Programmable shader analysis and development for global illumination radiosity rendering

Abstract

Global illumination algorithms are the pinnacle of computer graphics. The introduction of DirectX 9 in 2002 and its programmable shaders have brought unprecedented flexibility and power to computer graphics programmers by allowing them to write programs that alter the standard behavior of a real time computer graphics pipeline with no performance penalties. In this work, a widely known global illumination algorithm called Radiosity is comprehensively analyzed, and a program that implements it using programmable shaders is developed. All details concerning the development of this program are taken into consideration, and most problems such an endeavor is likely to encounter are thoroughly analyzed. The program is then tested to measure its performance in order to determine the benefits of programmable shaders inclusion into global illumination renderers. The results obtained in this work provide important benchmarks for future developments in this area.