Instant Visibility

Information

• Replaced by: Wonka-2001-Ins
• Publication Type: Technical Report
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • UrbanViz
• Date: September 2001
• Number: TR-186-2-01-16
• Keywords: visibility, occlusion culling, urban visualization, real-time rendering, parallel visibility

Abstract

We present an online occlusion culling system which computes visibility in parallel to the rendering pipeline. We show how to use point visibility algorithms to quickly calculate a tight potentially visible set (PVS) which is valid for several frames, by shrinking the occluders used in visibility calculations by an adequate amount. These visibility calculations can be performed on a visibility server, possibly a distinct computer communicating with the display host over a local network. The resulting system essentially combines the advantages of online visibility processing and region-based visibility calculations, allowing asynchronous processing of visibility and display operations. We analyze two different types of hardware-based point visibility algorithms and address the problem of bounded calculation time which is the basis for true real-time behavior. Our results show reliable, sustained 60 Hz performance in a walkthrough with an urban environment of nearly 2 million polygons, and a terrain flyover.

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BibTeX

@techreport{Wonka-2001-IV,
  title =      "Instant Visibility",
  author =     "Peter Wonka and Michael Wimmer and Fran\c{c}ois Sillion",
  year =       "2001",
  abstract =   "We present an online occlusion culling system which computes
               visibility in parallel to the rendering pipeline. We show
               how to use point visibility algorithms to quickly calculate
               a tight potentially visible set (PVS) which is valid for
               several frames, by shrinking the occluders used in
               visibility calculations by an adequate amount. These
               visibility calculations can be performed on a visibility
               server, possibly a distinct computer communicating with the
               display host over a local network. The resulting system
               essentially combines the advantages of online visibility
               processing and region-based visibility calculations,
               allowing asynchronous processing of visibility and display
               operations. We analyze two different types of hardware-based
               point visibility algorithms and address the problem of
               bounded calculation time which is the basis for true
               real-time behavior. Our results show reliable, sustained 60
               Hz performance in a walkthrough with an urban environment of
               nearly 2 million polygons, and a terrain flyover.",
  month =      sep,
  number =     "TR-186-2-01-16",
  address =    "Favoritenstrasse 9-11/E193-02, A-1040 Vienna, Austria",
  institution = "Institute of Computer Graphics and Algorithms, Vienna
               University of Technology ",
  note =       "human contact: technical-report@cg.tuwien.ac.at",
  keywords =   "visibility, occlusion culling, urban visualization,
               real-time rendering, parallel visibility",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2001/Wonka-2001-IV/",
}