>   So what if you can calculate subdivision of meshes with third-party tools.
> Can you guess how many of these tools I have in my computer? Moreover, can
> you guess how many of these tools are not available at all for my OS?

Good example.  Imagine you have a mesh which requires subdivision, and are
making an animation.  If POV-Ray performs the subdivision, various instances
of the mesh could be subdivised at different levels, according the distance
from the camera (thus optimizing memory requirements and rendering time).
It wouldn't be easy to get that with an external tool.

Advanced features such as displacement mapping would also benefit from an
integrated model (well, the list is long).

Of course, there are features that would be better handled externally,
but, before saying "it shouldn't be within POV-Ray", first answer the
question : "won't it be faster or more flexible if done within POV-Ray ?".

Fabien.

Post a reply to this message