CompuServe Thread

Animation Vendor A Forum · Hash, Inc.

#OpenGL again

5 messages in this thread

#2834From: dennis coadyJan 4, 1995 3:19 PM

I'm not sure if my last message was posted? My question focused on the fact the AM v3 will only take advantage of the OpenGL interface in its preview windows in the Sculpt module. The rendering will not use it because the renderings are patch based and not polygon based. My question is: With all of your competitors being able to take advantage of an OpenGL hardware accelerator in rendering, won't AM appear to render like a snail? Does Hash Inc. have any plans to address this in 95? if so, how? Thanks EMK

#2844From: Pawel BodytkoJan 4, 1995 6:57 PM

>>>>With all of your competitors being able to take advantage of an OpenGL hardware accelerator in rendering, won't AM appear to render like a snail? From what I hear OpenGL doesn't do a thing for raytracing, it is good for the "more mechanical" kind of rendering (no true shadows, reflections or infraction in transparent objects) you get in 3DS or other programs that use less math intensive methods… or did I hear it wrong?… Pawel

#2848From: Steve/HASH, Inc.Jan 4, 1995 7:06 PM

All polygon renderers will be faster…. there really isn't anything we can do about it. We will be offering a Gouraud shader option which will convert to polygons before rendering in the next version. This will be totally GL compliant. All of our line draw functions will also be enhanced by OpenGL. Steve, Hash Inc.

#2865From: dennis coadyJan 5, 1995 10:21 AM

Steve, The Gouraud shading idea sounds good. Does that basically mean that the AM renderer will be able to give a quick color preview of the animation (no raytracing, shadows, etc) or am I mistaken. Also I always see a Phong rendering option in other animation packages, are there any major differences between gouraud and phong renderings? One more question. You mentioned that the gouraud rendering option will be available in the next version, is this the one in March? Thanks EMK

#2905From: Steve/HASH, Inc.Jan 6, 1995 11:27 AM

Yes, I am talking about the March release…. Many companies use Gouraud shading as their final output, but yes, it will be very useful for a preview without shadows or reflections… this is also what we will use for our new "bounding box render" preview in all modules… Steve. Hash Inc.