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Volumetric Path Tracing
Volumetric path tracing is a method for rendering images in computer graphics which was first introduced by Lafortune and Willems. This method enhances the rendering of the lighting in a scene by extending the path tracing method with the effect of light scattering. It is used for photorealistic effects of participating media like fire, explosions, smoke, clouds, fog or soft shadows. Like in the path tracing method, a ray gets followed backwards, beginning from the eye, until reaching the light source. In volumetric path tracing, scattering events can occur along with ray tracing. When a light ray hits a surface, a certain amount gets scattered into the media. Description The algorithm is based on the volumetric rendering equation, which extends the rendering equation with a scattering term. It is composed of an absorption, out-scattering, emission and an in-scattering part. The absorption and out-scattering together form the extinction term. The in-scattering is the most expensive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal of specialized hardware and software has been developed, with the displays of most devices being driven by computer graphics hardware. It is a vast and recently developed area of computer science. The phrase was coined in 1960 by computer graphics researchers Verne Hudson and William Fetter of Boeing. It is often abbreviated as CG, or typically in the context of film as computer generated imagery (CGI). The non-artistic aspects of computer graphics are the subject of computer science research. Some topics in computer graphics include user interface design, sprite graphics, rendering, ray tracing, geometry processing, computer animation, vector graphics, 3D modeling, shaders, GPU design, implicit surfaces, visualization, scientific c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Path Tracing
Path tracing is a computer graphics Monte Carlo method of rendering images of three-dimensional scenes such that the global illumination is faithful to reality. Fundamentally, the algorithm is integrating over all the illuminance arriving to a single point on the surface of an object. This illuminance is then reduced by a surface reflectance function (BRDF) to determine how much of it will go towards the viewpoint camera. This integration procedure is repeated for every pixel in the output image. When combined with physically accurate models of surfaces, accurate models of real light sources (light bulbs), and optically correct cameras, path tracing can produce still images that are indistinguishable from photographs. Path tracing naturally simulates many effects that have to be specifically added to other methods (conventional ray tracing or scanline rendering), such as soft shadows, depth of field, motion blur, caustics, ambient occlusion, and indirect lighting. Implementa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Scattering
Scattering is a term used in physics to describe a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including particles and radiation) in the medium through which they pass. In conventional use, this also includes deviation of reflected radiation from the angle predicted by the law of reflection. Reflections of radiation that undergo scattering are often called ''diffuse reflections'' and unscattered reflections are called ''specular'' (mirror-like) reflections. Originally, the term was confined to light scattering (going back at least as far as Isaac Newton in the 17th century). As more "ray"-like phenomena were discovered, the idea of scattering was extended to them, so that William Herschel could refer to the scattering of "heat rays" (not then recognized as electromagnetic in nature) in 1800. John Tyndall, a pioneer in light scattering resear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rendering Equation
In computer graphics, the rendering equation is an integral equation in which the equilibrium radiance leaving a point is given as the sum of emitted plus reflected radiance under a geometric optics approximation. It was simultaneously introduced into computer graphics by David Immel et al. and James Kajiya in 1986. The various realistic rendering techniques in computer graphics attempt to solve this equation. The physical basis for the rendering equation is the law of conservation of energy. Assuming that ''L'' denotes radiance, we have that at each particular position and direction, the outgoing light (Lo) is the sum of the emitted light (Le) and the reflected light. The reflected light itself is the sum from all directions of the incoming light (Li) multiplied by the surface reflection and cosine of the incident angle. Equation form The rendering equation may be written in the form :L_(\mathbf x, \omega_, \lambda, t) = L_(\mathbf x, \omega_, \lambda, t) \ + \int_\Omega f_( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiance
In radiometry, radiance is the radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received by a given surface, per unit solid angle per unit projected area. Radiance is used to characterize diffuse emission and reflection of electromagnetic radiation, and to quantify emission of neutrinos and other particles. The SI unit of radiance is the watt per steradian per square metre (). It is a ''directional'' quantity: the radiance of a surface depends on the direction from which it is being observed. The related quantity spectral radiance is the radiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. Historically, radiance was called "intensity" and spectral radiance was called "specific intensity". Many fields still use this nomenclature. It is especially dominant in heat transfer, astrophysics and astronomy. "Intensity" has many other meanings in physics, with the most common being power per unit ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sampling (signal Processing)
In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous-time signal to a discrete-time signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave to a sequence of "samples". A sample is a value of the signal at a point in time and/or space; this definition differs from the usage in statistics, which refers to a set of such values. A sampler is a subsystem or operation that extracts samples from a continuous signal. A theoretical ideal sampler produces samples equivalent to the instantaneous value of the continuous signal at the desired points. The original signal can be reconstructed from a sequence of samples, up to the Nyquist limit, by passing the sequence of samples through a type of low-pass filter called a reconstruction filter. Theory Functions of space, time, or any other dimension can be sampled, and similarly in two or more dimensions. For functions that vary with time, let ''S''(''t'') be a continuous function (or "signal") to be sampled, and let samp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Tracing (graphics)
In 3D computer graphics, ray tracing is a technique for modeling light transport for use in a wide variety of rendering algorithms for generating digital images. On a spectrum of computational cost and visual fidelity, ray tracing-based rendering techniques, such as ray casting, recursive ray tracing, distribution ray tracing, photon mapping and path tracing, are generally slower and higher fidelity than scanline rendering methods. Thus, ray tracing was first deployed in applications where taking a relatively long time to render could be tolerated, such as in still computer-generated images, and film and television visual effects (VFX), but was less suited to real-time applications such as video games, where speed is critical in rendering each frame. Since 2018, however, hardware acceleration for real-time ray tracing has become standard on new commercial graphics cards, and graphics APIs have followed suit, allowing developers to use hybrid ray tracing and rasterization- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distance Field
A distance transform, also known as distance map or distance field, is a derived representation of a digital image. The choice of the term depends on the point of view on the object in question: whether the initial image is transformed into another representation, or it is simply endowed with an additional map or field. Distance fields can also be signed, in the case where it is important to distinguish whether the point is inside or outside of the shape. The map labels each pixel of the image with the distance to the nearest ''obstacle pixel''. A most common type of obstacle pixel is a ''boundary pixel'' in a binary image. See the image for an example of a Chebyshev distance transform on a binary image. Usually the transform/map is qualified with the chosen metric. For example, one may speak of Manhattan distance transform, if the underlying metric is Manhattan distance. Common metrics are: * Euclidean distance * Taxicab geometry, also known as ''City block distance'' or ''Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phase Function
In astronomy a phase curve describes the brightness of a reflecting body as a function of its phase angle. The brightness usually refers the object's absolute magnitude, which, in turn, is its apparent magnitude at a distance of astronomical unit from the Earth and Sun. The phase angle equals the arc subtended by the observer and the sun as measured at the body. The phase curve is useful for characterizing an object's regolith (soil) and atmosphere. It is also the basis for computing the geometrical albedo and the Bond albedo of the body. In ephemeris generation, the phase curve is used in conjunction with the distances from the object to the Sun and the Earth to calculate the apparent magnitude. Mercury The phase curve of Mercury is very steep, which is characteristic of a body on which bare regolith (soil) is exposed to view. At phase angles exceeding 90° (crescent phase) the brightness falls off especially sharply. The shape of the phase curve indicates a mean slope on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Importance Sampling
Importance sampling is a Monte Carlo method for evaluating properties of a particular distribution, while only having samples generated from a different distribution than the distribution of interest. Its introduction in statistics is generally attributed to a paper by Teun Kloek and Herman K. van Dijk in 1978, but its precursors can be found in statistical physics as early as 1949. Importance sampling is also related to umbrella sampling in computational physics. Depending on the application, the term may refer to the process of sampling from this alternative distribution, the process of inference, or both. Basic theory Let X\colon \Omega\to \mathbb be a random variable in some probability space (\Omega,\mathcal,P). We wish to estimate the expected value of ''X'' under ''P'', denoted E 'X;P'' If we have statistically independent random samples x_1, \ldots, x_n, generated according to ''P'', then an empirical estimate of E 'X;P''is : \widehat_ ;P= \frac \sum_^n x_i \quad \m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isotropic
Isotropy is uniformity in all orientations; it is derived . Precise definitions depend on the subject area. Exceptions, or inequalities, are frequently indicated by the prefix ' or ', hence ''anisotropy''. ''Anisotropy'' is also used to describe situations where properties vary systematically, dependent on direction. Isotropic radiation has the same intensity regardless of the direction of measurement, and an isotropic field exerts the same action regardless of how the test particle is oriented. Mathematics Within mathematics, ''isotropy'' has a few different meanings: ; Isotropic manifolds: A manifold is isotropic if the geometry on the manifold is the same regardless of direction. A similar concept is homogeneity. ; Isotropic quadratic form: A quadratic form ''q'' is said to be isotropic if there is a non-zero vector ''v'' such that ; such a ''v'' is an isotropic vector or null vector. In complex geometry, a line through the origin in the direction of an isotropic vector is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Global Illumination Algorithms
Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that comes directly from a light source (''direct illumination''), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene, whether reflective or not (''indirect illumination''). Theoretically, reflections, refractions, and shadows are all examples of global illumination, because when simulating them, one object affects the rendering of another (as opposed to an object being affected only by a direct source of light). In practice, however, only the simulation of diffuse inter-reflection or caustics is called global illumination. Algorithms Images rendered using global illumination algorithms often appear more photorealistic than those using only direct illumination algorithms. However, such images are co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
