Computational Simulation of Alternative Photographic Processes

Abstract

We present a novel computational framework for physically and chemically-based simulations of analog alternative photographic processes. In the real world, these processes allow the creation of very personal and unique depictions due to the combination of the chemicals used, the physical interaction with liquid solutions, and the individual craftsmanship of the artist. Our work focuses not only on achieving similar compelling results, but on the manual process as well, introducing a novel exploratory approach for interactive digital image creation and manipulation. With such an emphasis on the user interaction, our simulations are devised to run on tablet devices; thus we propose the combination of a lightweight data-driven model to simulate the chemical reactions involved, with efficient fluids simulations that modulate them. This combination allows realistic gestures-based user interaction with constant visual feedback in real-time. Using the proposed framework, we have built two prototypes with different tradeoffs between realism and flexibility, showing its potential to build novel image editing tools.