If you have time left over

If you have time left over (not compulsory)

Sometimes it is necessary to produce more realistic images, containing shadow, reflection and refraction. The systems we have looked at so far, have no (direct) support for such effects. One system that can produce striking images is POV-Ray (which uses ray tracing). See also the Internet Raytracing Competition for stunning images. So, if you have time left I suggest you fetch and test POV-Ray.

Mathematica and Maple are two large computational packages that can be used for symbolic computations, among many other things. Both programs have powerful graphics.

To try the graphics in Mathematica, start it by using a menu or by typing /chalmers/sw/sup/mathematica-8.0.1/bin/mathematica . Choose Search Complete Documentation and click on VISUALIZATION AND GRAPHICS ...

To try the graphics in Maple, start it by using a menu or by typing /chalmers/sw/sup64/maple-15/bin/xmaple . Choose Maple Help from the Help-menu. Click on Graphics ...