New Techniques for Ray Tracing Procedurally Defined Objects

Abstract

We present new algorithms for efficient ray tracing of three procedurally defined objects: fractal surfaces, prisms, and surfaces of revolution. The fractal surface algorithm performs recursive subdivision adaptively. Subsurfaces which cannot intersect a given ray are culled from further consideration. The prism algorithm transforms the three-dimensional ray-surface intersection problem into a two-dimensional ray-curve intersection problem, which is solved by the method of strip trees. The surface-of-revolution algorithm transforms the three-dimensional ray-surface intersection problem into a two-dimensional curve-curve intersection problem, which again is solved by strip trees.

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