The Rendering Equation
James T. Kajiya.
Computer Graphics (Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 86). 20 (4). pp. 143-150. 1986.

Copyright
Copyright © 1986 Association for Computing Machinery

Keywords
rendering, ray tracing, radiosity, shading, diffuse reflection, radiosity

Abstract
We present an integral equation which generalizes a variety of known rendering algorithms. In the course of discussing a Monte Carlo solution a new form of variance reduction is presented, called hierarchical sampling, and a number of elaborations are given that show that it may be an efficient new technique for a wide variety of Monte Carlo procedures. The resulting rendering algorithm extends the range of optical phenomena which can be effectively simulated.

Suggested Citation Key
Kajiya:1986:TRE