What is RenderPark?
RenderPark is a test-bed system for physically
based photo-realistic image synthesis. It's a free software package providing
a solid implementation of a wide variety of state-of-the-art ray-tracing
and radiosity algorithms. Our goal is to compare these algorithms on a
fair basis, to evaluate benefits and shortcomings, to find solutions for
the latter and to develop new algorithms that are more robust and efficient
than the algorithms that are available in rendering systems today, free
or commercial. Although RenderPark is in the first place a tool for research
and teaching, it is evolving towards a full featured physics based global
illumination rendering system that also illumination engineers, architects,
designers and artists will appreciate.
The development of RenderPark started in
the fall of 1993. Most of its development took place (and still takes place)
at the Computer Graphics
Research Group of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in Belgium. Its realization
is supported by the Belgian National Science Foundation (FWO-Vl), the Flemish
Institute for the Promotion of Scientific-Technological Research in Industry
(IWT) and an equipment grant by Hewlett-Packard. RenderPark is realized
within the context of various international collaboration projects as well.
Current release: version 3.3, August, 23 2001
Image rendered using photon mapping,
one of the algorithms implemented in RenderPark.