Ray Tracing, Radiosity, and Related Techniques: An Integrated Parallelized Ray Tracing and Radiosity System

A system is presented that combines the progressive refinement radiosity algorithm with a production ray tracing system. The radiosity algorithm is used as a pre-process to compute the view-independent diffuse illumination of an environment. Ray tracing is then used as a view-dependent post-process to display visible surfaces. This approach allows for the creation of very realistic images with production-style special effects. The radiosity effects of diffuse interreflection, color bleeding, and soft shadows are combined with the ray tracing features of specular reflection and transparency. The user interface allows for complete control over which methods are used to shade each object.