Voxels are cells on a 3D regular grid. Voxel-based scenes have many applications, including frequent use in simulations or games. Over the years, the field of high-resolution voxel scenes has progressed significantly, allowing for compressing and real-time editing of high-resolution scenes. This possibility of editing high-resolution scenes led to various editing tools. This thesis aims to expand this set of tools with a focus on more complex simulation-based solutions. We explored the field of terrain weathering and decided on a spheroidal weathering tool to perform weathering on voxel-based scenes. One of the existing limitations of this particular method was that it did not account for debris simulation. We ultimately decided to add a granular simulation using a layer-based approach that integrates with the weathering tool but is also able to function in a standalone manner.
This thesis presents three highly-customizable editing tools for voxel-based scenes: spheroidal weathering, granular simulation, and a combined tool that enables weathering with debris simulation. These tools are integrated into the HashDAG framework, which is a high-resolution voxel-grid method building upon a directed acyclic graph representation of a sparse voxel octree. Our solutions enable close to real-time editing for changes with a smaller regional support. There is room for improvement in terms of performance at scale, with various potential ideas presented in the future work section. ... Read more

Real-time realistic rendering requires the evaluation of the influence of many light sources. In case of dynamic geometry or light sources, this evaluation must be performed every frame. In this thesis I present enclosed clustering: an adaptation of Clustered Light Shading to stereoscopic rendering which cuts the per-eye cost of light assignment in half. To achieve this, clustering is performed once with a clustering camera frustum that encloses both of the eye camera frusta. Decoupling of the clustering camera from the rendering camera gives way to two alternative ways of constructing the clustering: orthographic clustering and displaced perspective clustering. Orthographic clustering uses a uniform world-space grid and has been traditionally dismissed. Displaced perspective clustering uses a decoupled clustering camera to reduce the number of small clusters near the camera. These techniques can be applied to both monoscopic and stereoscopic rendering. ... Read more

This document describes the design process the prototype of a measurement light bulb which is able to project spherical harmonics of orders 0-1-2. Photographs of these projections can be combined to represent many light distributions. The measurement light bulb can be used in the field of research focused on the computation of the illumination impact of lighting, more specifically, simulating different light sources. Our prototype consists of a laser beam rotating over two axes, which allows the device to project onto a sphere around itself. The device can be controlled wirelessly using Bluetooth. The lamp can project spherical harmonics in a resolution of 4° and 256 monochrome light levels. The time one projection takes is about one second, which allows for quick measurements. The dimensions and the weight of the lamp are such that it is portable. At this stage, the prototype can only operate in a dark environment, due to the use of a low powered laser. In this document, the focus will be on the light source, its corresponding drivers and the camera synchronisation. ... Read more