1. A method for generating a two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional scene containing at least one dynamic object, comprising: generating a spatial index having a world root node, internal nodes corresponding to bounding volumes with partitioned sub-volumes of the scene, and leaf nodes corresponding to unpartitioned sub-volumes of the scene containing primitive objects; generating, by operation of a computer processor, a leaf node link from at least one of the leaf nodes to a list of pointers to data objects corresponding to one or more primitive objects that represent the at least one dynamic object; and in response to a change in at least one of shape and location of the at least one dynamic object, updating one or more of the data objects to reflect the change without updating the leaf node link.