Abstract

We present our approach to a generic rendering system that incorporates different modalities by using specialized renderers. Our proposed system focuses on the combination of the outputs of different rendering algorithms and is not primarily data-driven as most other frameworks. We combine the various renderers for geometry, volumes and unstructured lumigraphs in a hierarchical structure, enabling us to use groups of renderers and flexibly join their outputs sequentially via the use of pbuffers or framebuffer objects to combine tree layers. By imposing several programming guidelines as rules of behaviour for rendering algorithms we ensure valid output after each rendering step. Additionally, we show the extensibility of our framework by giving hints on how to integrate common rendering techniques, with a focus on multiple unstructured lumigraph rendering.