SVGPU: Real Time 3D Rendering to Vector Graphics Formats

Abstract

We focus on the real-time realistic rendering of a 3-D scene to a 2-D vector image. There are several application domains which could benefit substantially from the compact and resolution independent intermediate format that vector graphics provides. In particular, cloud streaming services, which transmit large amounts of video data and notoriously suffer from low resolution and/or high latency. In addition, display resolutions are growing rapidly, exacerbating the issue. Raster images for large displays prove a significant bottleneck when being transported over communication networks. However the alternative of sending a full 3D scene worth of geometry is even more prohibitive. We implement a real time rendering pipeline that utilizes analytic visibility algorithms on the GPU to output a vector graphics representation of a 3D scene. Our system SVGPU (Scalable Vector on the GPU) is fast and efficient on modern hardware, and simple in design. As such we are making a much needed step towards enabling the benefits of vector graphics representations to be reaped by the real time community.