A Parallel Framework for Interactive Rendering of Massive Complex Scenes on PCs Cluster

This paper present a parallel framework for interactively rendering massive complex scenes on PCs cluster. The framework integrates parallel rendering, scene graph, software acceleration techniques, and out-of-core data management. We propose a novel parallel rendering architecture based on dynamic rendering team and hybrid rendering pipeline to balance work load and to handle different graphics primitive distribution. A unified scene graph representation is designed for flexible object manipulation in upper applications and efficient rendering in lower rendering pipeline. We present a priority-based out-of-core data management scheme which guarantees fixed memory footprint and data scheduling efficiency. We have implemented this framework and developed two applications to test its performance on a cluster of 32 PCs: a walkthrough application for massive complex scenes and a distributed multi- player video game.