Real-Time Rendering of Procedurally Generated Planets

by Florian Michelic Abstract: We present a simple and efficient solution for seamless and distortion-free representation of planetary terrain, ocean waves, and volumetric clouds solely based on pre-computation and on-the-fly calculations, running in real time. Our approach to terrain and ocean mesh generation relies on projecting a persistent grid onto the surface of the planet that takes level-of-detail and frustum-culling into account. We modify a planar wave function to account for the curved surface of the planet, creating seamless, evenly spaced waves across the planet, while remaining fully controllable and adjustable in order to reflect the various dynamics of ocean waves. We further show how we render volumetric clouds along with precomputed atmospheric scattering to properly integrate the clouds into the atmosphere. Our method allows for reasonable cloud-atmosphere interaction and accounts for all viewpoints and viewing directions with continuous transition from ground to space. Read the full paper at