On Wed, 13 Feb 2002 15:16:15 -0500, Timothy R. Cook wrote:
> Ron Parker wrote:
>> Supersampling over a single screen pixel isn't enough to resolve fine
>> details if they're magnified by reflections or refractions.
> 
> Since it's all math anyways, and you already know where the surfaces
> are...can't you do a trace along the edges instead of a grid of rays?

If we knew where the surfaces were, we wouldn't need to trace rays at all.
As it turns out, we don't know where they are.  The vista buffer tells us
where on the screen their bounding boxes fall, but that's not entirely the
same thing.

-- 
#macro R(L P)sphere{L F}cylinder{L P F}#end#macro P(V)merge{R(z+a z)R(-z a-z)R(a
-z-z-z a+z)torus{1F clipped_by{plane{a 0}}}translate V}#end#macro Z(a F T)merge{
P(z+a)P(z-a)R(-z-z-x a)pigment{rgbf 1}hollow interior{media{emission 3-T}}}#end 
Z(-x-x.2x)camera{location z*-10rotate x*90normal{bumps.02scale.05}}

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