Links
Description
I explored and implemented several advanced rendering techniques in this demo to demonstrate their visual effects and performance implications. The demo includes:
- Lighting Effects: The demo incorporates various lighting techniques, including directional, point, and spotlights. Each lighting model is showcased to demonstrate how it influences the appearance of objects in the scene, particularly in terms of shadows and highlights.
- Vertex Normal vs. Face Normal: The demo compares the visual effects of using vertex normals versus face normals. This comparison is essential in understanding how smooth shading (with vertex normals) contrasts with flat shading (with face normals), affecting the overall appearance of 3D models.
- UV Mapping Techniques: I implemented and compared various UV mapping methods, including cube, planar, cylindrical, and spherical mappings. The demo highlights how these different techniques affect texture application on 3D models, and how the choice of mapping can significantly impact the visual outcome.
- UV Mapping Based on Normal vs. Position Vectors: I also explored how UV mapping differs based on normal versus position vectors. This comparison illustrates how different approaches can affect texture alignment and distortion on complex surfaces.
- CPU vs. GPU UV Mapping Calculations: The demo contrasts UV mapping calculations performed on the CPU versus those on the GPU. This comparison provides insights into the benefits of offloading these calculations to the GPU, particularly in real-time rendering contexts.
- Environment Mapping: I implemented environment mapping to create reflective surfaces that accurately depict the surrounding environment. This technique enhances realism, particularly in reflective and refractive materials.
- Fresnel Effect, Refraction, and Reflection: I implemented these effects to showcase how light interacts with surfaces, particularly in transparent or semi-transparent materials. The Fresnel effect was used to simulate how reflectivity varies with the angle of incidence, while refraction and reflection provided a realistic rendering of transparent objects.
Challenges
Balancing the computational load of advanced lighting techniques with the need for real-time performance, especially in complex scenes with multiple reflective and refractive objects.
Results
FresnelEngine successfully simulates realistic lighting scenarios, with the Fresnel effect adding a significant layer of realism to reflective and refractive surfaces. The engine maintains high performance even in dynamic scenes, making it a robust tool for rendering visually stunning graphics.