Method and apparatus for determining view impact

A computing platform operative to determine a view impact of a target structure the computing platform comprising a computer and a memory, the computer being operative to:

• load a 3D scene from the memory;
• determine a view point and direction of interest of said loaded 3D scene;
• render, without the target structure, a plane of said loaded 3D scene image perpendicular to said determined view point and direction of interest at a distance from said view point distal of the target structure;
• count the pixels for said rendered plane without the target structure;
• render, with the target structure, a plane of said loaded 3D scene image perpendicular to said determined view point and direction of interest at the distance from said view point distal of the target structure;
• count the pixels for said rendered plane with the target structure;
• and
• calculate the difference between the counted pixels with the target structure and the counted pixels without the target structure.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a data processing system to perform a computer implemented method of determining a view impact of a target structure, the method comprising:

• loading a 3D scene;
• determining a view point and direction of interest of said loaded 3D scene;
• rendering, without the target structure, a plane of said loaded 3D scene image perpendicular to said determined view point and direction of interest at a distance from said view point distal of the target structure;
• counting the number of pixels for said rendered plane without the target structure;
• rendering, with the target structure, a plane of said loaded 3D scene image perpendicular to said determined view point and direction of interest at the distance from said view point distal of the target structure;
• counting the number of pixels for said rendered plane with the target structure;
• and
• calculating the difference between the counted pixels with the target structure and the counted pixels without the target structure.