Essential Guide to RenderMan® Shading Plugin Development: Understanding Bxdfs

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to APress Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023

B. E. HollisterEssential Guide to RenderMan® Shading Plugin Developmenthttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9392-8_4

4. Monte Carlo Integration and Global Integrators

Brad E. Hollister¹  

(1)

Carson, CA, USA

 

Monte Carlo integration¹ is used to approximate the rendering equation by random sampling from a distribution that must be supplied by a Bxdf plugin. Thus, it is essential that Bxdf plugin authors understand what Monte Carlo integration is.²

Global integrators (themselves plugins) are introduced to provide context. However, an in-depth explanation on how to write Integrator plugins is beyond the scope of this book.

Numerical Integration

As we have seen in the ...