An Intelligent Real-Time Application for Casting Shadows in Outdoor Environments

Calculating and measuring shadows with respect to the sun position in any outdoor games is a challenging and heavy task which must be taken into account. In this paper an intelligent real-time platform for outdoor environment is presented to control the amount and direction of shadows with respect to the sun position. The sun position reveals an attractive part of outdoor games. To create shadow, shadow volume using stencil buffer and depth buffer are used. By calculating the sun position in any specific date, time and location, shadow is casted accordingly. Length and angle of shadow are two parameters measured for building designers and both of them are calculated in this real-time platform. Therefore, the application can be used for investigation on behavior of the sun position and direction of shadows for any outdoor games and outdoor rendering.