Administrativa:

Instructors	Paul Debevec (debevec@ict.usc.edu) Pieter Peers (peers@ict.usc.edu) Abhijeet Ghosh (ghosh@ict.usc.edu)
Day and time	Monday, Wednesday 2:00-3:20 pm
First class	January 12, 2009
Location	WPH B30
Prerequisites	CS 480, 580 or equivalent

The final grade in this course will be based on assignments, class participation, and a term project which will include a preliminary proposal, and mid-term and final presentations.

Course Topics:

The course covers modern techniques for realistic image synthesis, with an emphasis on data-driven computer graphics. The objective of the course is to introduce the student to recent trends in advanced photographic image synthesis including image-based synthesis and alternative offline photorealistic rendering techniques, with applications in the entertainment industry.

Topics include high dynamic range imaging (HDRI), matting, bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs), image-based relighting, global illumination, augmented reality, and computational photography. Furthermore, the course will also provide a brief introduction in the mathematical theory of Monte Carlo integration and the physics of light transport.

It is assumed that students taking the course already have had an introductory course in computer graphics or that they have done the equivalent reading. The following is a preliminary syllabus:

High Dynamic Range Imaging:

high dynamic range photography, tools for image-based computer graphics, light probes.

Image-based Lighting:

HDRI environmental illumination, light stage, reflectance fields.

Physics of light:

radiometry, bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), geometric optics, reflection models.

Sampling:

Monte Carlo integration, probability distribution function (PDF), sampling techniques for BRDFs, and illumination models.

Matting & Environment Matting:

background subtraction, blue screen methods, natural image matting, environment matting.

Global Illumination - Rendering:

Monte Carlo path tracing, Metropolis light transport, irradiance caching, photon mapping.

Global Illumination - Advanced Material Models:

radiative transfer and diffusion of light, subsurface scattering, scattering in participating media.

Image-based Material Representations:

measured BRDFs, spatially varying BRDFs, heterogeneous subsurface scattering.

Photoreal Digital Actors:

high-resolution geometry scanning, facial reflectance models, and modeling changes in geometry and reflectance during facial animation.

Computational Photography:

novel ways of using consumer level cameras, computational illumination, 3D displays.

Course Outline - (Word Document)

Course Material:

The following textbooks are recommended but optional:

"Physically Based Rendering : From Theory to Implementation",
Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN-13: 978-0125531801
"High Dynamic Range Imaging: Acquisition, Display, and Image-Based Lighting",
Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN-13: 978-0125852630

Lecture slides and links to additional reading material and papers will be made available.