Stochastic Methods in Global Illumination - State of the Art Report

Information

• Publication Type: Technical Report
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s): not specified
• Date: August 1998
• Number: TR-186-2-98-23
• Keywords: error and complexity, first-shot, transillumination method, stochastic ray-radiosity, global ray-bundle tracing, instant radiosity, photon-map, bi-directional path tracing, light tracing, photon tracing, path tracing, distributed ray-tracing, Metropolis sampling, stochastic iteration, shooting and gathering random walks, Russian roulette, importance sampling, radiosity, finite-element techniques, Monte-Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo quadra, potential equation, Rendering equation

Abstract

This paper presents a state of the art report of those global illum ination algorithms which involve Monte-Carlo or quasi-Monte Carlo techniques. First it surveys the basic tasks of global illumination, which can be formulated as the solution of either the rendering or the potential equation, then reviews the basic solution techniques, including inversion, expansion and iteration. The paper explains why stochastic approaches are good to solve these integral equations and highlights what kind of fundamental choices we have when designing such an algorithm. It compares, for example, finite-element and continuous methods, pure Monte-Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo techniques, different versions of importance sampling, Russian roulette, local and global visibility algorithms, etc. Then, a lot of methods are reviewed in a unified framework, that also allows to make comparisons.

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BibTeX

@techreport{Szir-1998-STAR,
  title =      "Stochastic Methods in Global Illumination - State of the Art
               Report",
  author =     "L\'{a}szl\'{o} Szirmay-Kalos",
  year =       "1998",
  abstract =   "This paper presents a state of the art report of those
               global illum ination algorithms which involve Monte-Carlo or
               quasi-Monte Carlo techniques. First it surveys the basic
               tasks of global illumination, which can be formulated as the
               solution of either the rendering or the potential equation,
               then reviews the basic solution techniques, including
               inversion, expansion and iteration. The paper explains why
               stochastic approaches are good to solve these integral
               equations and highlights what kind of fundamental choices we
               have when designing such an algorithm. It compares, for
               example, finite-element and continuous methods, pure
               Monte-Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo techniques, different
               versions of importance sampling, Russian roulette, local and
               global visibility algorithms, etc. Then, a lot of methods
               are reviewed in a unified framework, that also allows to
               make comparisons. ",
  month =      aug,
  number =     "TR-186-2-98-23",
  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 =   "error and complexity, first-shot, transillumination method,
               stochastic ray-radiosity, global ray-bundle tracing, instant
               radiosity, photon-map, bi-directional path tracing, light
               tracing, photon tracing, path tracing, distributed
               ray-tracing, Metropolis sampling, stochastic iteration,
               shooting and gathering random walks, Russian roulette,
               importance sampling, radiosity, finite-element techniques,
               Monte-Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo quadra, potential
               equation, Rendering equation",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/1998/Szir-1998-STAR/",
}