Spatially-encoded far-field representations for interactive walkthroughs

Abstract

We introduce the notion of spatially encoded video and use it for efficiently representing image-based impostors for interactive walkthroughs. As part of a pre-process, we automatically decompose the model and compute the far-fields. The resulting texture images are organized along multiple dimensions and can be accessed in a user-steered order at interactive rates. Our encoding algorithm can compress the impostors size by two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, the storage cost for additional impostors or samples grows sub-linearly. The resulting system has been applied to a complex CAD environment composed of 13 million triangles. We are able to render it at interactive rates on a PC with little loss in image quality.