Towards a Flexible Back-End for Scenegraph-Based Rendering Systems

Current scenegraph systems, especially systems used to build general purpose virtual reality systems, are trailing game engines and similar specialized systems in terms of the adaption of new rendering methods like the different real-time shadow algorithms. This paper analysis the fundamental OpenGL state abstraction layers present in current scenegraph systems with respect to their influence on the adaption of new and complex rendering algorithms. Several shortcomings are identified and new approaches to overcome the current restrictions and limitations are proposed.