Simon Bennett (simonb++at++wormald.com.au)
Mon, 13 Mar 1995 14:50:54 +1000 (EST)
> Performer will replace pfLightPoint with a better (in my opinion)
> mechanism called pfLPointState. pfLPointStates are libpr objects
> which can be attached to pfGeoStates just like pfMaterials or
> pfTextures. Thus, lightpoints are simply PFGS_POINTS pfGeoSets
> with an associated pfLPointState. Additional features supplied by
> pfLPointStates are:
> - perspective point size
> - CPU or texture-based range attenuation
Does this mean that the lightpoints will get bigger as you approach them
and smaller as the eyepoint gets further away? Will this be supported on
RE^2 or only on "next generation" hardware? When is Performer 2.0 due
for release (ballpark will do) -
I'm currently developing range attenuated lightpoints under Performer 1.2
on RE^2 so I'd kinda like to know what and when Performer 2.0 is doing
with lightpoints....
Will the old style pfLightpoint nodes still be supported? ...and if they
are is it beyond silly to keep using them?
> - CPU or texture-based punch-through fog
Is there new fog capabilities in PF 2.0? Like the ability to see fog
from the top? Does the texture-based punch-through support any sort of
lightpoint haloing effects?
> - similar directionality to pfLightPoints
Does similar mean we are gaining or losing functionality? Or same
functionality in a quite different way?
> pfLPointStates gain the indexing capability of pfGeoStates in 2.0 so
> you can have different IR/OTW visuals of the same pfGeoSet.
Kewl...
> You will need to use PER_VERTEX colors to do this.
> In general, due to the bugs in PFLP_OVERALL I suggest you always use
> PER_VERTEX colors.
Correct me if I'm wrong... but I'll need the source to the Multigen
Flight 14.1e loader to do this? My current problem is that I keep coming
across PFLP_OVERALL lightpoint nodes in the scene graph - and the only
way I can really detect them (besides reading the pfPrint output and
looking for lightpoint nodes with a colour mode of PLGS_OVERALL) is when
Performer crashes on me for attempting to read an individual lightpoint
index colour.... I'm not creating them as PFLP_OVERALL....
Thanx muchly.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Simon Bennett simonb++at++wormald.com.au
Wormald Technology Advanced Systems Engineering Ph: +61 2 981 0611 (x512)
Computer Terms: hardware - the part of a computer system that one can kick
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