Complaint -> vtk3.1 NR vtkCamera: If it ain't broke, then please don't fix it.

[David Gobbi]

Hi Andrius,

I was the one who added the automatic calculation of the VPN,
and I checked with folks at GE and Kitware before making the
change.  

In my opinion, the previous vtkCamera _was_ broken, because
99% of the users out there do _not_ need to set the
VPN themselves and shouldn't have to.  Even some of the VTK 
examples were setting the VPN incorrectly.  So, now
the VPN is automatically calculated to be the 
FocalPoint->Position vector.

If you need to set a VPN which is different from the 
FocalPoint->Position vector, you can do that using the
SetObliqueAngles() method.  If you need something 
different, _clearly explain what you need_ and maybe
I or someone else can do something about it.

The most recent docs are always available at 
http://public.kitware.com/vtk/quality/Doc/atoz.html
I don't believe they are available in downloadable
form.

 - David

On Tue, 16 May 2000, Audrius Stundzia wrote:

> Hi vtker's
> 
> After updating the vtk nightly release from 15.Feb.2000 to
> 15.May.2000, the following warning now appears when I run my
> code
> 
> Warning: In vtkCamera.cxx, line 772
> vtkOpenGLCamera (0xf8c270): SetViewPlaneNormal:  This method is deprecated 
> the view plane normal is calculated automatically.
> 
> Thanks to the vtkCrew for taking the trouble to automatically
> calculate the view plane normal for me. However, the view
> plane normal calculated is NOT the one I want. I'd like to suggest
> a "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it" approach to vtk
> "improvements". Sure, calculate the view plane normal, for example,
> if you feel a compelling need to do so, but leave the option of disagreeing 
> with you and setting it ourselves. This general flexability is (was ?) one 
> of the attractive aspects of vtk.
> 
> Unfortunately, there does not appear a new downloadable
> release of the vtk Man Pages html that documents these changes.
> 
> How do I effectively get around this new feature? Any (time-saving)
> insight would be most appreciated.
> 
> Despite these annoyances, I'm still a big fan.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Audrius

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