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Talks and Poster Presentations (without Proceedings-Entry):

F. Michelic, F. Kenzel, K. Haubenwallner, B. Kerbl, M. Steinberger:
"Real-time Rendering of Procedural Planets at Arbitrary Altitudes";
Poster: ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games, Montreal; 2019-05-21 - 2019-05-23.



English abstract:
Focusing on real-time, high-fidelity rendering, we present a novel approach for combined consideration of four major phenomena that define the visual representation of entire planets: We present a simple and fast solution for a distortion-free generation of 3D planetary terrain, spherical ocean waves and efficient rendering of volumetric clouds along with atmospheric scattering. Our approach to terrain and ocean mesh generation relies on a projected, persistent grid that can instantaneously and smoothly adapt to fast-changing viewpoints. For generating planetary ocean surfaces, we present a wave function that creates seamless, evenly spaced waves across the entire planet without causing unsightly artifacts. We further show how to render volumetric clouds in combination with precomputed atmospheric scattering and account for their contribution to light transport above ground. Our method provides mathematically consistent approximations of cloud-atmosphere interactions and works for any view point and direction, ensuring continuous transitions in appearance as the viewer moves from ground to space. Among others, our approach supports cloud shadows, light shafts, ocean reflections, and earth shadows on the clouds. The sum of these effects can be visualized at more than 120 frames per second on current graphics processing units.

Keywords:
planet, rendering

Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.