RAY TRACING METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING VISIBLE PARTS OF SURFACES OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS AND THEIR PARAMETERS OF SHADING ACCOUNTING FOR LIGHT AND SHADOW VOLUMES

摘要

There is provided a system, method and article of manufacture for determining the visibility of surfaces and/or parts of surfaces of three-dimensional objects, which are projected on a view plane from data defining these surfaces, comprising: a) deriving data indicative of boundaries of projections of the surfaces on the view plane; b) determining (preferably, by recursion) a finite number of subdivisions of the view plane thereby providing perimeters of each of the subdivisions; c) determining points of intersection of the perimeter of one of the subdivisions with the boundaries of the surfaces projected on the view plane; d) determining the distribution of surfaces visible along the perimeter of the of one of the subdivisions by utilizing the points of intersection; and e) determining if the one subdivision is “simple enough” of “terminal” from at least the distribution of surfaces visible along the perimeter of the one subdivision. In a preferred embodiment of the present solution, the visibility of surfaces and/or parts of surfaces of three-dimensional objects projected on a view plane are determined using one or more “minimal rectangles or subdivisions” as defined further herein.