Realistic Yet Efficient Image Synthesis

在图像合成中追求真实感通常意味着放弃效率。两种最流行的着色技术，光线追踪和辐射，当推广到模拟漫反射和镜面反射时变得相当低效。这个项目开发了一个新的，统一的遮阳算法，将模拟全范围的反射现象，而不牺牲效率。这种方法结合了辐射和光线追踪的思想，我们称之为双向光线追踪。所开发的算法和数据结构应该对建筑设计、计算机辅助产品设计、科学可视化、电影特效和改进的计算机视觉图像形成模型有用。

The pursuit of realism in image synthesis has typically meant the abandonment of efficiency. The two most popular shading techniques, ray tracing and radiosity, become quite inefficient when generalized to simulate both diffuse and specular reflection. This project develops a new, unified shading algorithm that will simulate the full range of reflectance phenomena without sacrificing efficiency. The approach employs a combination of radiosity and ray tracing ideas we called bidirectional ray tracing. The algorithms and data structure developed should be useful for architectural design, computer-aided product design, scientific visualization, motion picture special effects, and improved models of image formation for computer vision.