BRDF Representation and Acquisition

Photorealistic rendering of real world environments is important in a range of different areas; including Visual Special effects, Interior/Exterior Modelling, Architectural Modelling, Cultural Heritage, Computer Games and Automotive Design. Currently, rendering systems are able to produce photorealistic simulations of the appearance of many real-world materials. In the real world, viewer perception of objects depends on the lighting and object/material/surface characteristics, the way a surface interacts with the light and on how the light is reflected, scattered, absorbed by the surface and the impact these characteristics have on material appearance. In order to re-produce this, it is necessary to understand how materials interact with light. Thus the representation and acquisition of material models has become such an active research area. This survey of the state-of-the-art of BRDF Representation and Acquisition presents an overview of BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) models used to represent surface/material reflection characteristics, and describes current acquisition methods for the capture and rendering of photorealistic materials

Surface Appearance Estimation from Video Sequences

The realistic virtual reproduction of real world objects using Computer Graphics techniques requires the accurate acquisition and reconstruction of both 3D geometry and surface appearance. Unfortunately, in several application contexts, such as Cultural Heritage (CH), the reflectance acquisition can be very challenging due to the type of object to acquire and the digitization conditions. Although several methods have been proposed for the acquisition of object reflectance, some intrinsic limitations still make its acquisition a complex task for CH artworks: the use of specialized instruments (dome, special setup for camera and light source, etc.); the need of highly controlled acquisition environments, such as a dark room; the difficulty to extend to objects of arbitrary shape and size; the high level of expertise required to assess the quality of the acquisition. The Ph.D. thesis proposes novel solutions for the acquisition and the estimation of the surface appearance in fixed and uncontrolled lighting conditions with several degree of approximations (from a perceived near diffuse color to a SVBRDF), taking advantage of the main features that differentiate a video sequences from an unordered photos collections: the temporal coherence; the data redundancy; the easy of the acquisition, which allows acquisition of many views of the object in a short time. Finally, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is an example of widely used technology for the acquisition of the surface appearance in the CH field, even if limited to single view Reflectance Fields of nearly flat objects. In this context, the thesis addresses also two important issues in RTI usage: how to provide better and more flexible virtual inspection capabilities with a set of operators that improve the perception of details, features and overall shape of the artwork; how to increase the possibility to disseminate this data and to support remote visual inspection of both scholar and ordinary public

Advanced methods for relightable scene representations in image space

The realistic reproduction of visual appearance of real-world objects requires accurate computer graphics models that describe the optical interaction of a scene with its surroundings. Data-driven approaches that model the scene globally as a reflectance field function in eight parameters deliver high quality and work for most material combinations, but are costly to acquire and store. Image-space relighting, which constrains the application to create photos with a virtual, fix camera in freely chosen illumination, requires only a 4D data structure to provide full fidelity. This thesis contributes to image-space relighting on four accounts: (1) We investigate the acquisition of 4D reflectance fields in the context of sampling and propose a practical setup for pre-filtering of reflectance data during recording, and apply it in an adaptive sampling scheme. (2) We introduce a feature-driven image synthesis algorithm for the interpolation of coarsely sampled reflectance data in software to achieve highly realistic images. (3) We propose an implicit reflectance data representation, which uses a Bayesian approach to relight complex scenes from the example of much simpler reference objects. (4) Finally, we construct novel, passive devices out of optical components that render reflectance field data in real-time, shaping the incident illumination into the desired imageDie realistische Wiedergabe der visuellen Erscheinung einer realen Szene setzt genaue Modelle aus der Computergraphik für die Interaktion der Szene mit ihrer Umgebung voraus. Globale Ansätze, die das Verhalten der Szene insgesamt als Reflektanzfeldfunktion in acht Parametern modellieren, liefern hohe Qualität für viele Materialtypen, sind aber teuer aufzuzeichnen und zu speichern. Verfahren zur Neubeleuchtung im Bildraum schränken die Anwendbarkeit auf fest gewählte Kameras ein, ermöglichen aber die freie Wahl der Beleuchtung, und erfordern dadurch lediglich eine 4D - Datenstruktur für volle Wiedergabetreue. Diese Arbeit enthält vier Beiträge zu diesem Thema: (1) wir untersuchen die Aufzeichnung von 4D Reflektanzfeldern im Kontext der Abtasttheorie und schlagen einen praktischen Aufbau vor, der Reflektanzdaten bereits während der Messung vorfiltert. Wir verwenden ihn in einem adaptiven Abtastschema. (2) Wir führen einen merkmalgesteuerten Bildsynthesealgorithmus für die Interpolation von grob abgetasteten Reflektanzdaten ein. (3) Wir schlagen eine implizite Beschreibung von Reflektanzdaten vor, die mit einem Bayesschen Ansatz komplexe Szenen anhand des Beispiels eines viel einfacheren Referenzobjektes neu beleuchtet. (4) Unter der Verwendung optischer Komponenten schaffen wir passive Aufbauten zur Darstellung von Reflektanzfeldern in Echtzeit, indem wir einfallende Beleuchtung direkt in das gewünschte Bild umwandeln

Image-based appearance preservation

The three-dimensional digital preservation of real objects comprises two main aspects: the preservation of the shape of the object and the preservation of its appearance. This thesis focuses on the image-based appearance preservation of real objects and provides a set of contributions on the theme. The first contribution consists in two groups of experiments, where each one of them targets one different image-based appearance preservation approach. These experiments are based in fundamental concepts related to the behavior of light and in a compilation of works that aim to preserve the appearance of real objects using different types of images. The first group of experiments attempts to disregard as much as possible the influence of the environment light. The second one goes one step further and considers a single light source. These experiments were the basis and motivation for the development of the main contribution of this thesis, which is a novel image-based appearance preservation method that considers the whole environment as a source of light. It presents as novelty the fact that it estimates the incoming light from the whole environment to each point in an object surface patch. At the best knowledge of this work, none of the current existing methods adopts this approach. Considering the whole environment as source of light allows flexible acquisition setups and, as it reproduces what happens in reality, potentially retrieves more reliable information about the incident lighting. This thesis presents this method and its application on real and synthetic environments. Conclusions about this work are presented and future research directions are discussed._________________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMO: A preservação tridimensional digital de objetos reais compreende dois aspectos: a preservação da forma do objeto e a preservação de sua aparência. Esta tese tem como foco a preservação da aparência de objetos reais baseada em imagens e provê uma série de contribuições sobre o tema. A primeira contribuição consiste em dois grupos de experimentos, onde cada um trabalha uma abordagem diferente na preservação da aparência baseada em imagens. Esses experimentos são baseados em conceitos fundamentais relacionados ao comportamento da luz e em uma compilação de trabalhos que visam preservar a aparência de objetos reais usando diferentes tipos de imagens. O primeiro grupo de experimentos tenta desconsiderar ao máximo a inuência da luz. O segundo vai um passo além e considera uma única fonte de luz. Estes experimentos são a base e motivação para o desenvolvimento da principal contribuição desta tese, que é um novo método de preservação da aparência baseado em imagens que considera todo o ambiente como fonte de luz. Ele apresenta como novidade o fato de estimar a luz vinda de todo o ambiente para cada ponto em uma região na superfície de um objeto. Até onde foi pesquisado neste trabalho, nenhum método existente adota essa abordagem. Considerar todo o ambiente como fonte de luz permite configurações flexíveis durante a aquisição e, já que reproduz o que acontece na realidade, recupera informações potencialmente mais confiáveis sobre a iluminação incidente. Esta tese apresenta este método e sua aplicação em ambientes reais e sintéticos. Conclusões sobre este trabalho são apresentadas e direções futuras de pesquisa são discutidas

Accurate and Computational: A review of color reproduction in Full-color 3D printing

As functional 3D printing becomes more popular with industrial manufacturing applications, it is time to start discussing high-fidelity appearance reproduction of 3D objects, particularly in faithful colors. To date, there is only limited research on accurate color reproduction and on universal color reproduction method for different color 3D printing materials. To systematically understand colorization principles and color transmission in color 3D printing, an exhaustive literature review is stated to show the state of the art of color reproduction methods for full-color 3D printing, such as optical parameter modeling, colorimetric difference evaluation, computer aided colorization and voxel droplet jetting. Meanwhile, the challenges in developing an accurate color reproduction framework suitable for different printing materials are fully analyzed in this literature review. In full-color 3D printing, coloring, rendering and acquisition constitute the core issues for accurate color reproduction, and their specific concepts are explained in concrete examples. Finally, the future perspectives of a universal color reproduction framework for accurate full-color 3D printing are discussed, which can overcome the limitations of printing materials, combined with computational boundary contoning