Shadows and soft shadows with participating media using splatting

Abstract

This paper describes an efficient algorithm to model the light attenuation due to a participating media with low albedo. Here, we consider the light attenuation along a ray, as well as the light attenuation emanating from a surface. The light attenuation is modeled using a splatting volume renderer for both the viewer and the light source. During the rendering, a 2D shadow buffer accumulates the light attenuation. We first summarize the basic shadow algorithm using splatting. Then, an extension of the basic shadow algorithm for projective textured light sources is described. The main part of this paper is an analytic soft shadow algorithm based on convolution techniques. We describe and discuss the soft shadow algorithm, and generate soft shadows, including umbra and penumbra, for extended light sources.