State of the Art in Photon-Density Estimation

Photon-density estimation techniques are a popular choice for simulating light transport in scenes with complicated geometry and materials. This class of algorithms can be used to accurately simulate inter-reflections, caustics, color bleeding, scattering in participating media, and subsurface scattering. Since its introduction, photon-density estimation has been significantly extended in computer graphics with the introduction of: specialized techniques that intelligently modify the positions or bandwidths to reduce visual error using a small number of photons, approaches that eliminate error completely in the limit, and methods that use higher-order samples and queries to reduce error in participating media.

This two-part course explains how to implement all these latest advances in photon-density estimation. It begins with a short introduction using classical photon mapping, but the remainder of the course provides new, hands-on explanations of the latest developments in this area by experts in each technique. Attendees gain concrete and practical understanding of the latest developments in photon-density-estimation techniques that have not been presented before in SIGGRAPH courses.

COURSE SCHEDULE

2 pm
Introduction
Jarosz

2:05 pm
Photon Mapping Basics
Jensen

2:20 pm
Photon Relaxation
Spencer

2:35 pm
Photon Differentials
Frisvad

2:50 pm
Break

2:55 pm
Progressive Photon Mapping: Basics
Hachisuka

3:05 pm
Progressive Photon Mapping: Extensions
Hachisuka

3:20 pm
Probabilistic PPM

3:35 pm
Break

3:40 pm
Participating Media Basics
Jarosz

3:50 pm
Progressive EM
Jakob

4:05 pm
From Photons to Beams
Jarosz

4:20 pm
Break

4:25 pm
Photon Beams in Tangled
Tangled Team

4:40 pm
Photon Mapping in PRMan
Christensen

4:55 pm
Progressive Photon Mapping in LuxRender
Bouchard

5:10 pm
Summary
Hachisuka