Method and apparatus for irradiance caching in computing indirect lighting in 3-D computer graphics
US8207968B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 26, 2008 |
| Grant date | Jun 26, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 26, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/50
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An irradiance caching method and apparatus that reduces the number of cache points by determining cache points with appropriately anisotropic areas of influence. At each query point when building an irradiance cache, the irradiance gradients of neighborhood cache points may be determined. If the irradiance gradients of neighborhood cache point(s) along a vector in a particular direction are the same as or similar to the irradiance gradient at the query points, the new cache points are spaced farther apart along vectors in that direction. This results in elliptical regions of influence around cache points in regions around the intersections of two surfaces where the irradiance gradient is changing more rapidly along vectors perpendicular to the intersections and less rapidly or not much at all along vectors parallel to the intersections.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.