Rendering intricately-shaped objects using view-dependent microfacets

When a real object is displayed in a virtual space by using computer graphics, the general approach is to draw the image on the basis of the geometrical information and the texture information about the object. However, when the object has a complex and fine structure, it is difficult to draw the object image precisely without a decrease in realism, since the geometrical model cannot be determined precisely. To deal with this problem, this paper proposes the following method. Small faces (microfacets) are generated according to the drawing viewpoint to form layers which are always perpendicular to the view line. Then view-dependent texture mapping is applied to each microfacet and drawing with greater realism is achieved. These processes can be implemented efficiently on an ordinary PC by using programmable graphic hardware. It is shown that view-dependent detail-level control can be realized in this method, so that complicated objects and scenes can be drawn at interactive speed.