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Of topic, but reading the headline and the intro about Alvy Ray Smith I was half convinced this was going to be a satirical article about how he invented raytr
by cdirkx 5y ago
Of topic, but reading the headline and the intro about Alvy Ray Smith I was half convinced this was going to be a satirical article about how he invented raytracing and that it is actually named after him; in similar vein as the “Running was invented in 1784 by Thomas Running when he tried to walk twice the same time” meme [0]
https://www.google.com/search?q=who+invented+running https://www.google.com/search?q=who+invented+running
- ManuelKiessling 5y agoYeah, it's funny how he actually ended up as a "ray smith" for a living. And even the "Alvy" part means something graphics related in some obscure language iirc. He wrote about that on his homepage, but I can't find it now - his homepage (at http://alvyray.com http://alvyray.com) is a bit... special.
- dolmen 5y agoHis first name is ALvy and he invented ALpha channel.
- CalChris 5y agoPorter+Duff's 1984 Compositing Digital Images paper paints a slightly different picture: Credit should be given to Ed Catmull, Alvy Ray Smith, and Ikonas Graphics Systems for the existence of an alpha channel as an integral part of a frame buffer, which has paved the way for the developments presented in this paper. https://graphics.pixar.com/library/Compositing/paper.pdf https://graphics.pixar.com/library/Compositing/paper.pdf
- taneq 5y agoSimilarly, being good enough was invented by John B. Goodenough when he invented the lithium ion battery, which was good enough.