Irradiance Map

DEFINITION
A data structure that stores total illumination arriving at a point. May be used to interpolate irradiance values at near-by points on a surface.

EXPLANATION
Seeking to render a portion of a surface, we need to know the amount of incident light. As adjacent locations are probably very similar, it makes sense to store irradiation data for the surface in some fashion, saving time in calculations.

OPERATION

BENEFITS
Speeds up rendering.

LIMITATIONS
A very high resolution irradiance map will require a significant amount of memory.

EXAMPLES

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