ritzenth@bgsuvax.UUCP (Phil Ritzenthaler) (05/04/87)
In response to an article I has posted about ray tracing algorithms, I received
this from Allan Tuchman at University of Ill. Center for Supercomputing
Research and Development:
With reference to your article in comp.graphics, yes, we have bought
an earlier version of Ray Tracing Corp's software. For Three months
they have refused to return EVEN ONE phone call. To my knowledge, they
have yet to release their ARTS version of TRACER. I would avoid Ray
Tracing Corp at all costs.
We were just about to send out the Purchase Order for this product when we
received this . . . could anyone PLEASE fill me in further about the
reliability, good/bad experiences about this company?
Any help/experiences if GREATLY appreciated!
Phil Ritzenthaler |USnail:University Computer Services
Computer Graphics Specialist | Academic User Services
| 241 Math-Science Bldg.
UUCP :..!cbatt!osu-eddie!bgsuvax!ritzenth| Bowling Green State University
CSNET:ritzenth@research1.bgsu.edu | Bowling Green, OH 43403-0125
ARPA :ritzenth%bgsu.csnet@csnet-relay |Phone: (419) 372-2102jpm@beta.UUCP (05/06/87)
In article <860@bgsuvax.UUCP>, ritzenth@bgsuvax.UUCP (Phil Ritzenthaler) writes: > In response to an article I has posted about ray tracing algorithms,I received > this from Allan Tuchman at University of Ill. Center for Supercomputing > Research and Development: > > With reference to your article in comp.graphics, yes, we have bought > an earlier version of Ray Tracing Corp's software. For Three months > they have refused to return EVEN ONE phone call. To my knowledge, they > have yet to release their ARTS version of TRACER. I would avoid Ray > Tracing Corp at all costs. > > We were just about to send out the Purchase Order for this product when we > received this . . . could anyone PLEASE fill me in further about the > reliability, good/bad experiences about this company? > > Any help/experiences if GREATLY appreciated! > > Phil Ritzenthaler |USnail:University Computer Services > Computer Graphics Specialist | Academic User Services > | 241 Math-Science Bldg. > UUCP :..!cbatt!osu-eddie!bgsuvax!ritzenth| Bowling Green State University > CSNET:ritzenth@research1.bgsu.edu | Bowling Green, OH 43403-0125 > ARPA :ritzenth%bgsu.csnet@csnet-relay |Phone: (419) 372-2102 I tried to mail a reply directly to Phil, but some mailer somewhere bounced it. My reply follows: Regarding Ray Tracing, Inc. Is this a query about Ray Tracing Corporation of Torrance, California? Or is it about Ray Tracing, Inc., a company name I know nothing about? If it is about Ray Tracing Corp, I bought an early version of their program last year. It was delivered and I started porting it to our compilers (Unix and Cray fortran). I talked to Greg Passmore several times about some problems I had, and he was helpful on each occasion. I never had to wait more than 1 day for him to return my call if he was not available when I first called. After a couple of days, I had it running on my Sun, on a Gould Powernode, and a Vax running Ultrix. I was beginning to get it to compile on the crays. Right about then, one of my other projects suddenly got it's priority bumped up a lot, so I had to quit working on it. As a result, no-one has used it here. I have not talked to anyone there in the last three months, but my experiences with them were all pleasant and productive. If you want more info, I'd be happy to go through my files and pull out problems I had and their responses. Call me at (505) 665-0686 (Tuesday-Friday) I talked to Tom Heim at TRW, somewhere in California before I ordered it. He was happy with the code, saying that he got it running in a couple of hours on his Apollo. He didn't have any trouble getting delivery, but he didn't mention that he had needed any support. Pat McGee, Computer Graphics Group, jpm@lanl.gov, (505) 665-0686 (FTS) 855-0686 Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O.Box 1663, M/S B272, Los Alamos, NM 87545