A Survey of Shadow Rendering Algorithms: Projection Shadows and Shadow Volumes

Shadow is always being one of the most attractive subjects because of its important role in the field of computer realistic graphics. In this paper, we survey two commonly used types of shadow rendering algorithms: projection shadows and shadow volumes. The basic ideas underlying the two types of algorithms are introduced and their characters are discussed in details. Further, we trace the technical development and summarize various improvements of the algorithms. The work in the paper is helpful for choosing an appropriate approach or integrating with some techniques for rendering shadows according to the specific requirements.