For those lucky enough to have new computers, 3D graphing can be fun and exciting. For others it can be lathargically painful. But it doesn't have to be. Here are some tips to faster graphing.

3D graphing has two two time consuming stages before you even see the graph.

1. Precompute Points

This operation requires very little memory, but is extremely processor intensive. The amount of time this takes is proportional to the number of x (or r) intervals times the number of y (or t) intervals. Therefore graphing at 100 x 100 intervals takes 4 times as long as graphing at 50 x 50 intervals. The bottom line is, the faster the processor the quicker this operation will be.

2. Initializing OpenGL

This operation is similar to the previous in that it is mostly a processor operation related to the number of intervals. The other thing done in this stage is computing the colors of the polygons. Rendering in wireframe will speed this operation.

After the progress bar disappears and the graph appears, you'll want to interact with the graph. If you have a slow computer this can be very painful. But interacting is not based on the processor, it is video card depenedant.

An old computer with a generic video card tyring to graph a 100 x 100 graph might only see 2 fps (frames per second), while the same computer with a new GeForce video card will get a smooth 30 fps easily.

If you would like a higher frame rate while interacting you may do any of hte following:

Reduce the number of intervals you're graphing

Change the Render Mode to wireframe

Don't graph the wireframe in addition to the surface

Buy a new $200 video card

GraphCalc 3.0 introduces a new 3D engine that is over 25% faster than the engine in version 2. You should notice more frames per second and the ability to graph equations in higher resolution. The limitation in performance is still focused on the video card, so if you're hankerin' to see equation graphed at 200x200, go get yourself a brand new GeForce or Voodoo card.