Editing Radiosity (computer graphics) (section)

{{short description|Computer graphics rendering method using diffuse reflection}}
{{Technical|date=July 2009}}

[[File:Radiosity - RRV, step 79.png|thumb|300px|right|Scene rendered with RRV<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dudka.cz/rrv|title=RRV - Radiosity Renderer and Visualizer|last=Dudka|first=Kamil|website=dudka.cz|access-date=1 February 2013}}</ref> (simple implementation of radiosity renderer based on OpenGL) 79th iteration]]
[[File:BMRT - Cornell box, with and without radiosity.gif|thumb|300px|The [[Cornell box]], rendered with and without radiosity by [[Blue Moon Rendering Tools|BMRT]]]]
In [[3D computer graphics]], '''radiosity''' is an application of the [[finite element method]] to solving the [[rendering equation]] for scenes with surfaces that [[Diffuse reflection|reflect light diffusely]].  Unlike [[rendering (computer graphics)|rendering]] methods that use [[Monte Carlo method|Monte Carlo algorithms]] (such as [[path tracing]]), which handle all types of light paths, typical radiosity only account for paths (represented by the code "LD*E") which leave a light source and are reflected diffusely some number of times (possibly zero) before hitting the eye. Radiosity is a [[global illumination]] [[algorithm]] in the sense that the illumination arriving on a surface comes not just directly from the light sources, but also from other surfaces reflecting light. Radiosity is viewpoint independent, which increases the calculations involved, but makes them useful for all viewpoints.

Radiosity methods were first developed in about 1950 in the engineering field of [[heat transfer]]. They were later refined specifically for the problem of rendering computer graphics in 1984{{endash}}1985 by researchers at [[Cornell University]]<ref>"Cindy Goral, Kenneth E. Torrance, Donald P. Greenberg and B. Battaile,[http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~cutler/classes/advancedgraphics/S07/lectures/goral.pdf Modeling the interaction of light between diffuse surfaces]",, ''[[Computer Graphics (Publication)|Computer Graphics]]'', Vol. 18, No. 3. ([[PDF]])</ref>  and [[Hiroshima University]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Nishita | first1=Tomoyuki |author-link1=Tomoyuki Nishita | last2=Nakamae | first2=Eihachiro | title=Continuous tone representation of three-dimensional objects taking account of shadows and interreflection | journal=ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics | publisher=Association for Computing Machinery | date=July 1985 | volume=19 | issue=3 | pages=23–30 | doi=10.1145/325165.325169 | url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/325334.325169 | access-date=17 October 2024}}</ref>

Notable commercial radiosity engines are Enlighten by [[Geomerics]] (used for games including [[Battlefield 3]] and [[Need for Speed: The Run]]); [[3ds Max]]; [[form-Z|form•Z]]; [[LightWave 3D]] and the [[Electric Image Animation System]].