[Raytrace] Where To Start?

[John D. Upton]

Wayne,

At 09:44 PM 12/6/2001 -0500, Wayne Churchill wrote:
>A question concerning surfaces:
>When considering optically flat reflecting surfaces, how is a change in 
>the angle of the direction of the light cone usually denoted?

     If the reflecting surface is on axis, you only need to change the 
direction by changing the sign.  If the reflecting surface is at an angle 
to the ray direction, you have to set up the surface tilted to the 
angle.  I have only used that mode once and would have to play with OSLO a 
bit to duplicate the setup.

>When considering the thickness of a lens, is the on axis thickness of the 
>center of the lens the thickness value used?

     Yes, the center axial thickness of a lens is used.  The programs 
figure out everything else.

>For those of us who haven't kept up or brushed up on optical 
>terminologies, should we develope a short list of common optical terms and 
>meanings so we're able to communicate effectively?

     Yes, a great suggestion.  Do we have a volunteer to put together the 
Ray-Tracer dictionary?


John D. Upton
Georgetown, TX
<http://www.atm-workshop.com/>     "The ATM's Workshop"
<http://members.aol.com/RonWin20/> "Ronchi For Windows Home Page"