New Acquisition Techniques for Real Objects and Light Sources in Computer Graphics

Abstract

Accurate representations of objects and light sources in a scenemodel are a crucial prerequisite for realistic image synthesis usingcomputer graphics techniques. This thesis presents techniques forthe efficient acquisition of real world objects and real world lightsources, as well as an assessment of the quality of the acquiredmodels.Making use of color management techniques, we setup an appearancereproduction pipeline that ensures best-possible reproduction oflocal light reflection with the available input and output devices.We introduce a hierarchical model for the subsurface light transport intranslucent objects, derive an acquisition methodology, and acquiremodels of several translucent objects that can be renderedinteractively. Since geometry models of real world objects areoften acquired using 3D range scanners, we also present a methodbased on the concept of modulation transfer functions to evaluatetheir accuracy.In order to illuminate a scene with realistic light sources, wepropose a method to acquire a model of the near-field emissionpattern of a light source with optical prefiltering. We apply thismethod to several light sources with different emissioncharacteristics and demonstrate the integration of the acquiredmodels into both, global illumination as well ashardware-accelerated rendering systems.