Real-time Volume Graphics

In traditional computer graphics, 3D objects are created using high-level surface representations such as polygonal meshes, NURBS patches, or subdivision surfaces.However, these methods often do not account for light interaction that is taking place in the atmosphere or in the interior of an object. Contrary to surface rendering, volume rendering describes a wide range of techniques for generating images from 3D scalar data. These techniques generate high-quality images of volumetric objects in real time, including local and global illumination effects.This book provides the basic theory and practical examples needed to work with volume graphics by taking advantage of today's graphics hardware to produce stunning results in real time. The authors provide:  A practical introduction to texture-based volume rendering  Methods for integrating different aspects of light/matter interaction  Global illumination techniques  Optimization strategies  Code samples-and more!

Klaus Engel earned his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Stuttgart. He is a researcher at Siemens Corporate Research, Inc. in Princeton, NJ.Markus Hadwiger earned his PhD in Computer Science from the Vienna University of Technology. He is a senior researcher in the Medical Visualization department at the VRVis Research Center in Vienna, Austria.Joe Kniss earned his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Utah’s School of Computing. He investigates volume rendering, volume light transport, human-computer interaction, and image processing at the Scienti?c Computing and Imaging Institute in Salt Lake City, UT.Christof Rezk-Salama earned his PhD from the University of Erlangen, working in the Computer Graphics Group. He is an assistant professor at the Computer Graphics and Multimedia Group of the University of Siegen, Germany.Daniel Weiskopf earned his PhD in Physics from the University of Tubingen, Germany. He is an Assistant Professor of Computing Science and co-director of the Graphics, Usability,and Visualization Lab at Simon Fraser University, Canada.