[c-prog] Initialize 2d array quickly?

[Jimmy Johnson]

Is there a better way than the for loop to initialize this 2d array?

        buffer = new double* [width];
        for (i = 0; i < width; i++) {
                buffer [i] = new double [height];
        };
                // Set z-buffer to background
        for (i = 0; i < width; i++) {
                for (j = 0; j < height; j++) {
                        buffer[i][j] = -10000;  // smallest();
                };
        };

It seems to be pretty slow.

Thanks, 

Jimmy J. Johnson