In article <3A01120B.A6389F2F@yahoo.com>, ryan constantine 
<rco### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

> currently, in povray, really big numbers (like that of a realistic sized
> sun at realistic distances from the scene) coupled with regular to small
> numbers (any really small objects like bugs or whatever) give povray
> problems. 

So, use a parallel light instead of a point light. This will simulate a 
long distance light source where the light rays are nearly parallel.


> plus, creating a circular area light (which is what i meant in the 
> first place) oriented in the right direction and with enough area 
> light density...is computationally expensive in its current form. 

Well, that is because area lights are computationally expensive...there 
isn't much that can be done about that. It has nothing to do with the 
position, distance, or orientation. If you want speedier rendering, 
don't use an area light.


> lightwave's 'distant light' is fast! 

How does Lightwave render these shadows? POV uses raytracing for 
everything, I seem to recall Lightwave being a hybrid. It may use 
something other than raytracing for this "distant light"...or it may be 
a plain old parallel light.


> i know i haven't explained it much better than before, but is anybody 
> starting to understand what i'm saying?

Unfortunately, no. If you want soft shadows, use an area light, but 
rendering will slow down. If you want a distant light, use MegaPOV's 
parallel light feature. If you want both...area lights should also give 
soft shadows with parallel light, if they don't it is a bug.
You seem to want this but with faster rendering...which won't be 
possible without adding some fairly major features with their own set of 
drawbacks(shadow maps take more memory, are less accurate, and can still 
take a long time to calculate).

-- 
Christopher James Huff
Personal: chr### [at] maccom, http://homepage.mac.com/chrishuff/
TAG: chr### [at] tagpovrayorg, http://tag.povray.org/

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