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Tiny waves driven by wind, shallow, long waves, head overlapping sea, all of these waves occur in every ocean and even in small lakes. The surface of water is one of the most versatile phenomenas of nature. Not only the movement of waves, but also the reflection of sky, sun and coastline makes the surface of water unique. Exactly this complexity is what brings its own challenges to the simulation of water surfaces. That is why simulation of water occupies mathematicians with a challenge for nearly 400 years now.
In the last fifty years this challenge has more and more shifted to computer science. Computer graphic designers have tried to visualise water in a realistic manner for centuries. Science in this field expends from simple noise filters to mathematically complex solutions like Fourier Transformation.
In the following work historical background of todays wave theories, as well as mathematical fundamentals are given. The focus of this work is set on the implementation of these methods in OpenGL 3.3.
The present thesis covers the implementation and optimization of global illumination in three-dimensional scenes. Global illumination does not only consider direct illumination dependent on one or more light sources, but also indirect illumination which is emitted by surrounding objects in the scene. The thesis focuses on the implementation of a global illumination method and its improvement using OpenGL 4.4. This is done by a voxelization of the scene. By traversing the resulting voxel structure, additional information is taken from the scene, which contributes to a plausible global illumination.
This thesis covers the mathematical background of ray-casting as well as an exemplary implementation on graphics processing units, using a modern programming interface. The implementation is embedded within an editor, which enables the user to activate optimizations of the algorithm. Techniques like transfer functions and local illumination are available for a more realistic visualization of materials. Moreover, the user interface gives access to features like importing volumes, let one define a custom transfer function, holds controls to adjust parameters of rendering and allows to activate further techniques, which are also subject of discussion in this thesis. Benefit of all shown techniques is measured, whether it is expected to be visual or on the part of performance.