"waggy" <hon### [at] handbasketorg> wrote:
> Shay wrote:
> [snip]
> > Thomas de Groot wrote:
> > > I guess technical preoccupations overrule the wish to
> > > finish an image...
> >
> > > maybe people are not really
> > > interested any more in producing quality.
> [snip]
> > Many members of the POV community have a fascination and familiarity with
> > Beginnings. They understand and are able to discuss nascent ideas and basic

> > appreciated because the path from Beginning to End cannot be seen. To each his
> > own, but obviously this short-attention-span focus has a hard time maintaining a
> > community.
>
> This is a fascinating observation.
>
> I had some experience with something like this regarding the f_mandelbulb
> function I posted several years ago. There was some good discussion about
> implementation (Beginnings), but almost no feedback from users. For all I know,
> no one but me has ever used either the SDL include file or the source code
> patches I posted. Although I have implemented some other weird variations
> (quaternion and bicomplex versions) for my own amusement, I haven't bothered to
> post them for the apparent lack of interest. But back to the topic at hand.
>
> Here's why I have never entered any of the ray tracing competitions, despite
> having used such software since I got my first Amiga, and followed the
> competetions as long as I can remember. First, it takes me at least a week, and
> often longer, to come up with an idea that fits both the topic and what I
> consider my skills, and is something I think I can do in half of the remaining
> time. I am in the habit of doubling my estimatate of how long it will take me to
> finish a programming task, which is why I halve the remaining time available.
> Unfortunately, even this rule of thumb has proven insufficient. Every scene (and
> once or twice animation) I have started for a competition has taken closer to
> five to ten times the effort I originally estimate. But, the fact that I won't
> complete it in time becomes obvious a week or two before the deadline, so I
> abandon the project, often before having something suitable even for posting as
> a work in progress.
>
> Perhaps extending the competition period will help. It's hard to say at this
> point. The current topic has proven to be particularly difficult for me to come
> up with a suitable idea.

Yes, posting code to the pov-b-sf can be a little bit frustrating since you have
no feedback. Only the persons who answer the corresponding newgroups entries can
be recognized, and that are few usually. I have no idea if someone ever
downloaded my rose garden scene (a tunnel, not more) just for an example.
Sometimes I think about establishing an own web-site - than you have a feedback
from your provider about the accesses - but for the moment I think that my
efforts so far didn't justify an own web-presence.

Best regards,
Michael

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