Gone in 60 Nanoseconds: Adventures in Transient Rendering

In our everyday experience, light is perceived, measured and simulated in steady state. However, light travels at finite speed (ca. 300000 km/s in vacuum), and architectural spaces are not infact lit instantaneously. Light is therefore a function of time, and propagates through interiors in very complex and sometimes surprising patterns. This presentation introduces a prototype implementation of a transient photon map in RADIANCE. This extension enables time-of-flight simulations, and renders the propagation of light in extreme slow motion. The method is demonstrated through an analysis of transient light transport in the Villa Müller in Prague.