Point light attenuation without singularity

Abstract

Point lights with an inverse-square attenuation function are commonly used in computer graphics. We present an alternative formulation of point light attenuation that treats point lights as simplified forms of spherical lights. This eliminates the singularity of the inverse-square light attenuation function and makes it easier to work with point lights in practice. We also present how the typical ad hoc modifications of the inverse-square formula can be improved based on our formulation.