Real-time light shaft generation for indoor rendering

Abstract

Realistic natural phenomena such as light shaft for indoor and outdoor environments are used in various applications. The main issue with the existing light shaft algorithms is not sufficient quality in real-time rendering. In this paper, we address this issue by proposing a hybrid technique based on the widely used shadow generation techniques. Shadow maps are used to recognize the silhouette of the occluders geometrically. Then, shadow volume is employed to generate the volume of the light shaft. This volume is the volume between occluder and shadow receivers. Finally, light scattering is employed to create light shaft in real-time rendering. The results are convenient for any indoor rendering environments.