Re: 64 bit version of Quesa

[James W. W. <os...@jw...>]

On Feb 17, 2007, at 3:53 PM, Roger Holmes wrote:

> When I look up some of the OpenGL APIs we are using in the
> interactive renderer (when I am debugging), they are not listed
> in the documentation, so I wonder if we need to update Quesa
> a bit there too in the not too distant future.

Could you give me an example or two of these APIs?  Do you mean  
OpenGL proper, or AGL?

> Maybe we should be kicking around some ideas of where we
> would like to take Quesa in the next year or so.
>
> Whilst I do not have actual need for any of these right now,
> some ideas I have been thinking about:
>
> Multi-processor support (I have already added this to the Microspot
> renderer but maybe it could be used in other area too).

Is this pretty much the same as multi-threading support?

> The ability to handle larger models. The problem is mainly textures.
> Going 64 bit would cure this of course but maybe there is an
> alternative way.

Do you mean number of textures, or size of textures?  Surely you  
don't have billions of textures, which is where 64 bit would matter.

> Fixing bugs in the transparent path - textures with alpha channels
> cause strange effects where objects overlap - even if the entire
> alpha channel is full of 0xFFs. Set the same texture to have no
> alpha and the problem goes away.

There's a bug about better transparency sorting, I wonder if that's  
what you're talking about.  I keep hoping that one of these years the  
graphics cards will have a way to handle transparency without so much  
hassle.

> Maybe finishing Apple's work with surface UV clipping e.g. a  
> hemisphere.

I don't know what you are talking about here, can you expand on this?

> CSGs as implemented in the Apple graphics card.

I don't know anything about that, either...  Do have a reference?