Advances in real-time graphics research and the ever-increasing power of mainstream GPUs and consoles continue to generate an explosion of innovative algorithms for fast, interactive rendering of complex and engaging virtual worlds. Every year, the latest video games display a vast new variety of sophisticated algorithms for ground-breaking 3D rendering that pushes the visual boundaries and interactive experience of rich environments.

This course is designed to encourage cross-pollination of knowledge for future games and other interactive applications. As the next installment in the now-established series of SIGGRAPH Courses on real-time rendering, it focuses on the best of graphics practices and research from the game-development community, and provides practical and production-proven algorithms. Course instructors include designers and producers from the makers of several award-winning games: Bungie, Naughty Dog, Crytek, DICE, AMD, Rockstar, and others. Topics include many advanced production secrets in addition to practical advice for implementing advanced techniques. Attendees will acquire several highly optimized algorithms in various areas of real-time rendering.

COURSE SCHEDULE

2 pm
Sample Distribution Shadow Maps
Lauritzen

2:25 pm
Adaptive Volumetric Shadow Maps
Salvi

2:55 pm
Uncharted 2: Character Lighting and Shading
Hable

3:45 pm
Destruction Masking in Frostbite 2 Using Volume Distance Fields
Kihl

4:10 pm
Water Flow in Portal 2
Vlachos

5 pm
Conclusion, Q&A
All

Natalya Tatarchuk
Bungie LLC

Alex Vlachos
Valve

Andrew Lauritzen
Intel Corporation

Marco Salvi
Intel Corporation

Robert Kihl
DICE

John Hable
Naughty Dog

There are strong indications that the future of interactive graphics programming is a more flexible model than today’s OpenGL and Direct3D pipelines. So graphics developers need to have a basic understanding of how to combine emerging parallel programming techniques and more flexible graphics processors with the traditional interactive rendering pipeline. As the first in a series, this course introduces the trends and directions of this emerging field, parallel graphics architectures, parallel programming models for graphics, and researchers
who are investigating the use of these new capabilities in future rendering engines.

COURSE SCHEDULE

9 am
Looking Back, Looking Forward, Why and How is Interactive Rendering Changing
Houston

9:20 am
Five Major Challenges in Interactive Rendering
Andersson

9:45 am
Running Code at a Teraflop: How a GPU Shader Core Works
Fatahalian

10:15 am
Parallel Programming for Real-Time Graphics
Lefohn

10:45 am
DirectCompute Use in Real-Time Rendering Products
Boyd

11:15 am
Surveying Real-Time Beyond Programmable Shading Rendering Algorithms
Luebke

11:45 am
Bending the Graphics Pipeline
Andersson

Aaron Lefohn
Intel Corporation

Michael Houston
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Johan Andersson
DICE

Kayvon Fatahalian
Stanford University

David Luebke
NVIDIA Corporation

Chas. Boyd
Microsoft Corporation

Global-illumination (GI) computation has been the subject of intense research in computer graphics for many years, but it has only recently been extensively used in practical applications. Major industries, such as videogame and film production, architecture, and design, now use GI produce CG imagery with increased realism. However, trade-offs differ in these applications, so each uses a significantly different GI computation technique.

This course provides an overview of GI computation in practical applications across and within industries. It focuses on juxtaposing the domain-specific decision processes that influence the choice of a particular solution. Each technique is presented in the context of the objectives and constraints set by the application. The course reviews the strong and weak points of each implentation and possibilities for further innovation. It also presents an overview of the latest academic research results in the various application areas.

Course Notes

COURSE SCHEDULE

2 pm
Introduction to Global Illumination
Křivánek

2:15 pm
Ray Tracing Solution for Film Production Rendering
Fajardo

2:40 pm
Point-Based Global Illumination for Film Production
Christensen

3:05 pm
Ray Tracing vs. Point-Based GI for Animated Films
Tabellion

3:30 pm
Break

3:45 pm
Adding Real-Time Point-based GI to a Video Game
Bunnell

4:15 pm
Pre-computing Lighting in Games
Larsson

4:45 pm
Dynamic Global Illumination for Games: From Idea to Production Kaplanyan

5:10 pm
Conclusions, Q & A
All

Jaroslav Křivánek
Cornell University

David Larsson
Illuminate Labs

Anton Kaplayan
Crytek GmbH

Michael Bunnell
Fantasy Lab, Inc.

Per Christensen
Pixar Animation Studios

Marcos Fajardo
Solid Angle SL

Eric Tabellion
PDI/Dreamworks