Beam Tracing is an algorithm for simulating wave propagation. It has been developed in computer graphics to render 3D scenes for example to create a 3D configurator, but it has also been used in other similar areas such as acoustics and electromagnetism simulations.

Introduction Beam Tracing

Beam tracing is a derivative of the raytracing algorithm, which replaces rays that are not thick with rays. Beams have the shape of unlimited pyramids with (possibly complex) polygonal cross-sections. Beam tracing was first mentioned by Paul Heckbert and Pat Hanrahan.

Beam tracing involves throwing a pyramidal beam through the entire field of view. This first view beam is crossed with every polygon in the environment, typically from the nearest to the farthest. Any polygon intersecting with the beam must be visible, removed from the beam shape, and added to a render queue. When a beam intersects a reflective or refractive polygon, a new beam is generated, similar to raytracing.

A variant of raytracing throws a pyramidal beam through each pixel of the image plane. The ray is then divided into partial rays based on its intersection with the scene geometry. This type of implementation is rarely used because the geometric processes are much more complex and therefore more expensive than simply throwing more rays through the pixel. Cone tracing is a similar technique that uses a cone instead of a complex pyramid.

Tracing solves certain problems associated with sampling and aliasing that can plague traditional raytracing approaches. Because beam tracing effectively calculates the path of each possible beam within each beam (which can be considered as a dense bundle of adjacent beams), it is not as susceptible to over-sampling or under-sampling. The complexity of the calculation associated with bars has made it unpopular for many visualization applications. In recent years, Monte Carlo algorithms such as distributed raytracing have become increasingly popular for performing calculations.

A “backwards” variant of raytracing throws rays from the light source into the environment. Similar to photon mapping, backward beam tracing can be used to efficiently model light effects such as caustics. Recently the Backwards Beam Tracing technique has been extended to shiny to diffuse material interactions (shiny Backward Beam Tracing), e.g. of polished metal surfaces.

Beam tracing was successfully applied to the fields of acoustic modeling and electromagnetic propagation modeling. In both applications, beams are used as an efficient method for tracking deep reflections from a source to a receiver (or vice versa). Beams can provide a convenient and compact way to display visibility. Once a beam tree has been calculated, it can be used to easily consider moving transmitters or receivers. Beam tracing is very strongly connected to the concept of cone tracing.

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