OpenGL-assisted Visibility Queries of Large Polygonal Models

Abstract

We present an OpenGL-assisted visibility culling algorithm to improve the rendering performance of large polygonal models. Using a combination of OpenGL-assisted frustum culling, hierarchical model-space partitioning, and OpenGL based occlusion culling, we achieve a significant better performance on general polygonal models than previous approaches. In contrast to these approaches, we only exploit common OpenGL features and therefore, our algorithm is also well suited for low-end OpenGL hardware. Furthermore, we propose a small addition to the OpenGL rendering pipeline, to enhance the framebuffer's ability for faster visibility queries. CR Categories: I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Visibility Culling, Occlusion Culling I.3.7 [Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism]: Hidden Line/Surface Removal Keywords: Occlusion culling, hierarchical data structures, OpenGL, sloppy n-ary space partitioning tree 1 Introduction Hidden-line-removal and visibility are among the classic topics...