Warp wrote:
> 
>   What could be done with the shader not possible with pigment functions
> (which are going to be included in pov3.5 most probably)?
> 
I dunno. When I have to compare pigment function and shader, then
following comes to my mind:
pigment function is like isosurface (or polysurface), shader is like
mesh, (created e.g. with modeller). First is general, but somewhat
limited. Second does not have limits, but is more resource demanding. In
mesh you can tweak each node, if required, in SL you can various
algorithm for each pixel. With pigment function (or isosurface) you
can't do this.

Here is link to shader environment description, if you are not familiar
with shaders:

http://www.pixar.com/products/rendermandocs/toolkit/RISpec/section12.html

General link to RM 3.1 (relevant part is shading language):
http://www.pixar.com/products/rendermandocs/toolkit/RISpec/index.html

RM 3.8 SL extensions:
http://www.pixar.com/products/rendermandocs/toolkit/Toolkit/slextensions.html

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