[Radiance-general] Re: Radiance workshop, etc.

[Greg Ward]

Hi Everyone,

I just read through Rob's very well-written and flattering article on 
the workshop, which didn't include a single reference to baseball (must 
have been some oversight).  I hope the other attendees enjoyed it half 
as much as he did -- for my part, the workshop gave me loads to think 
about as I go into Exponent for the last time today to clean out my 
desk and contemplate what I'll do next....

I'm sorry that my presentation on Radiance OpenSource raised more 
questions than it answered.  I didn't want to conceal the fact that I 
have no clear notion what it means, myself.  I am hoping it will be a 
good thing.  Certainly, having LBNL continue to own and "manage" the 
UNIX source code is not desirable, and the fact that they're willing to 
let it go is something I take as a very good sign for the rest of us.  
Still, it is nice to have a single, authoritative version on which to 
base derivative works, so we may have to think up a way to do this 
(possibly with LBNL's cooperation).

Like I said, the workshop gave me lots to think about, and I made a 
list of the improvements I would like to see in  the source code, 
ordered here from most to least compelling from my standpoint.  I would 
welcome feedback on this list with additions or things you think ought 
to be made a priority.  The ones with an asterisk are features that 
others have already done most (or all) of the work on, and the ones 
with double-asterisks are enhancements I really need someone else's 
help in doing.

Possible Radiance Enhancements
-----------------------------------------------
1. ANSI-fication and CVS, library conversion
2**. Integration of Windows version or addition of Windows portability 
and functionality
3*. Photon map
4. Direct calculation improvements
5. Cylindrical arcs
6. Rendering with light probes
7*. Complex fenestration
8**. Rendering artifact assistance pages
9**. Material library/assistance pages

I would also encourage people to try out Roland Schregle's photon map 
extension to Radiance 3.4.  I think this could be a very good thing for 
Radiance, but it probably needs some critical stress-testing before 
being rolled into the main distribution.  At least, it would if I had 
written it!

-Greg