Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for rendering three-dimensional scenes including transparent surfaces are described, including two techniques for efficient rendering of transparent surfaces that exploit partial ordering in the scene geometry. The first (hybrid layer peeling) may combine unordered meshes with ordered meshes in an efficient way, and may be well suited for rendering scenes such as volumes with embedded transparent meshes. The second (coherent layer peeling) may efficiently detect and render correctly sorted fragment sequences for a given pixel in one iteration, allowing for a smaller number of passes than traditional depth peeling. Pre-sorting and/or periodic sorting of some or all of the surfaces in a scene may be performed, but perfect sorting may not be required. The methods may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof, such as by program instructions executable on one or more CPUs and/or GPUs.

Abstract: A system and method for rendering with an object proxy. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a set of view textures corresponding to a set of viewing directions; selecting a viewing direction for rendering; selecting at least two view textures from the formed set based on the selected viewing direction; and rendering the object proxy at the selected viewing direction. The rendering step includes applying texture from the selected view textures onto the selected object proxy. The view texture set forming step includes: calculating texture coordinates for the object proxy based on the level of obstruction at different portions of the object proxy and texture packing data; and drawing portions of the object based on the level of obstruction data for the object proxy and based on the texture packing data to obtain a view texture at the selected viewing direction.

Abstract: Anti-aliased output based on a scene comprising a plurality of objects may be generated. In one embodiment, a number of samples for an anti-aliasing operation is determined. For each of the samples: each of the objects may be translated in space according to jitter values; the objects may be multiplied by a fractional alpha value for the respective sample; a fractional alpha value stored in a buffer may be modified by a transparency value for each transparent object; and the objects may be rendered to the buffer by blending the objects with existing contents of the buffer. The fractional alpha values may vary from sample to sample. In one embodiment, the plurality of objects comprises one or more opaque objects and one or more transparent objects. In one embodiment, the objects may be rendered directly to a screen buffer.

Abstract: A system and method for rendering with an object proxy. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a set of view textures corresponding to a set of viewing directions; selecting a viewing direction for rendering; selecting at least two view textures from the formed set based on the selected viewing direction; and rendering the object proxy at the selected viewing direction. The rendering step includes applying texture from the selected view textures onto the selected object proxy. The view texture set forming step includes: calculating texture coordinates for the object proxy based on the level of obstruction at different portions of the object proxy and texture packing data; and drawing portions of the object based on the level of obstruction data for the object proxy and based on the texture packing data to obtain a view texture at the selected viewing direction.

Abstract: A system and method for rendering with an object proxy. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a set of view textures corresponding to a set of viewing directions; selecting a viewing direction for rendering; selecting at least two view textures from the formed set based on the selected viewing direction; and rendering the object proxy at the selected viewing direction. The rendering step includes applying texture from the selected view textures onto the selected object proxy. The view texture set forming step includes: calculating texture coordinates for the object proxy based on the level of obstruction at different portions of the object proxy and texture packing data; and drawing portions of the object based on the level of obstruction data for the object proxy and based on the texture packing data to obtain a view texture at the selected viewing direction.

Abstract: Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer program products, for anti-aliased rendering. A plurality of objects is received. Each object in the plurality of objects is depth-ordered. Each object is rendered from back to front into a plurality of pixels. Each pixel in the plurality of pixels has a respective color value. The rendering includes selecting an object from the plurality of objects. Respective alpha values are determined for first pixels in the plurality of pixels based on coverage of the first pixels by the selected object. The respective color value of each of the first pixels is attenuated based on the respective alpha values. The respective color value of each of the first pixels is added to based on the respective alpha values and one or more color properties associated with the selected object.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for rendering three-dimensional scenes including transparent surfaces are described, including two techniques for efficient rendering of transparent surfaces that exploit partial ordering in the scene geometry. The first (hybrid layer peeling) may combine unordered meshes with ordered meshes in an efficient way, and may be well suited for rendering scenes such as volumes with embedded transparent meshes. The second (coherent layer peeling) may efficiently detect and render correctly sorted fragment sequences for a given pixel in one iteration, allowing for a smaller number of passes than traditional depth peeling. Pre-sorting and/or periodic sorting of some or all of the surfaces in a scene may be performed, but perfect sorting may not be required. The methods may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof, such as by program instructions executable on one or more CPUs and/or GPUs.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for synthesizing element arrangements from an example. Embodiments may synthesize element arrangement patterns from an example arrangement. Embodiments may combine a texture synthesis technique based on local neighborhood comparison of an example and a target with procedural modeling based on local growth. Given an example, connectivity of elements may be constructed to get neighborhoods information of each element. A synthesis process may start with a single seed and expand the synthesized pattern by placing new elements at seed locations one by one. A reference element may be selected from the example that has neighborhood features that are most similar to neighborhood features of the target seed in the synthesized pattern. A non-rotation mode, a rotation mode, and a flow field mode may be provided. A painting tool, a flow field tool, and a boundary tool may be provided.

Abstract: A system and method for rendering with an object proxy. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a set of view textures corresponding to a set of viewing directions; selecting a viewing direction for rendering; selecting at least two view textures from the formed set based on the selected viewing direction; and rendering the object proxy at the selected viewing direction. The rendering step includes applying texture from the selected view textures onto the selected object proxy. The view texture set forming step includes: calculating texture coordinates for the object proxy based on the level of obstruction at different portions of the object proxy and texture packing data; and drawing portions of the object based on the level of obstruction data for the object proxy and based on the texture packing data to obtain a view texture at the selected viewing direction.

Abstract: A system and method for rendering with an object proxy. In one embodiment, a method includes forming a set of view textures corresponding to a set of viewing directions; selecting a viewing direction for rendering; selecting at least two view textures from the formed set based on the selected viewing direction; and rendering the object proxy at the selected viewing direction. The rendering step includes applying texture from the selected view textures onto the selected object proxy. The view texture set forming step includes: calculating texture coordinates for the object proxy based on the level of obstruction at different portions of the object proxy and texture packing data; and drawing portions of the object based on the level of obstruction data for the object proxy and based on the texture packing data to obtain a view texture at the selected viewing direction.

Abstract: Embodiments for accelerating the re-rendering of graphics frames are disclosed.

Abstract: Systems and methods for rendering a gaseous display. The distance from a user's reference point to each pixel through the gas is determined. The distance is then converted into an attenuation factor that is used to blend the scene color with the gas color. The result can then be used to simulate patchy fog, clouds, or other gases of more or less constant density and colors.

Abstract: Systems for rendering a gaseous display. The distance from a user's reference point to each pixel through the gas is determined. The distance is then converted into an attenuation factor that is used to blend the scene color with the gas color. The result can then be used to simulate patchy fog, clouds, or other gases of more or less constant density and colors.

Abstract: The present invention provides an improved system and method for rendering shadows in a computer graphics system. Textures representing the area of influence resulting from a combination of light sources and shadow casters are pre-computed. Scenes are then rendered using the pre-computed textures. A first step entails generating sets of directions and associated pre-computed textures for each light source and shadow caster pair in a simulation frame. Next, a first scene in the simulation is rendered. During this step one or more of the pre-computed textures are used to darken the area of influence or shadow portion of the scene.

Abstract: Systems and methods for rendering a gaseous display. The distance from a user's reference point to each pixel through the gas is determined. The distance is then converted into an attenuation factor that is used to blend the scene color with the gas color. The result can then be used to simulate patchy fog, clouds, or other gases of more or less constant density and colors.

Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for rendering a gaseous display. The distance from a user's reference point to each pixel through the gas is determined. The distance is then converted into an attenuation factor which is used to blend the scene color with the gas color. The result can then be used to simulate patchy fog, clouds, or other gases of more or less constant density and colors.

Abstract: Systems for rendering a gaseous display. The distance from a user's reference point to each pixel through the gas is determined. The distance is then converted into an attenuation factor that is used to blend the scene color with the gas color. The result can then be used to simulate patchy fog, clouds, or other gases of more or less constant density and colors.

Abstract: One or more fragment programs are executed on a graphics processor to generate the vertices of a subdivision curve or subdivision surface (using an arbitrary subdivision scheme) into a floating point texture. A plurality of faces are simultaneously processed during each subdivision iteration by using a super buffer that contains the vertices, their neighbors, and information about each face. Following the subdivision iterations, the texture is mapped as a vertex array (or a readback is performed), and the subdivided faces are rendered as complex curves or surfaces.

Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product for rendering gaseous volumetric objects scenes using an alpha channel. In one described implementation, the method determines a distance between a user to boundaries of a gaseous volume and then stores the distance in an alpha channel to arrive at an alpha value. Then the alpha value can be used as a factor assist in blending scene colors with gaseous colors to render virtually realistic pixels for the gaseous object from the perspective of a user's view of the object. The resulting scenes can then be used to simulate patchy fog, clouds, or other gases of more or less constant density and color.

Abstract: Methods and systems for animating with proxy surfaces are provided. A method for animating includes preprocessing an object to form proxy surfaces of part(s) and/or joint(s), and rendering the proxy surfaces to be animated. In an embodiment, preprocessing includes dividing an object to be animated into parts that can move independently without changing shape, forming a proxy surface for each of the parts corresponding to an initial viewing direction, and obtaining a set of view textures for each of the proxy surfaces. Each part proxy surface is then rendered at a new viewing direction. The new viewing direction is function of an object transformation, part transformation, and an initial viewing direction. The object is then animated by repeating the rendering steps. In another embodiment, the object to be animated is divided into parts and at least one joint that can change shape.