Composition and Perception beyond Photorealism

Abstract

Composition is an important aestheic aspect of celebrated works of art, and we examine a few common compositional techniques in the context of computer graphics rendering and perception. In computer graphics, photorealistic rendering simulates a camera, which defines an image of a scene in a single instant after the shutter is released. In contrast, a human observer looks at one part of a scene at a time and stitches a series of visual memories together to form a complete impression of the scene. This perception process is related to visual composition, in which an artist selectively articulates and suppresses details to direct the viewers' eyes. In non-photorealistic rendering research, painting is an important source of examples for stylized rendering. We discuss the importance of painting's specific presentation conditions, and how painting composition takes effect through a viewer's attentive looking. Based on these analysis, we demonstrate how to apply knowledge of composition to digital image synthesis with an interpolative material model and a staged photography art project.