Real-time shader rendering for crowds in virtual heritage

Abstract

We present a method of fully dynamically rendered virtual humans with variety in color, animation and appearance. This is achieved by using vertex and fragment shaders programmed in the OpenGL shading language (GLSL). We then compare our results with a fixed function pipeline based approach. We also show a color variety creation GUI using HSB color space restriction. An improved version of the LOD pipeline for our virtual characters is presented. With these new techniques, we are able to use a full dynamic animation range in the crowd populating the Aphrodisias odeon (which is part of the ERATO project), i.e., a greater repertoire of animations, smooth transitions and more variety and speed. We show how a multi-view of the rendering data can ensure good batching of rendering primitives and comfortable constant time access.