Parallax occlusion mapping explained

Parallax occlusion mapping (POM) is an enhancement of the parallax mapping technique. Parallax occlusion mapping is used to procedurally create 3D definition in textured surfaces, using a displacement map (similar to a topography map) instead of through the generation of new geometry.^[1] This allows developers of 3D rendering applications to add 3D complexity in textures, which correctly change relative to perspective and with self occlusion in real time (self-shadowing is additionally possible), without sacrificing the processor cycles required to create the same effect with geometry calculations.^[2]

Parallax occlusion mapping was first published in 2005 by Zoe Brawley and Natalya Tatarchuk in ShaderX3.^[1] Natalya Tatarchuk conducted presentations of the technology at SIGGRAPH in 2005.^[3] It was used in ATI's 'Toy Shop Demo' to showcase the Radeon X1800's Ultra-Threaded SM 3.0 technology.^[4] It is used in video games and rendering engines such as Unigine,^[5] CryEngine 2,^[6] and CryEngine 3 and Unreal Engine 4.^[7] It has also been used to create stereoscopic images from single images.^[8]

External links

• A closer look at POM on gamedev.net
• Dachsbacher, C., Tatarchuk, N. Prism Parallax Occlusion Mapping with Accurate Silhouette Generation as a .pdf
• Dachsbacher, C., Tatarchuk, N. Prism Parallax Occlusion Mapping with Accurate Silhouette Generation as a .mov
• Parallax Occlusion Mapping in GLSL on sunandblackcat.com

Notes and References

1. Book: Engel, Wolfgang F. . ShaderX3: Advanced Rendering with DirectX and OpenGL . 2005 . Charles River Media . 978-1-58450-357-6 . en.
2. Dynamic Parallax Occlusion Mapping with Approximate Soft Shadows - Tatarchuk Web site: Archived copy . 2008-11-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080908094405/http://ati.amd.com/developer/techreports/2006/I3D2006/Tatarchuk-POM-SI3D06.pdf . 2008-09-08 .
3. http://www.siggraph.org/s2005/main.php?p=sketches&s=sketches3&f=conference
4. Web site: Computing - Buying Advice & Guides.
5. Web site: SDK Editions and Pricing | UNIGINE: Real-time 3D engine.
6. Web site: Crytek | CryENGINE2 . 2009-12-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091130224928/http://www.cryengine2.com/index.php?pnr=1&conid=2 . 2009-11-30 .
7. Web site: Crytek | MyCryENGINE . 2009-12-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091017063147/http://www.mycryengine.com/index.php?conid=2 . 2009-10-17 .
8. Web site: Archived copy . 2008-11-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120219022129/http://www.scalari.net/2008/04/22/generating-stereoscopic-images-with-parallax-occlusion-mapping/ . 2012-02-19 . dead .