Announcement

Overview

This advanced lecture discusses the mathematical concepts and algorithms that are used to simulate the propagation of light in a virtual scene. The topics include Monte Carlo sampling, various Global Illumination algorithms (from the basic Path Tracing algorithm to more advanced algorithms like Vertex Connection and Merging), and HDR imaging. In the practical exercises, the students implement some of the algorithms discussed in the lecture in a lightweight rendering framework.

Instructors

Teaching Assistants

Tutors

Exam

The final exam will be either written or oral, depending on the number of participants and the Covid situation. The decision will be made in May.

Pre-requisites

• Programming experience with C++
• Basic vector math (dot product, cross product, …)

The advanced concepts taught in this course are used on top of the basic techniques that are part of our Computer Graphics core lecture. But the RIS course is self-contained and can be followed without that background.

Lectures and assignments

General Regulations

• Type: Special Lecture, Practical computer science
• ECTS: 9 credit points
• Practical assignments
  • Longer term projects
  • Not a rendering competition as in CG1
• Assignments can be submitted by groups of up to 2 students.

Literature

The lecture is not bound to a specific book. The following list contains the most important books about image synthesis:

• Pharr, Jakob, Humphreys, Physically Based Rendering : From Theory to Implementation, Morgan Kaufmann
• Shirley et al., Realistic Ray Tracing, 2. Ed., AK. Peters, 2003
• Jensen, Realistic Image Synthesis Using Photon Mapping, AK. Peters, 2001
• Dutre, at al., Advanced Global Illumition, AK. Peters, 2003
• Glassner, Principles of Digital Image Synthesis, 2 volumes, Morgan Kaufman, 1995
• Cohen, Wallace, Radiosity and Realistic Image Synthesis, Academic Press, 1993
• Apodaca, Gritz, Advanced Renderman: Creating CGI for the Motion Pictures, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999
• Ebert, Musgrave, et al., Texturing and Modeling, 3. Ed., Morgan Kaufmann, 2003
• Reinhard, Ward, Pattanaik, Debevec, Heidrich, Myszkowski, High Dynamic Range Imaging, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2nd edition, 2010.
• Myszkowski, Mantiuk, Krawczyk. High Dynamic Range Video. Synthesis Digital Library of Engineering and Computer Science. Morgan & Claypool Publishers, San Rafael, USA, 2008.

Here is a list of other reference materials you can use, grouped by topic:

• Monte Carlo Integration: Eric Veach’s thesis, chapter 02
• Path Sampling Techniques: Iliyan Georgiev’s thesis
• Foundations of Realistic Rendering: Mathias M. Lang’s thesis
• Direct Lighting: Shirley, Wang, Zimmerman, “Monte Carlo Techniques for Direct Lighting Calculations”
• Multiple Importance Sampling:
  • Eric Veach’s thesis, chapter 09
  • Robert L. Cook, “Distributed Ray Tracing”
• Bidirectional Path Tracing: Eric Veach’s thesis, chapters 10, 11
• Instant Radiosity:
  • Segovia, Iehl, Mitanchey, Péroche, “Bidirectional Instant Radiosity”
  • Keller, “Instant Radiosity”
  • Wald, Benthin, Slusallek, “Interactive Global Illumination in Complex and Highly Occluded Environments”
  • Wald, Kollig, Benthin, Keller, Slusallek, “Interactive Global Illumination using Fast Ray Tracing”
• Light Cuts: Cornell University, “Lightcuts: A Scalable Approach to Illumination”
• High Dynamic Range Imaging: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rkm38/hdri_book.html