Re: Rendering transparent objects changed in M8
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg114214] Re: Rendering transparent objects changed in M8
- From: David Skulsky <edskulsky at gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2010 03:37:26 -0500 (EST)
- References: <iclfbi$l7r$1@smc.vnet.net> <ico23m$nh8$1@smc.vnet.net>
On Nov 26, 2:28 am, truxton spangler <truxtonspangle... at gmail.com>
wrote:
> On Nov 25, 9:55 pm, David Skulsky <edskul... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On my work machine (Mac Pro with an ATI HD 4870 graphics card) I found
> > that transparent objects (i.e., objects with Opacity < 1) were not
> > rendering properly under Mathematica 8; these same objects did render
> > properly under Mathematica 7.
>
> > I contacted Wolfram; they investigated the issue and promptly replied
> > with an explanation and what I expect will solve the problem.
> > Apparently the default method for rendering transparent objects was
> > changed in M8 "from a BSP tree to a depth-peeling method," supposedly
> > for speed purposes. Evidently this change can cause problems on some
> > systems (mine!).
>
> > Switching back to the BSP tree can be accomplished by adding a hidden
> > option to Style:
>
> > Style[Graphics3D[...], RenderingOptions->{"Graphics3DRenderingEngine"-
>
> > >"BSPTree"}]
>
> > I will not be able to test this on my system until next week, but
> > Wolfram was able to test it on one of their machines and confirmed
> > that it fixed the problem. They also advise that this workaround has
> > not been tested on other ATI Radeon graphics cards.
>
> > David Skulsky
>
> Shame there isn't a web page on their site with bug fixes and work
> arounds. Apart from being useful for users it would reduce the load on
> their tech support people I would guess, because we could check out
> the fixes and work arounds page before contacting them.
>
> TS
I like your idea and I hope you send it to Wolfram (and that they
implement it).
Meanwhile, I'll post any additional workarounds I learn about in this
group (perhaps we should include "workaround" in the subject to make
searching a bit easier).
David