Fwd: Re: pfLightpoint alpha
Kent Miller (blastarr++at++ix.netcom.com)
Thu, 9 Mar 1995 18:51:16 -0800
I don't think that 1000 extra (invisible) light points are worth the expense
of checking every light point to see if its alpha value is close to 0. (Via
some PF_ALMOST_EQUAL function with a certain tolerance threshold). It takes
about 4-5ms on an Indigo2 Extreme to display 5000 light points (all same size,
but varying colors & alpha values). I was thinking about making each light
point (a star in my case) be a different size, but I haven't gotten around to
it yet. It would require a different light point node for every size, or for
every point, which might be a serious drain on memory and cause performance
loss. Any comment on how (or if it is worth it) to make varying or random
sizes for about 5000 light points?
______________________________________________________________________________
Just to add another question to the discussion:
I've been using plain GL to create a background starfield effect - is this more,
or less efficient than using light points if they're all the same size & color?
Would GL be better in Lance's case (above) for varying sizes?
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on Mon Aug 10 1998 - 17:51:03 PDT