> 
> > > Is it obvious to everyone on this list that the current vrml, as spec'ed, 
> > > can be made to run fast on a pentium/power-pc class machine?  
> > > 
> > > It's NOT obvious to me.  Clearly, VRML, in the form of Iris Inventor,
> > > runs fine on SGI boxes (and I've seen betas on other platforms).  But
> > > in all cases, (SGI & betas) Inventor is built on OpenGL, which had 
> > > just been flamed for poor performance.  So ... what are we saying, again? 
> 
> Take a look at Microsoft-RenderMorphics RL - it's fast, does a lot 
> better on SGI's than openGL, and works well on PC's (OK on a 486, and 
> runs like a storm on pentiums).  You don't NEED an SGI to get good 
> graphics performance - it's just easier that all!
I should mention here that RL's requirements for texture mapping are less 
strict than OpenGL.  It does do perspective correction, with a 
performance cost but it does not do subpixel correction or anti-aliasing 
(yet).
It is not quite as fast as Doom but it will allow arbitrary viewpoints 
and complex lighting.
-- Doug Rabson, RenderMorphics Ltd. Mail: [email protected] Phone: +44 171 251 4411 FAX: +44 171 251 0939