MRT – An Extensible Platform for 3D Image Synthesis

This project focuses on an object-oriented software architecture for a 3D rendering package which significantly improves the readability of the underlying algorithms, drastically improves productivity, and, most importantly, consists of building blocks that lend themselves to programmer customization thus making 3D image synthesis more accessible. The renderer is object-based rather than drawing based and consists of an extensible set of objects that perform a variety of operations. The 3D objects as well as the imaging objects (like Image, Screen, Light) are the building blocks that lend themselves to programmer customization through techniques such as subclassing. State-of-the-art functionality and advanced algorithms can be (and have been) incorporated into this renderer with a minimum amount of programming (i.e., analysis/understanding of existing code and creation of new code). Keeping the functionality local to the individual classes and objects enables software engineers to focus on a specific task rather than spend their time in trying to understand a complex (and sometimes monolithic) package. Experiences with our (inhomogeneous) user population prove that the system meets its design goal of being highly customizable and extendible [1]. Furthermore, it serves as a compact testbed for various rendering aspects from Gouraud shading based on the scan-line z-buffer algorithm to Hall’s illumination equation or from ray acceleration techniques to efficient algorithms for intersecting a ray with multiple meta balls, to name a few. Enhanced rendering techniques like volume rendering or global illumination algorithms like radiosity or path tracing are available, too