Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...

s used in

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for t ...

that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light that 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, whether reflective or not (''indirect illumination''). Theoretically, reflections, refractions, and shadows are all examples of global illumination, because when simulating them, one object affects the rendering of another (as opposed to an object being affected only by a direct source of light). In practice, however, only the simulation of diffuse inter-reflection or caustics is called global illumination.

Algorithms

Images rendered using global illumination algorithms often appear more

photorealistic Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be ...

than those 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 (e.g., radiosity). The 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 Path tracing is a computer graphics Monte Carlo method of rendering images of three-dimensional scenes such that the global illumination is faithful to reality. Fundamentally, the algorithm is integrating over all the illuminance arriving to ...

volumetric path tracing Volumetric path tracing is a method for rendering images in computer graphics which was first introduced by Lafortune and Willems. This method enhances the rendering of the lighting in a scene by extending the path tracing method with the effect of ...

Metropolis light transport Metropolis light transport (MLT) is a global illumination application of a variant of the Monte Carlo method called the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm to the rendering equation for generating images from detailed physical descriptions of three- ...

ambient occlusion In 3D computer graphics, modeling, and animation, ambient occlusion is a shading and rendering technique used to calculate how exposed each point in a scene is to ambient lighting. For example, the interior of a tube is typically more occluded ...

, photon mapping, signed distance field and

image-based lighting Image-based lighting (IBL) is a 3D rendering technique which involves capturing an omnidirectional representation of real-world light information as an image, typically using a 360° camera. This image is then projected onto a dome or sphere analog ...

are all examples of algorithms used in global illumination, some of which may be used together to yield results that are not 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 Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction, ...

simulations performed using finite-element methods in engineering design.

Photorealism

Show how 3D real time ambient occlusion works 2013-11-23 10-45

Achieving accurate computation of global illumination in real-time remains difficult. 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.

Procedure

More and more specialized algorithms are used in 3D programs that can effectively simulate the global illumination. These algorithms are numerical approximations to the

rendering equation In computer graphics, the rendering equation is an integral equation in which the equilibrium radiance leaving a point is given as the sum of emitted plus reflected radiance under a geometric optics approximation. It was simultaneously introduc ...

. Well known algorithms for computing global illumination include

, photon mapping and radiosity. The following approaches can be distinguished here: * Inversion:

L = (1-T)^ L^e\,

** is not applied in practice * Expansion:

L = \sum_^\infty T^iL^e

** bi-directional approach: Photon mapping + Distributed ray tracing, Bi-directional path tracing,

* Iteration:

L_n tl_ e + = L ^

** Radiosity In Light-path notation global lighting the paths of the type L (D , S) corresponds * E. A full treatment can be found in

Image-based lighting

Another way to simulate real global illumination is the use of high-dynamic-range images (HDRIs), also known as environment maps, which encircle and illuminate the scene. This process is known as

List of methods

References

External links

Video demonstrating global illumination and the ambient color effectReal-time GI demos
– survey of practical real-time GI techniques as a list of executable demos
kuleuven
- This page contains the Global Illumination Compendium, an effort to bring together most of the useful formulas and equations for global illumination algorithms in computer graphics.
Theory and practical implementation of Global Illumination using Monte Carlo Path Tracing.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Global Illumination Global illumination algorithms