Joshua Lanman
Master of Science Capstone Project, June 2018
Advances in computing hardware and the introduction of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) have empowered computer graphics in many fields, including the movie and video game industries. These advances have led to the widespread use of complex and realistic special effects such as explosions, fire, smoke, rain, fog, dust, shafts of light or shadow, and others. While many public displays of these effects in use exist, the details of their illumination modeling and implementations are often protected as trade secrets. This is especially true in the video game industry, where the difference between being a leader or just another competitor in the large sea of companies and independents can come down to the small quality achievements one company’s product has over its competitors.
The focus of this project is the understanding and implementation of one volumetric effect, fog. Our project has three goals. The first goal is to build an understanding of the illumination model of fog in general and how this effect can be approximated and created in modern imagery using a GPU. The second goal is to demonstrate our understanding by implementing an interactive system where these effects can be interacted with and examined. Our third goal is to provide a starting point for future researchers and enthusiasts by sharing both the lessons we have learned and the resources we have developed during this project.