DIFFUSE PHOTON MAP DECOMPOSITION FOR PARALLELIZATION OF GLOBAL ILLUMINATION ALGORITHM

A given computer graphics scene may be rendered as a set of triangles. A set of photons may be distributed over the scene, and a number of steps may be performed for each triangle. For each triangle, a list of photons may be constructed. For that triangle, a set of control points may be identified for purposes of determining global illumination. For each control point, a specific illumination estimate may be computed. A kd-tree of the control points of the triangle may be built. An illumination estimate may then be drive for the triangle.