Publications Details

Ray traced scalar fields with shaded polygonal output

Meyers, R.J.; Stephenson, M.B.

An algorithm is presented or rendering scalar field data which reduces rendering times by as much as two orders of magnitude over traditional full resolution image. Less than full resolution sampling of the scalar field is performed using a fast ray tracing method. The sampling grid points are output as a set of screen based gouraud shaded polygons which are rendered in hardware by a graphics workstation. A gradient based variable resolution algorithm is presented which further improves rendering speed. Several examples are presented. 16 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.