enough-spam-already-2498.com> wrote:
> How do I determine the maximum number of trees I can use in a PovRay scene? 
> Or better put: what are the limitations of objects in PovRay?

  Your RAM will probably become a limit sooner than the amount of possible
objects.

> Is it better to use one tree and just modify size, orientation and rotation 
> or could I use multiple different trees (different outputs from PovTree)?

  If the tree is a #declared triangle mesh, then instantiating (with the
'object' keyword) is going to save memory because the triangle data will
be stored in memory only once. For other objects this is not the case.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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>  If the tree is a #declared triangle mesh, then instantiating (with the
> 'object' keyword) is going to save memory because the triangle data will
> be stored in memory only once. For other objects this is not the case.

Thank you, Warp. This is exactly the answer I was looking for.

In terms of processing speed, are there advantages to SDL over meshes?

I once built a wall out of bevelled stones (take one box for the stone, use 
difference of 8 rotated boxes to bevel the edges). Then I wrote a macro to 
build a wall out of these boxes, by putting one above the other like a mason 
would do. Would it have been smarter to use a mesh for the bevelled stones?

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