Patent · US Active

Shadowing dynamic volumetric media

US8797323B2 · kind B2 · utility

49Cited by
4References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 18, 2011
Grant dateAug 5, 2014
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 20, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2215/12
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A dynamic volumetric medium, such as hair, fog, or smoke, may be represented, for purposes of shadow mapping, by transmittance versus depth data for that medium. In one embodiment, the representation may take the form of a plot of transmittance versus depth, with nodes where the transmittance changes non-live linearly with respect of depth into the medium. The number of nodes in the representation may be reduced to reduce memory footprint and to enable the storage of the representation on the same chip doing the shadow mapping. In some embodiments, the number of nodes may be reduced, one node at a time, by removing the node whose underlying trapezoid has the least area of all the remaining nodes.

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