Fast Tree Ambient Occlusion Approximation

We present a fast ambient occlusion approximation algorithm for real-time tree rendering. The main contribution of the proposed method concerns the preprocessing stage of ambient occlusion. The proposed method is a divide- and-conquer calculation framework with limited user intervention. The proposed approach splits the plant geometry into clusters. On each plant primitive, ambiant occlusion approximation is then defined from statistical inner cluster properties and a fast outer cluster occlusion. The implementation achieves flexible ambient occlusion effects with linear complexity.