Microfacet Models for Refraction through Rough Surfaces

Abstract

Microfacet models have proven very successful for modeling light reflection from rough surfaces. In this paper we review microfacet theory and demonstrate how it can be extended to simulate transmission through rough surfaces such as etched glass. We compare the resulting transmission model to measured data from several real surfaces and discuss appropriate choices for the microfacet distribution and shadowing-masking functions. Since rendering transmission through media requires tracking light that crosses at least two interfaces, good importance sampling is a practical necessity. Therefore, we also describe efficient schemes for sampling the microfacet models and the corresponding probability density functions.