> Yes, I suppose you *could* do this. It depends on whether you value 
> processor or memory more. It would add overhead to check all those 
> flags, as well as code complexity making the program harder to maintain 
> and extend, and increasing worst-case memory consumption, all for very 
> little benefit. Memory usage could be improved in places, and data 
> structures shifted around for more efficient general use, but I don't 
> think this idea will be useful for anything but than the most 
> memory-hungry structures.

I have often run out of memory (I tend to make overly detailed scenes)
but am unlikely to run out of patience just by a factor of 2. Plus, I
do not assume the factor in runtime to be that high. What portion of
the runtime is due to pointer reference anyway?

So, I would be happy for any option (I agree it should not be the
default) that trades memory usage for time usage in a reasonable way.


-- 
merge{#local i=-11;#while(i<11)#local
i=i+.1;sphere{<i*(i*i*(.05-i*i*(4e-7*i*i+3e-4))-3)10*sin(i)30>.5}#end
pigment{rgbt 1}interior{media{emission x}}hollow}//  Mark Weyer

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