This scene showcases a number of advanced features offered by LuxRender, including
microdisplacement, loop subdivision, and layered materials. Microdisplacement
subdivides and displaces individual triangles on-the-fly during ray intersections, allowing the creation of
extremely high levels of detail without the need to store individual polygons. This technique is used to give the
sponge mesh on the lower right a significant amount of detail, containing over 77 million triangles, three blended
materials, and a homogeneous volume.
Loop subdivision works
similarly to microdisplacement, except that polygons are computed and stored prior to rendering. This technique
was used to give the table on the lower third of the image over 40 million polygons of detail.
The layered material
allows LuxRender to reflect and transmit light through various materials as if one were layered on top of another.
The layered material was used to create multiple layers on the sponge, where a glossy coating is placed atop a
velvet material, a glossy transluscent material, and a homogeneous volume. It was also used on the paint palette
on the lower left of the image, to depict dried paint atop a base metal material.
