High-Frequency Shadows for Real-Time Rendering of Trees

Abstract

Abstract We present a fast and simple method for adding high-frequency shadows into the foliage of trees rendered in real-time. When leaves of a tree project shadows onto other leaves, determining the relationships between cast shadows and the corresponding occluders is a visually difficult task. We present a method based on this assumption to quickly determine shadows cast by leaves onto other leaves. To this end, we simulate the presence of these shadows rather than projecting them exactly. The characteristics of these simulated shadows (movement, parallax, size, softness, and color) evolve realistically when the lighting conditions change. Our method is fast and supports soft shadows.