Scene independent real-time indirect illumination

Abstract

A novel method for real-time simulation of indirect illumination is presented in this paper. The method, which we call Direct Radiance Mapping (DRM), is based on basal radiance calculations and does not impose any restrictions on scene geometry or dynamics. This makes the method tractable for real-time rendering of arbitrary dynamic environments and for interactive preview of feature animations. Through DRM we simulate two diffuse reflections of light, but can also, in combination with traditional real-time methods for specular reflections, simulate more complex light paths. DRM is a GPU-based method, which can draw further advantages from upcoming GPU functionalities. The method has been tested for moderately sized scenes with close to real-time frame rates and it scales with interactive frame rates for more complex scenes