6.4. Conclusion
Traditionally, the real and computer-generated worlds have been fundamentally separate spaces, each subject to their own laws of physics and aesthetics. The development of global illumination rendering techniques enabled light in computer-generated worlds to obey the same laws of physics as light in the real world, making it possible to render strikingly realistic images. Using the principles of global illumination, image-based lighting makes it possible for the real and computer-generated worlds to interact through lighting: real-world light can be captured and used to illuminate computer-generated objects, and light within the computer can be used to illuminate people and objects in the real world. This chapter has shown basic examples of how to perform image-based lighting using the freely available RADIANCE global illumination renderer. With some experimentation and your own camera and mirrored ball, you should be able to adapt these examples to your own models and applications. For more information on image-based lighting, please look for the latest developments at http://www.debevec.org/IBL/. Happy lighting!
Acknowledgments
The work described in this chapter represents the work of many individuals. Greg Ward wrote the RADIANCE rendering system and provided advice for using it optimally in an image-based lighting context. Marcos Fajardo wrote the Arnold renderer and provided helpful HDR and IBL support. Christine Waggoner and Son Chang helped carry out early light source identification experiments. Andreas Wenger wrote the Canon RAW-to-HDR converter, and Chris Tchou wrote the HDR Shop image editing program used to process the Bilbao images. Maya Martinez helped compose the Bilbao scene. Teddy Kim provided light probe assistance in Bilbao. Tim Hawkins helped acquire the HDR images used in Fiat Lux and helped lead the Fiat Lux team, including Westley Sarokin, H. P. Duiker, Tal Garfinkel, Jenny Huang, and Christine Cheng. The work presented here owes its support to the National Science Foundation, the California MICRO program, Interval Research Corporation, the Digital Media Innovation Program, Interactive Pictures Corporation, U.S. Army contract #DAAD19-99-D-0046, TOPPAN Printing Co. Ltd., and the University of Southern California Office of the Provost.