Are spheres ever rendered with multiple rendering poles to decrease the pinching you describe?
As an example a sphere with a “true north” pole that is rendered with one rendering pole at “true north” and another at 0',0’. When the user is looking at the sphere sidelong the former is used and if the user looks at it from closer to the “true north” pole, the equatorial render is used.
As an example a sphere with a “true north” pole that is rendered with one rendering pole at “true north” and another at 0',0’. When the user is looking at the sphere sidelong the former is used and if the user looks at it from closer to the “true north” pole, the equatorial render is used.