*** Apologies for cross-posting ***
"Global Illumination for the Masses" Neil Gatenby, Lightwork Design 22nd February 2008, 2-3pm GMT, The University of Manchester, Room 1:10, Kilburn Building. Part of the ACM SIGGRAPH Manchester Professional Chapter seminar series. http://manchester.siggraph.org/ and broadcast through Access Grid. Global Illumination (GI) algorithms came to fruition in the Graphics labs of USA, Europe, Japan, and beyond, during the 1980s and 1990s. The researchers who developed the algorithms had expert knowledge of the underlying physics, and an even more expert knowledge of how their own software behaved (and misbehaved!). Ten years ago, only the most specialised applications contained GI rendering algorithms - those targeted at architects, or automotive manufacturers, or digital imagery for movies/advertising. The number of seats was always small, and the price per seat was always high. Radiosity, ray tracing and photon mapping, final gathering, irradiance caches and the use of MC and QMC importance sampling may all appear on an undergraduate graphics course in 2008, but they are still not the kind of thing one overhears being discussed in the average pub, or cafe! Yet today, it is hard to find AEC or MCAD software that does not contain such algorithms. Many of the pubs and cafes where the algorithms are not discussed contain customers who have kitchen (or bathroom, or garden) design software on their PC/Mac at home. They might not use it very often, nor explore its limits when they do use it, but use it they do. There are many millions of such users, and none of them has paid very much for the software in question. This talk will discuss the difficulties and opportunities that arise when designing GI software for such a market place, and will outline some of the shortcuts and tricks that are commonly employed by those writing the code. Anyone wishing to view a seminar via Access Grid should note the following. Please check the Jabber room shortly before the start of the seminar to find out whether IGPix or ScreenStreamer is to be used. Jabber room: university-of-manchester-(1.10)(sam.ag.manchester.ac.uk)@conference.mcs.anl.gov ScreenStreamer: * Preferably use ScreenStreamer software - go to http://www.memetic-vre.net/software/ScreenStreamer/ScreenStreamer.php, and select room "University of Manchester (1.10)" from the AGSC section. Grab the screen feed (by clicking on it) from the screenstreamer window and resize it - more info can be found on http://www.memetic-vre.net/software/ScreenStreamer<http://www.memetic-vre.net/software/ScreenStreamer/>. * Alternatively, the screenshot (not animated) can be accessed at http://192.150.184.66:7890 (this IP might change for some sessions - please check Jabber). For technical assistance regarding the Access Grid, please contact the Access Grid Support Centre<http://www.agsc.ja.net/>. Non-UK Access Grid nodes are advised to contact the Access Grid Support Centre<http://www.agsc.ja.net/> to check connectivity before the date of the seminar. If possible, please let us know in advance if your site intends to join a seminar. Regards, Martin
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