Photon Mapping on Programmable Graphics Hardware
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Date
2003
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association
Abstract
We present a modified photon mapping algorithm capable of running entirely on GPUs. Our implementation uses breadth-first photon tracing to distribute photons using the GPU. The photons are stored in a grid-based photon map that is constructed directly on the graphics hardware using one of two methods: the first method is a multipass technique that uses fragment programs to directly sort the photons into a compact grid. The second method uses a single rendering pass combining a vertex program and the stencil buffer to route photons to their respective grid cells, producing an approximate photon map. We also present an efficient method for locating the nearest photons in the grid, which makes it possible to compute an estimate of the radiance at any surface location in the scene. Finally, we describe a breadth-first stochastic ray tracer that uses the photon map to simulate full global illumination directly on the graphics hardware. Our implementation demonstrates that current graphics hardware is capable of fully simulating global illumination with progressive, interactive feedback to the user.
Description
@inproceedings{10.2312:EGGH03/041-050,
booktitle = {Graphics Hardware},
editor = {M. Doggett and W. Heidrich and W. Mark and A. Schilling},
title = {{Photon Mapping on Programmable Graphics Hardware}},
author = {Purcell, Timothy J. and Donner, Craig and Cammarano, Mike and Jensen, Henrik Wann and Hanrahan, Pat},
year = {2003},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association},
ISSN = {1727-3471},
ISBN = {1-58113-739-1},
DOI = {10.2312/EGGH03/041-050}
}