"Chris Huff" <chr### [at] maccom> wrote in message
news:chrishuff-66E8D2.10304829062000@news.povray.org...

> Well, the problem with the old noise3d() and bozo was that it was that
> the plateaus were limiting their usefulness in isosurfaces, height
> fields, normals, etc.

> "bumps" isn't standard, but this type of noise is a commonly used
> feature.
> However, it isn't a standard. As far as I know, the only requirement is
> that it is a pseudo-random smoothly changing function which is
> relatively uniform at large scales.

Known and agreed, but I would not say that it was useless. Any great images
were created with the good'ol "faulty" bumps. And many people are used to
use it, and know how to code a map which will give them the result they are
looking for. (And I am still not writing of backward compatibility - oops, I
just did.) SO, please, keep them near at hand (and, no, I do not like using
#version in the middle of a scene).


> Just extend the colors at each end of the color_map(compressing the
> other values toward the center), so there is an area of flat color at
> each end, and you will end up with plateaus just like the official
> version's. Making it more like Jerome's would be a bit more work, but I
> think it could be done easily as a waveform or isosurface function.

So, could we use a #macro mapOldBump(mapValue) that could use the exactly
correct function to switch to different bumps' incarnation. Can anyone with
access to source do this?


> > My own <repetition> I still think that Pov could use some syntax
> > rewritings </repetition>.
>
> You are not alone...I would prefer a completely different way of
> layering textures, and a slightly different syntax for
> patterns...#for(;;) loops, #set, etc would also be nice.

One of the many problem being that everybody has its preferences. We need
pov-team benevolent and knowledgeable dictatorship.

Povingly,


Philippe

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