1,485 research outputs found
Towards a High Quality Real-Time Graphics Pipeline
Modern graphics hardware pipelines create photorealistic images with high geometric complexity in real time. The quality is constantly improving and advanced techniques from feature film visual effects, such as high dynamic range images and support for higher-order surface primitives, have recently been adopted. Visual effect techniques have large computational costs and significant memory bandwidth usage. In this thesis, we identify three problem areas and propose new algorithms that increase the performance of a set of computer graphics techniques. Our main focus is on efficient algorithms for the real-time graphics pipeline, but parts of our research are equally applicable to offline rendering. Our first focus is texture compression, which is a technique to reduce the memory bandwidth usage. The core idea is to store images in small compressed blocks which are sent over the memory bus and are decompressed on-the-fly when accessed. We present compression algorithms for two types of texture formats. High dynamic range images capture environment lighting with luminance differences over a wide intensity range. Normal maps store perturbation vectors for local surface normals, and give the illusion of high geometric surface detail. Our compression formats are tailored to these texture types and have compression ratios of 6:1, high visual fidelity, and low-cost decompression logic. Our second focus is tessellation culling. Culling is a commonly used technique in computer graphics for removing work that does not contribute to the final image, such as completely hidden geometry. By discarding rendering primitives from further processing, substantial arithmetic computations and memory bandwidth can be saved. Modern graphics processing units include flexible tessellation stages, where rendering primitives are subdivided for increased geometric detail. Images with highly detailed models can be synthesized, but the incurred cost is significant. We have devised a simple remapping technique that allowsfor better tessellation distribution in screen space. Furthermore, we present programmable tessellation culling, where bounding volumes for displaced geometry are computed and used to conservatively test if a primitive can be discarded before tessellation. We introduce a general tessellation culling framework, and an optimized algorithm for rendering of displaced Bézier patches, which is expected to be a common use case for graphics hardware tessellation. Our third and final focus is forward-looking, and relates to efficient algorithms for stochastic rasterization, a rendering technique where camera effects such as depth of field and motion blur can be faithfully simulated. We extend a graphics pipeline with stochastic rasterization in spatio-temporal space and show that stochastic motion blur can be rendered with rather modest pipeline modifications. Furthermore, backface culling algorithms for motion blur and depth of field rendering are presented, which are directly applicable to stochastic rasterization. Hopefully, our work in this field brings us closer to high quality real-time stochastic rendering
PARALLEL √3-SUBDIVISION with ANIMATION in CONSIDERATION of GEOMETRIC COMPLEXITY
We look at the broader field of geometric subdivision and the emerging field of parallel computing for the purpose of creating higher visual fidelity at an efficient pace. Primarily, we present a parallel algorithm for √3-Subdivision. When considering animation, we find that it is possible to do subdivision by providing only one variable input, with the rest being considered static. This reduces the amount of data transfer required to continually update a subdividing mesh. We can support recursive subdivision by applying the technique in passes. As a basis for analysis, we look at performance in an OpenCL implementation that utilizes a local graphics processing unit (GPU) and a parallel CPU. By overcoming current hardware limitations, we present an environment where general GPU computation of √3-Subdivision can be practical
InferenceMAP: Mapping of Single-Molecule Dynamics with Bayesian Inference
Single-particle tracking (SPT) grants unprecedented insight into cellular
function at the molecular scale [1]. Throughout the cell, the movement of
single-molecules is generally heterogeneous and complex. Hence, there is an
imperative to understand the multi-scale nature of single-molecule dynamics in
biological systems. We have previously shown that with high-density SPT,
spatial maps of the parameters that dictate molecule motion can be generated to
intricately describe cellular environments [2,3,4]. To date, however, there
exist no publically available tools that reconcile trajectory data to generate
the aforementioned maps. We address this void in the SPT community with
InferenceMAP: an interactive software package that uses a powerful Bayesian
method to map the dynamic cellular space experienced by individual
biomolecules.Comment: 56 page
A Cosmic Watershed: the WVF Void Detection Technique
On megaparsec scales the Universe is permeated by an intricate filigree of
clusters, filaments, sheets and voids, the Cosmic Web. For the understanding of
its dynamical and hierarchical history it is crucial to identify objectively
its complex morphological components. One of the most characteristic aspects is
that of the dominant underdense Voids, the product of a hierarchical process
driven by the collapse of minor voids in addition to the merging of large ones.
In this study we present an objective void finder technique which involves a
minimum of assumptions about the scale, structure and shape of voids. Our void
finding method, the Watershed Void Finder (WVF), is based upon the Watershed
Transform, a well-known technique for the segmentation of images. Importantly,
the technique has the potential to trace the existing manifestations of a void
hierarchy. The basic watershed transform is augmented by a variety of
correction procedures to remove spurious structure resulting from sampling
noise. This study contains a detailed description of the WVF. We demonstrate
how it is able to trace and identify, relatively parameter free, voids and
their surrounding (filamentary and planar) boundaries. We test the technique on
a set of Kinematic Voronoi models, heuristic spatial models for a cellular
distribution of matter. Comparison of the WVF segmentations of low noise and
high noise Voronoi models with the quantitatively known spatial characteristics
of the intrinsic Voronoi tessellation shows that the size and shape of the
voids are succesfully retrieved. WVF manages to even reproduce the full void
size distribution function.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, MNRAS accepted, for full resolution, see
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/tim1publication/watershed.pd
The Multiscale Morphology Filter: Identifying and Extracting Spatial Patterns in the Galaxy Distribution
We present here a new method, MMF, for automatically segmenting cosmic
structure into its basic components: clusters, filaments, and walls.
Importantly, the segmentation is scale independent, so all structures are
identified without prejudice as to their size or shape. The method is ideally
suited for extracting catalogues of clusters, walls, and filaments from samples
of galaxies in redshift surveys or from particles in cosmological N-body
simulations: it makes no prior assumptions about the scale or shape of the
structures.}Comment: Replacement with higher resolution figures. 28 pages, 17 figures. For
Full Resolution Version see:
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/tim1publication/miguelmmf.pd
ColDICE: a parallel Vlasov-Poisson solver using moving adaptive simplicial tessellation
Resolving numerically Vlasov-Poisson equations for initially cold systems can
be reduced to following the evolution of a three-dimensional sheet evolving in
six-dimensional phase-space. We describe a public parallel numerical algorithm
consisting in representing the phase-space sheet with a conforming,
self-adaptive simplicial tessellation of which the vertices follow the
Lagrangian equations of motion. The algorithm is implemented both in six- and
four-dimensional phase-space. Refinement of the tessellation mesh is performed
using the bisection method and a local representation of the phase-space sheet
at second order relying on additional tracers created when needed at runtime.
In order to preserve in the best way the Hamiltonian nature of the system,
refinement is anisotropic and constrained by measurements of local Poincar\'e
invariants. Resolution of Poisson equation is performed using the fast Fourier
method on a regular rectangular grid, similarly to particle in cells codes. To
compute the density projected onto this grid, the intersection of the
tessellation and the grid is calculated using the method of Franklin and
Kankanhalli (1993) generalised to linear order. As preliminary tests of the
code, we study in four dimensional phase-space the evolution of an initially
small patch in a chaotic potential and the cosmological collapse of a
fluctuation composed of two sinusoidal waves. We also perform a "warm" dark
matter simulation in six-dimensional phase-space that we use to check the
parallel scaling of the code.Comment: Code and illustration movies available at:
http://www.vlasix.org/index.php?n=Main.ColDICE - Article submitted to Journal
of Computational Physic
Only the Lonely: H I Imaging of Void Galaxies
Void galaxies, residing within the deepest underdensities of the Cosmic Web,
present an ideal population for the study of galaxy formation and evolution in
an environment undisturbed by the complex processes modifying galaxies in
clusters and groups, as well as provide an observational test for theories of
cosmological structure formation. We have completed a pilot survey for the HI
imaging aspects of a new Void Galaxy Survey (VGS), imaging 15 void galaxies in
HI in local (d < 100 Mpc) voids. HI masses range from 3.5 x 10^8 to 3.8 x 10^9
M_sun, with one nondetection with an upper limit of 2.1 x 10^8 M_sun. Our
galaxies were selected using a structural and geometric technique to produce a
sample that is purely environmentally selected and uniformly represents the
void galaxy population. In addition, we use a powerful new backend of the
Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope that allows us to probe a large volume
around each targeted galaxy, simultaneously providing an environmentally
constrained sample of fore- and background control sample of galaxies while
still resolving individual galaxy kinematics and detecting faint companions in
HI. This small sample makes up a surprisingly interesting collection of
perturbed and interacting galaxies, all with small stellar disks. Four galaxies
have significantly perturbed HI disks, five have previously unidentified
companions at distances ranging from 50 to 200 kpc, two are in interacting
systems, and one was found to have a polar HI disk. Our initial findings
suggest void galaxies are a gas-rich, dynamic population which present evidence
of ongoing gas accretion, major and minor interactions, and filamentary
alignment despite the surrounding underdense environment.Comment: 53 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in AJ. High resolution
available at http://www.astro.columbia.edu/~keejo/kreckel2010.pd
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