Teaching:TUW - UE InfoVis WS 2007/08 - Gruppe 05 - Aufgabe 1 - Rendering: Difference between revisions

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= Rendering =
= Rendering =
== Introduction ==
==Definition==
Rendering is a term which is used in computer graphics very often. It's the process of creating an image out of an abstract model of this image (e.g. polygon mesh). The shape in this abstract model is represented by many points. After the rendering process, the picture is not represented by different points anymore, but with a (realistic) surface. This process needs a lot of computing power, especially if you want to create a realistic environment and realistic objects with different light sources.
Rendering is the process of creating an image out of an abstract model of this image (e.g. wire frame).
== Overview ==
Rendering is a term which is used in computer graphics very often. The shape of the abstract model is represented by many points and edges. After the rendering process, the picture is not represented by different edges anymore, but with a (realistic) surface. This process needs a lot of computing power, especially if you want to create a realistic environment and realistic objects with different light sources. It also takes care about different textures and shadings of objects.  
== Techniques ==
== Techniques ==
There are several different techniques, how you can do the rendering. The following should give you a small overview of the most common techniques.
There are several different techniques, how you can do the rendering:
===Wire Frame===
# '''wire frame:''' This is the abstract representation of the objectjust with edges (with or without visible surface detection)
This is not a special rendering technique, but it's the basics for the rendering. The object is represented through different points which are connected. The surface of the object is described with lines. There are mainly two different ways to represent the object:  
# '''scan fill:''' This rendering mode just fills the object with a solid color and doesn't take care of lighting, shading and reflection
# '''flat shading:''' -takes care of different lighting aspects (shading) and reflections. Every polygon mesh is filled with the same color, but it varies within the object. This method takes care of all lighting aspects, but it doesn't give you a smooth surface, because you still see all the edges from the wire frame.
# '''gouraud shading, phong shading:''' These are two similar techniques to create very smooth surfaces. The computation of the surface is complex, therefore it needs more computing power than the previous techniques, but today this kind of rendering is no problem at all, because nearly every has enough computation power to do that rendering (of course, it depends on the scene, you're trying to render).
[[image:Wire frame.jpg|thumb|left|teapot represented by wire frames; no visible-surface detection]]
[[image:Wire_frame_backface_culling.jpg|thumb|left|teapot represented by wire frames with visible-surface detection]]
[[image:Scan_filled.jpg|thumb|left|teapot with scan-fill rendering]]
[[image:Flat_shaded.jpg|thumb|left|teapot with flat shaded rendering]]
[[image:Gouraud_shaded.jpg|thumb|left|teapot with gouraud shaded rendering]]
[[image:Phong_shaded.jpg|thumb|left|teapot with phong shaded rendering]]
 
===Visible surface detection===
This is not a special rendering technique, but it's the basics for the rendering. The object is represented through different edges which describes the object surface. There are mainly two different ways to represent the object in wire frames:  
# you can see all edges, even if you shouldn't see them, because they are in the background of the object an hidden by the front surface
# you can see all edges, even if you shouldn't see them, because they are in the background of the object an hidden by the front surface
# you do some kind of visible-surface detection; therefore you need algorithms to decide which edges should be visible and which shouldn't be visible because they are hidden, so that you identify visible parts of a scene
# you do some kind of visible-surface detection; therefore you need algorithms to decide which edges should be visible and which shouldn't be visible because they are hidden, so that you identify visible parts of a scene
[[image:Wire frame.jpg|thumb|left|teapot represented by wire frames; no visible-surface detection]]
[[image:Wire_frame_backface_culling.jpg|thumb|left|teapot represented by wire frames with visible-surface detection]]
<br>
===Scan Fill===

Revision as of 14:16, 3 November 2007

Rendering

Definition

Rendering is the process of creating an image out of an abstract model of this image (e.g. wire frame).

Overview

Rendering is a term which is used in computer graphics very often. The shape of the abstract model is represented by many points and edges. After the rendering process, the picture is not represented by different edges anymore, but with a (realistic) surface. This process needs a lot of computing power, especially if you want to create a realistic environment and realistic objects with different light sources. It also takes care about different textures and shadings of objects.

Techniques

There are several different techniques, how you can do the rendering:

  1. wire frame: This is the abstract representation of the objectjust with edges (with or without visible surface detection)
  2. scan fill: This rendering mode just fills the object with a solid color and doesn't take care of lighting, shading and reflection
  3. flat shading: -takes care of different lighting aspects (shading) and reflections. Every polygon mesh is filled with the same color, but it varies within the object. This method takes care of all lighting aspects, but it doesn't give you a smooth surface, because you still see all the edges from the wire frame.
  4. gouraud shading, phong shading: These are two similar techniques to create very smooth surfaces. The computation of the surface is complex, therefore it needs more computing power than the previous techniques, but today this kind of rendering is no problem at all, because nearly every has enough computation power to do that rendering (of course, it depends on the scene, you're trying to render).
teapot represented by wire frames; no visible-surface detection
teapot represented by wire frames with visible-surface detection
teapot with scan-fill rendering
teapot with flat shaded rendering
teapot with gouraud shaded rendering
teapot with phong shaded rendering

Visible surface detection

This is not a special rendering technique, but it's the basics for the rendering. The object is represented through different edges which describes the object surface. There are mainly two different ways to represent the object in wire frames:

  1. you can see all edges, even if you shouldn't see them, because they are in the background of the object an hidden by the front surface
  2. you do some kind of visible-surface detection; therefore you need algorithms to decide which edges should be visible and which shouldn't be visible because they are hidden, so that you identify visible parts of a scene