Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Comparison Of Microfacet Brdf Model To Modified Beckmann-Kirchhoff Brdf Model For Rough And Smooth Surfaces, Samuel D. Butler, Stephen E. Nauyoks, Michael A. Marciniak

Faculty Publications

A popular class of BRDF models is the microfacet models, where geometric optics is assumed. In contrast, more complex physical optics models may more accurately predict the BRDF, but the calculation is more resource intensive. These seemingly disparate approaches are compared in detail for the rough and smooth surface approximations of the modified Beckmann-Kirchhoff BRDF model, assuming Gaussian surface statistics. An approximation relating standard Fresnel reflection with the semi-rough surface polarization term, Q, is presented for unpolarized light. For rough surfaces, the angular dependence of direction cosine space is shown to be identical to the angular dependence in the microfacet …