Subsurface Texture Mapping

Guillaume François (1, 2) , Sumanta N. Pattanaik (3) , Kadi Bouatouch (1) , Gaspard Breton (2)

1 SIAMES - Computer generated images, animation, modeling and simulation
2 FT R&D - France Télécom Recherche & Développement
3 UCF - Graphics Research Group [Florida]

Subsurface scattering within translucent objects is a complex phenomenon. Designing and rendering this kind of material requires a faithful description of their aspects as well as a realistic simulation of their interaction with light. This paper presents an efficient rendering technique of multilayered translucent objects. We present a new method for modeling and rendering such complex organic materials made up of multiple layers of variable thickness. Based on the relief texture mapping algorithm, our method calculates the single scattering contribution for this kind of material in real-time using commodity graphics hardware. Our approach needs the calculation of distances traversed by a light ray through a translucent object. This calculation is required for evaluating the attenuation of light within the material. We use a surface approximation algorithm to quickly evaluate these distances. Our whole algorithm is implemented using pixel shaders.

Domaines: Synthèse d'image et réalité virtuelle [cs.GR]

Guillaume François, Sumanta N. Pattanaik, Kadi Bouatouch, Gaspard Breton. Subsurface Texture Mapping. [Research Report] 2006. ⟨inria-00084106⟩