US 2020/0051324 A1Published application

Systems and methods for rendering reflections

AssigneeElectronic Arts Inc.

InventorYasin Uludag

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Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provide systems and method for rendering reflections. To add reflections to a pixel in an image, ray marching is used to attempt to find a ray intersection for primary reflections. When using rasterization to render a scene, objects outside the viewport are culled. As such, ray marching may fail in various situations, such as when a ray marched ray exits the viewport without intersecting any other object of the scene. In such a situation where ray marching fails, the ray can be re-cast as a ray traced ray. The ray traced ray is cast into the full 3D (three-dimensional) scene with all objects present (i.e., objects are not culled). Ray tracing is then used to attempt to find a ray intersection, i.e., for a primary reflection. The disclosed embodiments can be used in real-time or near-real time applications, such as video games.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for generating reflection information, the method comprising:

determining, for a first frame, a location of intersection of an object based on a reflection ray for a first pixel, wherein the location of intersection of the object corresponds to a shape of an ellipse;
determining, for the first frame, a location in a reflection realm of the intersection of the object based on the reflection ray for the first pixel;
projecting, for the first frame, a first line from the location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object by the reflection ray for the first pixel towards a first location of a camera;
determining, for the first frame, a location of intersection of the first line on a surface of a first object;
determining, for a second frame, a location of intersection of an object based on a reflection ray for a second pixel, wherein the second frame is subsequent to the first frame;
determining, for the second frame, a location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object based on the reflection ray for the second pixel;
projecting, for the second frame, a second line from the location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object by the reflection ray for the second pixel towards a second location of the camera;
determining, for the second frame, a location of intersection of the second line on a surface of a second object;
determining that a surface roughness of the location of intersection of the second line on the surface of the second object is within a threshold roughness of a surface roughness of the location of intersection of the first line on the surface of the first object;
and
generating reflection information for the second pixel based on reflection information for the first pixel.

8 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes a computing device to generate reflection information, by performing the steps of:

determining, for a first frame, a location of intersection of an object based on a reflection ray for a first pixel, wherein the location of intersection of the object corresponds to a shape of an ellipse;
determining, for the first frame, a location in a reflection realm of the intersection of the object based on the reflection ray for the first pixel;
projecting, for the first frame, a first line from the location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object by the reflection ray for the first pixel towards a first location of a camera;
determining, for the first frame, a location of intersection of the first line on a surface of a first object;
determining, for a second frame, a location of intersection of an object based on a reflection ray for a second pixel, wherein the second frame is subsequent to the first frame;
determining, for the second frame, a location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object based on the reflection ray for the second pixel;
projecting, for the second frame, a second line from the location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object by the reflection ray for the second pixel towards a second location of the camera;
determining, for the second frame, a location of intersection of the second line on a surface of a second object;
determining that a surface roughness of the location of intersection of the second line on the surface of the second object is within a threshold roughness of a surface roughness of the location of intersection of the first line on the surface of the first object;
and
generating reflection information for the second pixel based on reflection information for the first pixel.

8 more elements

A device for generating reflection information, the device comprising:

a memory storing instructions;
and
one or more processors configured to the execute the instructions to cause the device to:
determine, for a first frame, a location of intersection of an object based on a reflection ray for a first pixel, wherein the location of intersection of the object corresponds to a shape of an ellipse;
determine, for the first frame, a location in a reflection realm of the intersection of the object based on the reflection ray for the first pixel;
project, for the first frame, a first line from the location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object by the reflection ray for the first pixel towards a first location of a camera;
determine, for the first frame, a location of intersection of the first line on a surface of a first object;
determine, for a second frame, a location of intersection of an object based on a reflection ray for a second pixel, wherein the second frame is subsequent to the first frame;
determine, for the second frame, a location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object based on the reflection ray for the second pixel;
project, for the second frame, a second line from the location in the reflection realm of the intersection of the object by the reflection ray for the second pixel towards a second location of the camera;
determine, for the second frame, a location of intersection of the second line on a surface of a second object;
determine that a surface roughness of the location of intersection of the second line on the surface of the second object is within a threshold roughness of a surface roughness of the location of intersection of the first line on the surface of the first object;
and
generate reflection information for the second pixel based on reflection information for the first pixel.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.