Parallax mapping
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Parallax Mapping (also, Offset Mapping or Virtual Displacement Mapping) is an enhancement of the bump mapping or normal mapping techniques applied to textures in 3D rendering applications such as video games. To the end user, this means that textures (such as wooden floorboards) will have more apparent depth and realism with less of an influence on the speed of the game. Parallax mapping was introduced by Kaneko[1] in 2001.
Parallax mapping is implemented by displacing the texture coordinates at a point on the rendered polygon by a function of the view angle in tangent space (the angle relative to the surface normal) and the value of the height map at that point. At steeper view angles the texture coordinates are displaced more, and so give the illusion of depth due to parallax effects as the view changes.
Parallax mapping described by Kaneko is a single step process that does not account for occlusion. Subsequent enhancements have been made to the algorithm incorporating iterative approaches to allow for occlusion and accurate silhouette rendering[2].
[edit] References
- ^ Kaneko, T., et al, 2001. Detailed Shape Representation with Parallax Mapping. In Proceedings of ICAT 2001, pp. 205-208.
- ^ Tatarchuk, N., 2005. Practical Dynamic Parallax Occlusion Mapping Siggraph presentation
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Parallax mapping implementation in DirectX, forum topic
- Parallax Mapped Bullet Holes - Details the algorithm used for F.E.A.R. style bullet holes.
