> I wonder how much faster a binary format could load...

	For my patch that renders some specialized mesh data, I did several
comparison tests between povray 3.1g (mesh), megapov (mesh2) and the binary
format I'm using. Each triangle had a 3-colors texture. Here are some benchs
(parse time only) for about 100.000 triangles on an old PIII/500 MHz:

mesh : 6' 57" (using a macro in the input file, lots of seeking)
mesh2: 43"
patch: 6"

	I could not compare for an object of ~800.000 triangles since mesh
and mesh2 were requiring more than 256/512 MB. Rendering times were equivalent.

> Anyway, it would be 
> nice if there was a way to put these objects in persistent variables so 
> they wouldn't have to be reloaded or recalculated for every frame.

	I also did it for meshs only in my patch. Works fine. Saves a huge
amount of time of course...

	For those interested in details:
	http://pov4grasp.free.fr/features/grasp_surface.php

	- NC

Post a reply to this message