Practical Parallel Processing for realistic Rendering

Parallel processing offers the potential of rendering high-quality images and animations in reasonable times. This course begins by reviewing the basic issues involved in rendering within a parallel or distributed computing environment. Specifically, various methods are presented for dividing the original rendering problem into subtasks and distributing them efficiently to independent processors. Careful consideration must be taken to balance the processing load across the processors, as well as reduce communication between these subtasks for faster processing. The course continues by examining the strengths and weaknesses of multiprocessor machines and networked render farms for graphics rendering. Case studies of working applications will be presented to demonstrate in detail practical ways of dealing with the issues involved.