Visibility: Problems, Techniques, and Applications

Visibility determination, the process of deciding what surfaces can be seen from a certain point, is one of the fundamental problems in computer graphics. Its importance has long been recognized, and in network-based graphics, virtual environments, shadow determination, global illumination, culling, and interactive walkthroughs, it has become a critical issue. This course reviewed fundamental issues, current problems, and unresolved solutions, and presented an in-depth study of the visibility algorithms developed in recent years. Its goal was to provide students and graphics professionals (such as game developers) with effective techniques for visibility culling.

Prerequisites
Understanding of the basics of 3D graphics. The course is not for experts in visibility.

Topics
Hidden surface removal, culling techniques - view volume culling, occlusion culling (from the viewpoint and with respect to an area), how to find good occluders for culling, and the use of BSP trees for visibility.

Organizer
Daniel Cohen-Or
Tel Aviv University

Lecturers
Yiorgos Chrysanthou
University of London

Daniel Cohen-Or
Tel Aviv University

Fredo Durand
iMAGIS-GRAVIR/IMAG-INRIA

Claudio T. Silva
AT&T Labs