Time-Varying BRDFs

Abstract

The properties of virtually all real-world materials change with time, causing their BRDFs to be time-varying. However, none of the existing BRDF models and databases take time variation into consideration; they represent the appearance of a material at a single time instance. In this work, we address the acquisition, analysis, modeling and rendering of a wide range of time-varying BRDFs. We have developed an acquisition system that is capable of sampling a material's BRDF at multiple time instances, with each time sample acquired within 36 seconds. We have used this acquisition system to measure the BRDFs of a wide range of time-varying phenomena which include the drying of various types of paints (watercolor, spray, and oil), the drying of wet rough surfaces (cement, plaster, and fabrics), the accumulation of dusts (household and joint compound) on surfaces, and the melting of materials (chocolate). Analytic BRDF functions are fit to these measurements and the model parameters' variations with time are analyzed. Each category exhibits interesting and sometimes non-intuitive parameter trends. These parameter trends are then used to develop analytic time-varying BRDF (TVBRDF) models. The analytic TVBRDF models enable us to apply effects such as paint drying and dust accumulation to arbitrary surfaces and novel materials.