Bidirectional Rendering of Vector Light Transport

Abstract

On the foundations of many rendering algorithms it is the symmetry between the path traversed by light and its adjoint path starting from the camera. However, several effects, including polarization or fluorescence, break that symmetry, and are defined only on the direction of light propagation. This reduces the applicability of bidirectional methods that exploit this symmetry for simulating effectively light transport. In this work, we focus on how to include these non‐symmetric effects within a bidirectional rendering algorithm. We generalize the path integral to support the constraints imposed by non‐symmetric light transport. Based on this theoretical framework, we propose modifications on two bidirectional methods, namely bidirectional path tracing and photon mapping, extending them to support polarization and fluorescence, in both steady and transient state. On the foundations of many rendering algorithms, it is the symmetry between the path traversed by light and its adjoint path starting from the camera. However, several effects, including polarization or fluorescence, break that symmetry, and are defined only on the direction of light. This reduces the applicability of bidirectional methods that exploit this symmetry for simulating effectively light transport. In this work, we focus on how to include these non‐symmetric effects within a bidirectional rendering algorithm.