Composite lighting simulations with lighting networks

Lighting networks combine different global illumination algorithms in a composite lighting simulation and allow for restricting costly lighting effects to important parts of the scene. In the lighting networks approach, each lighting algorithm is considered a lighting operator or LightOp. Each LightOp takes illumination information as input and generates new illumination information as output after having simulated part of the global lighting effects in the scene. We motivate the use of LightOps from the formal solution of the radiance equation. We then demonstrate how these LightOps can easily combine into a lighting network, representing a composite lighting simulation.