Image-based modeling, rendering, and lighting

Image-based modeling, rendering, and lighting differs from traditional graphics in that the geometry, appearance, and lighting in a scene can be derived from real photographs. These techniques often allow for shorter modeling times, faster rendering speeds, and unprecedented levels of photorealism. In this course we will explain and demonstrate a variety of ways of turning images into models and then back into renderings, including movie maps, panoramas, image warping, photogrammetry, light fields, and 3D scanning. This course overviews the relevant topics in computer vision, and show how these methods relate to image-based rendering techniques. The course shows ways of applying the techniques to animation as well as to 3D navigation, and to both real and synthetic scenes. One underlying theme is that the various modeling techniques make tradeoffs between navigability, geometric accuracy, manipulability, ease of acquisition, and level of photorealism; another theme is the close connection between image-based techniques and global illumination. The course shows how image-based lighting techniques allow photorealistic additions and modifications to be made to image-based models. The described techniques are illustrated with results from recent research, pioneering projects, and creative applications in art and cinema.