PATH GUIDING USING NEURAL RADIANCE CACHING WITH DEFENSIVE RESAMPLED IMPORTANCE SAMPLING AND ADAPTIVE CANDIDATE ALLOCATION

Number: 20260212593
Published: 2026-07-23
Filed: 2026-01-23
Assignee: DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
Inventors: SALEHI; Farnood, PAPAS; Marios, PORTENIER; Tiziano Andrea, MANZI; Marco, RATH; Alexander
CPC: G06T15/06; G06T15/506; G06T15/005; G06T15/205; G06T2210/24
Verdict: Medium Notable software
First reported: 2026-W30 (2026-07-24)
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

The present disclosure relates to computer-implemented path guiding in a rendering system.

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to computer-implemented path guiding in a rendering system. A sampling engine generates, at a scattering location on a lightpath, a set of candidate directions from source distributions and selects a direction using resampled importance sampling. The resampling may include defensive target construction in which a neural target derived from learned radiance estimates is combined with a defensive target derived from at least one source distribution, and the candidate directions are weighted and selected based on a fused target. In some embodiments, an optimized resampling candidate allocation (ORCA) module determines, for the scattering location, a candidate count specifying how many candidate directions are generated, wherein the candidate count is determined based on one or more rendering efficiency metrics that relate estimated variance reduction to computational cost. One or more learned radiance models may be trained using samples collected during rendering and evaluated during candidate evaluation.

Background

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to computer graphics and, more specifically, to techniques for performing path guiding using neural radiance caching with defensive resampled importance sampling and adaptive candidate allocation. BACKGROUND

In the field of computer graphics, rendering includes the process of generating an image of a scene based on a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) representation of the scene. The 2D or 3D representation of the scene may include geometry, texture, lighting, and/or shading information describing the scene. In particular, the 2D or 3D representation may include information describing one or more light sources included in the scene.

One technique for calculating lighting effects in a rendered image of a scene includes generating multiple lightpaths associated with a virtual camera viewpoint. Each lightpath describes a trajectory that potentially connects the virtual camera to a light source included in the scene, and may include multiple scattering events or bounces based on the location of the virtual camera, the location of the one or more light sources, and the positions and surface characteristics associated with one or more objects included in the scene. Each interaction between a lightpath and one or more surfaces included in the scene may change the direction, color, and/or intensity of the reflected or scattered light and provided visual information associated with

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for performing path guiding, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a representation of a three-dimensional (3D) scene and a virtual camera location; generating, based on at least the representation, a lightpath that originates at the virtual camera location and reaches a point included in the 3D scene; determining, for the point, a candidate count specifying a number of candidate directions to be considered for extending the lightpath from the point, wherein the candidate count is determined based at least on one or more rendering efficiency metrics; generating, in accordance with the candidate count, a set of candidate directions for extending the lightpath from the point; extending the lightpath in a selected direction; and generating a two-dimensional (2D) rendering of the 3D scene based at least on the generated lightpath. || 10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: receiving a representation of a three-dimensional (3D) scene and a virtual camera location; generating, based on at least the representation, a lightpath that originates at the virtual camera location and reaches a point included in the 3D scene; determining, for the point, a candidate count specifying a number of candidate directions to be considered for extending the lightpath from the point, wherein the candidate count is determined based at least on one or more rendering efficiency metrics; generating, in accordance with the candidate count, a set of candidate directions for extending the lightpath from the point; extending the lightpath in a selected direction; and generating a two-dimensional (2D) rendering of the 3D scene based at least on the generated lightpath. || 19. A system comprising: one or more memories storing instructions; and one or more processors for executing the instructions to: receive a representation of a three-dimensional (3D) scene and a virtual camera location; generate, based on at least the representation, a lightpath that originates at the virtual camera location and reaches a point included in the 3D scene; determine, for the point, a candidate count specifying a number of candidate directions to be considered for extending the lightpath from the point, wherein the candidate count is determined based at least on one or more rendering efficiency metrics; generate, in accordance with the candidate count, a set of candidate directions for extending the lightpath from the point; extend the lightpath in a selected direction; and generate a two-dimensional (2D) rendering of the 3D scene based at least on the generated lightpath.