DOI: https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2011.90
Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/533
Date of Award
6-2011
Degree Name
MS in Computer Science
Department/Program
Computer Science
Advisor
Zoë Wood
Abstract
The interaction of light in our world is immensely complex, but with mod-
ern computers and advanced rendering algorithms, we are beginning to reach
the point where photo-realistic renders are truly difficult to separate from real
photographs. Achieving realistic or believable global illumination in scenes with
participating media is exponentially more expensive compared to our traditional
polygonal methods. Light interacts with the particles of a volume, creating com-
plex radiance patterns.
In this thesis, we introduce an extension to the commonly used point-based
color bleeding (PCB) technique, implementing volume scatter contributions. With
the addition of this PCB algorithm extension, we are able to render fast, be-
lievable in- and out-scattering while building on existing data structures and
paradigms.
The proposed method achieves results comparable to that of existing Monte
Carlo integration methods, obtaining render speeds between 10 and 36 times
faster while keeping memory overhead under 5%.