[Radiance-general] animation

[Carsten Bauer]

Hi all !

I think the discussion starts to leave the range this forum was set up
for, but as I don't want to be looked at as the heretic, I simply have
to state something for self defence :) .
I really didn't mean Radiance to go for a Disney-style colorful pictures
renderer, there are lots of them already available. But on the other
hand, disregarding physical accuracy here and there is no black magic
either. In fact, it is already offered by Radiance, e.g with the "glow"
primitive and its maximum radius for shadow testing, which helps very
much in certain cases. Almost each task shows small details where the
means to create an effect within a picture / a simulation are not 1:1
copies from the ones applied in the real installation within a building,
and this doesn't have to mean a loss of realistic thinking, it simply is
a question of efficiency. And having more freedom to do so would be no
"downgrading" either. 
It might of course be confusing if too many different approaches to an
issue appear within the same tool. In this respect I understand the hint
of relegating "artistic" tasks to other programs. But this often is
horribly inefficient, more time is spent with converting or setting up a
scene a second time in another format, so that I personnally prefer to
do as much as possible with one tool (cf. Iebeles comment..).

And then there is of course the aesthetical dimension. For the reception
of a picture, the question of accuracy is not the only criterium. And
the demands of the public are paradox. One one hand, they want sound,
efficient and realisable solutions, but the same time they want to be
"entertained", want to see something fantastic, impressive. Maybe trying
to bring this together makes the main proportion of the art of
simulation. It is a difficult task, so why restrain oneself by locking
away some sections of the toolbox?

In the end, all is of course a question of individual preferences, so
now I will be quiet. Really. :)

-Carsten