Worksheet 2
by Big Dave on Oct.06, 2009, under Proposal, Reading, Update, Worksheet
This weeks task is to actually arrive at a research question – by no means an easy task!
I have formulated several possible questions thus far and all are related to the topic of atmospheric scattering, as this is my main topic of interest. I shall list them below:
- Can atmospheric scattering be used accurately in computer games?
- Is it feasible to include atmospheric scattering in computer games?
- Can post-processed effects – such as atmospheric scattering – be used in computer games without hindering performance?
- Can post-processed effects – such as atmospheric scattering – be used in computer games without negatively affecting overall performance?
- Can atmospheric scattering be implemented efficiently in computer games?
- Can atmospheric scattering be used as an effective depth cue in computer games?
- Can atmospheric scattering be used as an effective enhancement to traditional global illumination models?
While the last one holds the most interest for me, I do not think there is enough time to play with this question as it would involve the use of radiosity, ray tracing or photon mapping. With that in mind, I feel that the question that will allow me to explore atmospheric scattering and post-processing would be the third-last question:
“Can atmospheric scattering be implemented efficiently in computer games?”
With this particular question, the suggested scope should be small enough to investigate GPGPU techniques and post-processing as well as provide me the choice of using either Preetham or Nishitas’ method for the atmospheric scattering model.
It was also brought to my attention earlier today that using Nishitas’ model would allow an appropriate use of GPGPU techniques as there are lots of variables to compute over several frames.
On a final note then, the research question I am putting forward is:
“Can atmospheric scattering be implemented efficiently in computer games?”
October 10th, 2009 on 5:17 pm
Hi dave,
Great project, i found an article that might interest you. Volumetric Light Scattering as a Post Process, chapter 13 of GPU Gems 3. I came across it by accident when looking up global illumination, The book and demo is in the library too.
Also im looking at doing ray tracing/photon mapping or a combination of both, so i think we might still be able to combine them some how. Especially if you implement this as a post process
October 10th, 2009 on 7:03 pm
Hey Rory,
Thanks for the article, I will give it a read when I get back from Berlin. I too came across a GPU Gems article by accident that turned out to be quite useful haha. Funny how that happens :S
As for your project on the global illumination stuff, it would be very interesting to combine it with yours should I get a good frame rate – which, giving the ample articles I now have on the subject would suggest, I should – then I would definitely be interested in some form of integration with your project. However, this may just be getting ahead of ourselves as we havn’t even written our proposals yet hehe.
Thanks for the comment!
Dave
October 13th, 2009 on 11:22 pm
Hey Dave, Apologies for this being so late, got caught up in things!
You seem to have a clear idea of where you are going with this and have already made progress in getting the actual software required installed in the university itself (CUDA as far as I remember but I’m sure you mentioned an alternative). Each of those suggested research questions could all be a viable course of action for the project, and I think the one you have selected covers a narrow enough topic to allow a definite and concise answer in the end.
Judging from how often I see you in the labs and also from your previous work I have proper confidence in you achieving a great result and look forward to seeing it!