Comparison of Advanced and Standard Real-Time 3D Rendering Methods for Interactive Landscapes (Short Paper Version)

The use of games-based visualisation technology allows for the development of sophisticated interactive 3D decision support tools. Components of these tools are the various real-time rendering methods that are implemented to facilitate the interactive 3D aspect of the visualisations. Modern graphics hardware allows for the implementation of both simple and complex GPU shader programs. Shaders can be used to compute material and lighting properties that can greatly influence the visual style of a 3D scene. The research presented here shows that more sophisticated 3D shading methods increase user preference when used to render close up scenes. The research also shows that simpler shading methods can still be used to render distant scenes with less visual details present.