3D Design Software Real-Time Rendering via Precomputed Lighting Templates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional design software struggles to efficiently render realistic, three-dimensional views of design choices in real-time, often requiring significant processing time and failing to account for structural integrity and real-world material constraints, leading to inefficiencies and impractical designs.
Innovation Solution
The system prerenders visual effects such as lighting and shadowing using a central processing unit and stores them as templates, which are then processed by a graphical processing unit during runtime, allowing for instant and realistic rendering of design choices in two or three-dimensional views.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional rendering programs are used to render lighting and shadowing characteristics, then rendering accuracy is improved, but processing time increases significantly (taking several minutes to several hours)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates and stores lighting and shadowing characteristics for various objects in a database before runtime. During actual design rendering, the system retrieves pre-computed lighting data based on object positions and orientations, combining it with real-time positional information to generate accurate 3D views instantly, rather than computing lighting from scratch during rendering
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates the rendering process into two independent components: lighting/shadowing characteristics (pre-computed and stored in database) and object positioning/orientation (computed in real-time). This segmentation allows the system to reuse pre-computed lighting data across multiple views and objects, significantly reducing runtime processing requirements while maintaining rendering accuracy
2Productivity
If gaming engine rendering is used for real-time visual effects, then processing speed is improved, but rendering accuracy and realism deteriorate (producing rough visual effects)
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-computes accurate lighting and shadowing characteristics using traditional rendering methods and stores them in a database. During real-time operation, these pre-computed accurate lighting data are retrieved and combined with real-time object positioning, enabling both speed and accuracy without relying on approximate gaming engine rendering
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a database of pre-computed lighting and shadowing templates that can be copied and applied to multiple objects and scenarios. These templates represent accurate lighting characteristics that can be reused across different design views, eliminating the need to recompute lighting for each rendering operation
3Adaptability or versatility
If design software allows flexible configuration of spaces, then adaptability is improved, but structural integrity and physical feasibility are compromised (designing physically impossible structures)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system automatically checks design configurations against pre-defined structural rules and constraints. When a design violates structural integrity requirements (such as improper roof-wall configurations), the system provides feedback to alert the designer, preventing physically impossible structures from being finalized while maintaining design flexibility
Data Source
AI summary
Design software in accordance with an implementation of the present invention is configured to provide believable three-dimensional representations of user selections in real-time. Design elements that would otherwise be difficult to efficiently render three-dimensionally in real-time are prerendered for realistic visual effects, such as realistic shading, which correspond to various positions of the elements in a design space. Blanks of the visual effects for each position are then stored in a data store for visual effects. At run time, data associated with user design choices, as well as the blanks for any corresponding design elements are fed in one implementation to peripheral processing hardware, such as a GPU, which sends the processed data to a display device. The user is therefore able to view complex visual data of certain design choices efficiently with added realism.