Multi-layered impostors for accelerated rendering

Abstract

This paper describes the successful combination of pre-generated and dynamically updated image-based representations to accelerate the visualization of complex virtual environments. We introduce a new type of impostor, which has the desirable property of limiting de-occlusion errors to a user-specified amount. This impostor, composed of multiple layers of textured meshes, replaces the distant geometry and is much faster to draw. It captures the relevant depth complexity in the model without resorting to a complete sampling of the scene. We show that layers can be dynamically updated during visualization. This guarantees bounded scene complexity in each frame and also exploits temporal coherence to improve image quality when possible. We demonstrate the strengths of this approach in the context of city walkthroughs.