SUPERPOSITION RENDERING : Increased Realism for

Rui M. R. de Bastos SUPERPOSITION RENDERING: Increased Realism for Interactive Walkthroughs (Under the direction of Dr. Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.) The light transport equation, conventionally known as the rendering equation in a slightly different form, is an implicit integral equation, which represents the interactions of light with matter and the distribution of light in a scene. This research describes a signals-and-systems approach to light transport and casts the light transport equation in terms of convolution. Additionally, the light transport problem is linearly decomposed into simpler problems with simpler solutions, which are then recombined to approximate the full solution. The central goal is to provide interactive photorealistic rendering of virtual environments. We show how the light transport problem can be cast in terms of signals-and-systems. The light is the signal and the materials are the systems. The outgoing light from a light transfer at a surface point is given by convolving the incoming light with the material’s impulse response (the material’s BRDF/BTDF). Even though the theoretical approach is presented in directional-space, we present an approximation in screen-space, which enables the exploitation of graphics hardware convolution for approximating the light transport equation. The convolution approach to light transport is not enough to fully solve the light transport problem at interactive rates with current machines. We decompose the light transport problem into simpler problems. The decomposition of the light transport problem is based on distinct characteristics of different parts of the problem: the ideally diffuse, the ideally specular, and the glossy transfers. A technique for interactive rendering of each of these components is presented as well a technique for superposing the independent components in a multipass manner in real time. Given the extensive use of the superposition principle in this research, we name our approach superposition rendering to distinguish it from other standard hardware-aided multipass rendering approaches.