Efficient Refinement and Clustering for Radiosity in Complex Environments
Simon Gibson and Roger Hubbold.
Computer Graphics Forum, 15(5), December 1996, pp 297-310.
Abstract
Generating accurate radiosity solutions of very complex environments is a
time-consuming problem. We present a rapid hierarchical algorithm that
enables such solutions to be computed quickly and efficiently. Firstly, a
new technique for bounding the error in the transfer of radiosity between
surfaces is discussed, incorporating bounds on form factors, visibility,
irradiance and reflectance over textured surfaces. This technique is then
applied to the problem of bounding radiosity transfer between clusters of
surfaces, leading to a fast, practical clustering algoirithm that builds on
the previous work of Sillion. Volumes are used to represent clusters of
small surfaces, but unlike previous algorithms, the orientations of
surfaces inside each cluster are accounted for in both the error bound and
radiosity transfer. This enables an accurate solution to be generated very
efficiently, and results are presented demonstrating the performance of the
algorithm on a variety of complex models, one containing almost a quarter
of a million initial surfaces.
Copyright The Eurographics Association 1996, Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.