Physically-Based Realistic Fire Rendering

Abstract

Accurately rendering fires is a challenging problem due to the various subtle ways in which the electromagnetic waves interact with this complex participating medium. We present a new method for physically-based rendering of flames from detailed simulations of flame dynamics which accounts for their unique characteristics. Instead of relying on ad-hoc models, we build on fundamental molecular physics to compute the spectrally dependent absorption, emission and scattering properties of the various chemical compounds found in the fire. Combined with a model of the refractive process, and with tone-mapping techniques simulating the visual adaptation of a human observer, we are able to generate highly realistic renderings of various types of flames, including colorful flames containing chemical species with very characteristic spectral properties.