Global illumination

Global illumination

Global illumination is a general name for a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light which comes directly from a light source ("direct illumination"), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene ("indirect illumination").

Theoretically reflections, refractions, and shadows are all examples of global illumination, because when simulating them, one object affects the rendering of another object (as opposed to an object being affected only by a direct light). In practice, however, only the simulation of diffuse inter-reflection or caustics is called global illumination.

Images rendered using global illumination algorithms often appear more photorealistic than images rendered using only direct illumination algorithms. However, such images are computationally more expensive and consequently much slower to generate. One common approach is to compute the global illumination of a scene and store that information with the geometry, i.e., radiosity. That stored data can then be used to generate images from different viewpoints for generating walkthroughs of a scene without having to go through expensive lighting calculations repeatedly.

Radiosity, ray tracing, beam tracing, cone tracing, path tracing, metropolis light transport, ambient occlusion, photon mapping, and image based lighting are examples of algorithms used in global illumination, some of which may be used together to yield results that are fast, but accurate.

These algorithms model diffuse inter-reflection which is a very important part of global illumination; however most of these (excluding radiosity) also model specular reflection, which makes them more accurate algorithms to solve the lighting equation and provide a more realistically illuminated scene.

The algorithms used to calculate the distribution of light energy between surfaces of a scene are closely related to heat transfer simulations performed using finite-element methods in engineering design.

In real-time 3D graphics, the diffuse inter-reflection component of global illumination is sometimes approximated by an "ambient" term in the lighting equation, which is also called "ambient lighting" or "ambient color" in 3D software packages. Though this method of approximation (also known as a "cheat" because it's not really a global illumination method) is easy to perform computationally, when used alone it does not provide an adequately realistic effect. Ambient lighting is known to "flatten" shadows in 3D scenes, making the overall visual effect more bland. However, used properly, ambient lighting can be an efficient way to make up for a lack of processing power. [http://www.archive.org/details/MarcC_AoI-Global_Illumination Video demonstrating global illumination and the ambient color effect]



ee also

External links

* [http://www.nirenstein.com/e107/page.php?11 SSRT] – C++ source code for a Monte-carlo pathtracer (supporting GI) - written with ease of understanding in mind.


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  • Illumination Globale — Les algorithmes d illumination globale (dit souvent GI pour Global Illumination) – utilisés en synthèse d image 3D – sont ceux qui, en déterminant la lumière tombant sur une surface, tiennent compte non seulement de la lumière qui a pris un… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Illumination globale — Les algorithmes d illumination globale (dit souvent GI pour Global Illumination) – utilisés en synthèse d image 3D – sont ceux qui, en déterminant la lumière tombant sur une surface, tiennent compte non seulement de la lumière qui a pris un… …   Wikipédia en Français

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  • Radiosity — is a global illumination algorithm used in 3D computer graphics rendering. Radiosity is an application of the finite element method to solving the rendering equation for scenes with purely diffuse surfaces. Unlike Monte Carlo algorithms (such as… …   Wikipedia

  • Photon mapping — In computer graphics, photon mapping is a two pass global illumination algorithm developed by Henrik Wann Jensen that solves the rendering equation. Rays from the light source and rays from the camera are traced independently until some… …   Wikipedia

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