Computer image synthesis: rendering techniques

TL;DR: The purpose of this paper is to demystify the image-making process without understating the difficulty that it presents.

Abstract: Computer image synthesis is a powerful and flexible tool for producing film and video animation. To use it, one “tells the computer” how to make an image and then goes away for a while. Images produced by the simplest methods have a cartoonlike appearance, while advanced techniques will generate pictures that cannot be immediately distinguished from photographs of real scenes. Although computer-generated images have long been used for flight training and some scientific and engineering applications, they are increasingly being used for special effects in the advertising and entertainment fields. In spite of this growing application, the complexity of image synthesis techniques continues to intimidate most people. The purpose of this paper is to demystify the image-making process without understating the difficulty that it presents.