Camera simulation system

A computer implemented method for rendering a synthetic two dimensional image of a three dimensional scene in a manner that accurately simulates a physical lens system, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) computing an exit pupil of the lens system;
• (b) selecting a ray that passes through the exit pupil from a point on the image surface;
• (c) tracing the ray through the lens system to determine an ultimate direction of the ray in object space;
• (d) repeating steps (b)-(c) to obtain a first plurality of directions for a first plurality of rays;
• (e) computing from the first plurality of rays and the first plurality of directions a selected second plurality of rays and a second plurality of directions;
• wherein step (e) includes the use of a thick lens approximation;
• (f) calculating radiance values for the second plurality of rays;
• and
• (g) combining the plurality of radiance values to compute an image value at each pixel.

A computer implemented method for rendering a three dimensional scene to generate a two dimensional image, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) computing an exit pupil of a lens system, wherein the exit pupil defines a boundary between rays blocked by the lens system and rays passing through the lens system;
• (b) selecting a ray that passes through the exit pupil to an image point on an image plane;
• (c) tracing the ray from the three dimensional scene through the lens system to the image point;
• (d) calculating a radiance value for the ray;
• (e) repeating steps (b)-(d) to obtain a plurality of radiance values;
• and
• (f) combining the plurality of radiance values to generate the two dimensional image on the image plane.