Subject: Re: Render Settings
From: [email-masked] (Kevin Bagley)
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 1994 10:53:30 -0700 (PDT)

> 
> >In Babylon 5, almost every scene uses ray traced shadows.
> 
> Is that because shadow maps would consume excessive amounts of RAM?  I
> suppose that sunlight through space would cast a pretty hard edged shadow
> on a space station anyway.

The "hardness" of the edges of shadows is a function of the size of the
light source and the distance of the object to the shadow receiving surface.
A pinhole light source will cast sharp shadows at relatively short distances,
while the sun tends to cause softer shadow edges.  In Babylon 5 the typical
camera distances are far enough that the shadow edges should appear hard,
therefore, tracing shadows yields the desired results.  If you imaging
a very tight shot, say 2 feet or less, then shadow mapping would probably
be preferred.

> Regards, David Oxley.  <[email-masked]>

Am I right JG?

 _____  Kevin Bagley  [email-masked]  206-743-6659   NSS 32881
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