System, method, and computer program product for determining a quantity of light received by an element of a scene
First Claim
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1. A method that is executed by a graphics processor including a plurality of shader modules, comprising:
- identifying, via the graphics processor, a first element of a scene that is associated with a first light path of the scene, where the first light path corresponds to a predetermined pixel of an image within the scene and is associated with a plurality of elements of the scene;
selecting, via the graphics processor, a second element of the scene that is associated with the light path, using a selection heuristic;
determining, via the graphics processor, properties of the first and second elements of the scene;
selecting, via the graphics processor, a first set of light paths, where each element of the first set of light paths satisfies a first similarity measure with the first light path of the scene;
determining, via the graphics processor, statistical information from the determined properties of the first and second elements of the scene and the selected first set of light paths;
selecting, via the graphics processor, a second set of light paths by selecting a subset of a plurality of light paths corresponding to pixels neighboring the predetermined pixel corresponding to the first light path, where each element of the second set of light paths satisfies a second similarity measure with the first light path of the scene and the determined statistical information, and the second similarity measure includes a distance criterion that is computed based on a light path length estimated as a sum of a first distance from an eye to a first path vertex and a second distance from the first path vertex to a second path vertex; and
determining, via the graphics processor, a quantity of light received by the first element of the scene by averaging a quantity of light received by elements of the scene that are associated with the selected set of light paths.
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Abstract
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for determining a quantity of light received by an element of a scene. In use, a quantity of light received by a first element of the scene is determined by averaging a quantity of light received by elements of the scene that are associated with a selected set of light paths.
12 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method that is executed by a graphics processor including a plurality of shader modules, comprising:
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identifying, via the graphics processor, a first element of a scene that is associated with a first light path of the scene, where the first light path corresponds to a predetermined pixel of an image within the scene and is associated with a plurality of elements of the scene; selecting, via the graphics processor, a second element of the scene that is associated with the light path, using a selection heuristic; determining, via the graphics processor, properties of the first and second elements of the scene; selecting, via the graphics processor, a first set of light paths, where each element of the first set of light paths satisfies a first similarity measure with the first light path of the scene; determining, via the graphics processor, statistical information from the determined properties of the first and second elements of the scene and the selected first set of light paths; selecting, via the graphics processor, a second set of light paths by selecting a subset of a plurality of light paths corresponding to pixels neighboring the predetermined pixel corresponding to the first light path, where each element of the second set of light paths satisfies a second similarity measure with the first light path of the scene and the determined statistical information, and the second similarity measure includes a distance criterion that is computed based on a light path length estimated as a sum of a first distance from an eye to a first path vertex and a second distance from the first path vertex to a second path vertex; and determining, via the graphics processor, a quantity of light received by the first element of the scene by averaging a quantity of light received by elements of the scene that are associated with the selected set of light paths. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:
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identifying a first element of a scene that is associated with a first light path of the scene, where the first light path corresponds to a predetermined pixel of an image within the scene and is associated with a plurality of elements of the scene; selecting a second element of the scene that is associated with the light path, using a selection heuristic; determining properties of the first and second elements of the scene; selecting a first set of light paths, where each element of the first set of light paths satisfies a first similarity measure with the first light path of the scene; determining statistical information from the determined properties of the first and second elements of the scene and the selected first set of light paths; selecting a second set of light paths by selecting a subset of a plurality of light paths corresponding to pixels neighboring the predetermined pixel corresponding to the first light path, where each element of the second set of light paths satisfies a second similarity measure with the first light path of the scene and the determined statistical information, and the second similarity measure includes a distance criterion that is computed based on a light path length estimated as a sum of a first distance from an eye to a first path vertex and a second distance from the first path vertex to a second path vertex; and determining a quantity of light received by the first element of the scene by averaging a quantity of light received by elements of the scene that are associated with the selected set of light paths.
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18. A system, comprising:
a graphics processor configured to; identifying a first element of a scene that is associated with a first light path of the scene, where the first light path corresponds to a predetermined pixel of an image within the scene and is associated with a plurality of elements of the scene; selecting a second element of the scene that is associated with the light path, using a selection heuristic; determining properties of the first and second elements of the scene; selecting a first set of light paths, where each element of the first set of light paths satisfies a first similarity measure with the first light path of the scene; determining statistical information from the determined properties of the first and second elements of the scene and the selected first set of light paths; selecting a second set of light paths by selecting a subset of a plurality of light paths corresponding to pixels neighboring the predetermined pixel corresponding to the first light path, where each element of the second set of light paths satisfies a second similarity measure with the first light path of the scene and the determined statistical information, and the second similarity measure includes a distance criterion that is computed based on a light path length estimated as a sum of a first distance from an eye to a first path vertex and a second distance from the first path vertex to a second path vertex; and determining a quantity of light received by the first element of the scene by averaging a quantity of light received by elements of the scene that are associated with the selected set of light paths.
Specification