| title | Master of Science (M.Sc. + B.Sc.) |
| field | computer science |
| university | University of Kuopio, Finland |
| grade average | 4.24 for the required major subject studies (scale: 0-5) |
| completed courses | 120% of the total required credits |
| minor subjects |
mathematics physics |
| duration of studies | a little over 3 years (2 years quicker than the average) |
| notes | worked part-time during the studies (see work experience) |
| name | Real-time Visual Simulation of Volumetric Surfaces |
| field | computer science |
| grade |
excellent (4% of theses receive the highest grade) My thesis was also chosen to represent our department in the annual computer science thesis competition. |
| assessment | english, finnish |
| download | PDF, 122 pages, 5.7 MB |
The increase in reprogrammability and processing power of modern graphics hardware has advanced the real-time rendering techniques for volumetric surfaces. This thesis offers an introduction to real-time relief mapping, covering different techniques used to improve intersection searching and visual appearance. The techniques are implemented and their applicability is analysed.
The main contribution of this thesis is the presentation of a relief mapping based rendering technique capable of simulating translucent features on volumetric surfaces. Optical behaviour of translucent materials is discussed in detail, and the simulation model is gradually completed based on physical authenticity. The simulation model proves efficient in simulating large and small-scale translucent details on surfaces, even when observed from close distance, in a way that is not achievable through polygon-based methods. Real-time suitability is proven by presenting an implementation that achieves real-time framerates on commodity graphics hardware.
