Realistic Illumination Effects Using Forward Ray Tracing

Algorithms based on backward ray tracing and radiosity provide realistic rendering capabilities. Backward ray tracing refers to the basic technique of propagating rays outward into a scene from a specified viewing position. The rays intersect objects and may be reflected and/or transmitted into secondary rays. Each point receives direct lighting from point light sources. A series of ray intensities are calculated from the starting ray and any branching rays. The resulting array of intensities is complied into a view-dependent raster image. Radiosity is the term used to describe any algorithm that solves for view-independent global illumination by modeling radiant energy transfer between surfaces.