Patent · US Expired

Volumetric three-dimensional fog rendering technique

US6268861A · kind A · utility

56Cited by
7References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 25, 1998
Grant dateJul 31, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 25, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T15/503
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for volumetric three-dimensional fog rendering is provided. To add fog effects to an image, a host processor computes the location of the eye-point relative to the image to be fogged. Using the eye-point location, the host processor generates a three-dimensional fog texture and a blending function. The three-dimensional fog texture and blending function are downloaded or otherwise passed by the host processor to the graphics processor. The graphics processor then renders the primitives that make up the image. When rendering is complete, the graphics processor applies the tree-dimensional fog texture in an additional rendering pass. The method may then be repeated, to create animated fog effects such as swirling or wind-driven fog.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.