Advanced Rendering Techniques for Computer Graphics(<Special Issue>Prospect of Lighting Simulation Program)

Abstract

One of the ultimate goals of computer graphics is to create realistic virtual environments. Rendering realistic images of the virtual environments is a key element to achieve this goal. In order to synthesize realistic images, we need to accurately simulate interactions of light with virtual objects while taking into account interreflections of light or global illumination effects. Global illumination is the major research topic in computer graphics and has a long research history. In early days, global illumination was simulated under simplified assumptions such as diffuse surfaces only. However, recent advancement in computer performance makes us possible to handle much more general situations, such as specular/transparent surfaces or moving objects, and many methods have been proposed. These methods can be classified into two approaches; precomputation-based or precomputation-free approaches. In this article, we will review several methods for these two approaches and discuss the future of the researches on the realistic images synthesis.