In article <3a2f9fa7@news.povray.org>, Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> 
wrote:

>   However, if the final image will look almost exactly the same 
> independently of whether a normal modifier or an isosurface was used, 
> then my opinion is that small and simple is beatiful.

Well, even a smooth isosurface with a simple spiral normal would look 
better than a torus, in my opinion anyway. The shape of the function I 
posted is quite different from a torus, and to me looks more like a 
whirlpool.
Also, you can get better looking spiral waves with an isosurface 
function. Small and simple may be beautiful, but realism counts too.


>   Rendering speed may be another issue. Which one renders faster, a 
> spiral normal modifier or an isosurface?

If you use a torus CSG, the torus would almost definitely be faster 
compared to the function I gave. If you used a lathe or sor...you might 
have to use the isosurface just to avoid the artifacts. :-)

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

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