Monte Carlo Ray Tracing


Henrik Wann Jensen

University of California, San Diego

            

James Arvo

University of California, Irvine

            

Philip Dutré

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

            

Alexander Keller

Universität Kaiserslautern

            

Art Owen

Stanford University

            

Matt Pharr

NVIDIA Corporation

            

Peter Shirley

University of Utah



Contact: Philip Dutré

ACM SIGGRAPH 2003 Course Notes 44
San Diego, CA, USA, 27-31 July 2003





Abstract

A detailed overview of the state of the art in Monte Carlo ray tracing with a focus on realistic image synthesis and global illumination.

Prerequisites
Attendees should have a good working knowledge of ray tracing and know the basics of global illumination: knowledge of radiometric terms (such as radiance and flux) and knowledge of basic reflection models (such as diffuse, specular, and glossy). Knowledge of basic probability calculus is helpful as well.

Topics
Basic Monte Carlo integration. Sampling of BRDFs, lights, and geometry. Variance reduction techniques. Quasi-Monte Carlo techniques. Path-integral formulation. Path tracing and bidirectional path tracing. Metropolis light transport.




Links