Wire Frame Rendering
Built from polygon edges and outlines
Still commonly used - fast, existing systems
Disadvantages - doesn't show surface features well, hidden features difficult
Z Buffer Rendering
Each pixel contains a depth value, measure of distance from eye to object
Prominent on CAD systems, basic operations encoded in hardware
Advantages - very fast, works well with polygon models
Disadvantages - can't do fancy lighting
Ray Tracing
Ray is computed from the eye to each pixel. When pixel is an object, the point is the sum total of light hitting the object. Reflexion and refraction further complicate the process.
Restricted to very high quality images.
Advantages: relatively fast for very complex scenes
Disadvantages: slow for majority of scenes
Radiosity
Models multiple diffuse reflections between objects. Secondary light vs. Ray Tracing primary light source.
For Applications that benefit from good reproduction of multiple light scattering.
Advantages: Handles objects that receive light from other objects very well
Disadvantages: not so good with many shiny, flat objects, and very slow.
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