A parallel rendering algorithm based on hierarchical radiosity

Abstract

The radiosity method is a well-known global illumination algorithm for rendering scenes which produces highly realistic images. However, it is a computationally expensive method. In order to reduce the response time required for rendering a scene, a parallel version of a hierarchical radiosity algorithm has been developed, which takes profit of both shared and distributed memory architectures. The parallel code is used in an electronic commerce application and, therefore, the main focus is on achieving the fastest response rather than being able to render large scenes. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.