Patent ID: 7518608

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of rendering a first image having a plurality of particles, comprising: receiving a z-depth image that provides a z-value for each pixel in a background image; generating in the same space as said plurality of particles a single pixel particle of an opaque transparency for each pixel in said z-depth image positioned at the same x-y position as said each pixel in said z-depth image and at a z-position indicated by said z-value; generating an adjusted z-position by randomly adjusting the z-position of each particle in each temporal sample of a series of samples, wherein the adjustments corresponding to each temporal sample are independent of the adjustments corresponding to the other samples in the series of samples; for each temporal sample: sorting said plurality of particles in the sample with a plurality of said generated single pixel particles in said first image based on said adjusted z-position of each particle in the sample, and based on the opacity of a layer of a plurality of layers of varying opacities associated with each pixel of said plurality of particles; and rendering said sorted plurality of particles and single pixel particles based on the sorted order of the particles in the sample.