“Predictable and Targeted Softening of the Shadow Terminator” by Deshmukh and Green
Conference:
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Entry Number: 06
Title:
- Predictable and Targeted Softening of the Shadow Terminator
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Abstract:
A well known artifact in production rendering from the use of shading normals is the shadow terminator problem: the abrupt interruption of the light’s smooth cosine falloff at geometric horizons. Recent publications introduced several ad-hoc techniques, based loosely on microfacet theory to deal with these issues. We show that these techniques can themselves introduce artifacts and suggest a new technique that is an improvement in many situations. More importantly we introduce a framework for analyzing these different techniques so artists and researchers can choose appropriate solutions and more reliably predict and understand expected results.
References:
Matt Jen-Yuan Chiang, Yining Karl Li, and Brent Burley. 2019. Taming the Shadow Terminator. ACM SIGGRAPH 2019 Talks 1, Article 71 (July 2019). https://doi.org/ 10.1145/3306307.3328172
Alejandro Conty Estevez, Pascal Lecocq, and Clifford Stein. 2019. A Microfacet-Based Shadowing Function to Solve the Bump Terminator Problem. Apress, Berkeley, CA, 149–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-4427-2_12
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Acknowledgements:
This work was implemented by the MoonRay development team at DreamWorks Animation. Rigorous testing, feedback, and patience from lighting artists like Pablo Valle and Iveth Bueno were key to success.
