This paper discusses a new method for capturing the complete appearanceof both synthetic and real world objects and scenes, representing this information, and then using this representation to render images of the object from new camera positions. Unlike the shape capture process traditionally used in computer vision and the rendering process traditionally used in computer graphics, our approach does not rely on geometric representations. Instead we sample and reconstruct a 4D function, which we call a Lumigraph. The Lumigraph is a subset of the complete plenoptic function that describes the flow of light at all positions in all directions. With the Lumigraph, new images of the object can be generated very quickly, independent of the geometric or illumination complexity of the scene or object. The paper discusses a complete working system including the capture of samples, the construction of the Lumigraph, and the subsequent rendering of images from this new representation. 1

We present a method of recovering high dynamic range radiance maps from photographs taken with conventional imaging equipment. In our method, multiple photographs of the scene are taken with different amounts of exposure. Our algorithm uses these differently exposed photographs to recover the response function of the imaging process, up to factor of scale, using the assumption of reciprocity. With the known response function, the algorithm can fuse the multiple photographs into a single, high dynamic range radiance map whose pixel values are proportional to the true radiance values in the scene. We demonstrate our method on images acquired with both photochemical and digital imaging processes. We discuss how this work is applicable in many areas of computer graphics involving digitized photographs, including image-based modeling, image compositing, and image processing. Lastly, we demonstrate a few applications of having high dynamic range radiance maps, such as synthesizing realistic motion blur and simulating the response of the human visual system.

We present a method that uses measured scene radiance and global illumination in order to add new objects to light-based models with correct lighting. The methodusesahighdynamicrangeimagebasedmodelofthescene, ratherthansyntheticlightsources,toilluminatethe new objects. Tocomputetheillumination,thesceneis consideredasthreecomponents:thedistantscene, the localscene, andthesyntheticobjects. The distant scene is assumed tobephotometricallyunaffectedbytheobjects, obviatingtheneedforreflectancemodelinformation. Thelocalsceneisendowedwithestimatedreflectancemodel informationsothatitcancatchshadows andreceivereflectedlightfromthenewobjects. Renderings are createdwithastandardglobalilluminationmethodby simulating theinteractionoflightamongstthethreecomponents. A differentialrenderingtechniqueallowsforgoodresults to be obtained when only an estimate ofthelocalscenereflectancepropertiesisknown. Weapplythegeneralmethodtotheproblemofrendering syntheticobjectsintorealscenes. The light-based model is constructed from an approximategeometricmodelofthesceneandbyusinga lightprobetomeasuretheincidentilluminationatthe locationof thesyntheticobjects. Theglobalilluminationsolutionisthen compositedintoaphotographofthesceneusing thedifferentialrenderingtechnique. Weconcludebydiscussingtherelevance of the technique to recovering surface reflectance properties in uncontrolled lighting situations. Applications of the method include visual effects, interior design, and architectural visualization.

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We present a system for interactively browsing and exploring large unstructured collections of photographs of a scene using a novel 3D interface. Our system consists of an image-based modeling front end that automatically computes the viewpoint of each photograph as well as a sparse 3D model of the scene and image to model correspondences. Our photo explorer uses image-based rendering techniques to smoothly transition between photographs, while also enabling full 3D navigation and exploration of the set of images and world geometry, along with auxiliary information such as overhead maps. Our system also makes it easy to construct photo tours of scenic or historic locations, and to annotate image details, which are automatically transferred to other relevant images. We demonstrate our system on several large personal photo collections as well as images gathered from Internet photo sharing sites.

This paper presents a novel approach to creating full view panoramic mosaics from image sequences. Unlike current panoramic stitching methods, which usually require pure horizontal camera panning, our system does not require any controlled motions or constraints on how the images are taken (as long as there is no strong motion parallax). For example, images taken from a hand-held digital camera can be stitched seamlessly into panoramic mosaics. Because we represent our image mosaics using a set of transforms, there are no singularity problems such as those existing at the top and bottom of cylindrical or spherical maps. Our algorithm is fast and robust because it directly recovers 3D rotations instead of general 8 parameter planar perspective transforms. Methods to recover camera focal length are also presented. We also present an algorithm for efficiently extracting environment maps from our image mosaics. By mapping the mosaic onto an artibrary texture-mapped polyhedron surrounding t...

We describe an image based rendering approach that generalizes many image based rendering algorithms currently in use including light field rendering and view-dependent texture mapping. In particular it allows for lumigraph style rendering from a set of input cameras that are not restricted to a plane or to any specific manifold. In the case of regular and planar input camera positions, our algorithm reduces to a typical lumigraph approach. In the case of fewer cameras and good approximate geometry, our algorithm behaves like view-dependent texture mapping. Our algorithm achieves this flexibility because it is designed to meet a set of desirable goals that we describe. We demonstrate this flexibility with a variety of examples. Keyword Image-Based Rendering 1

This paper introduces a new type of medium, called a video texture, which has qualities somewhere between those of a photograph and a video. A video texture provides a continuous infinitely varying stream of images. While the individual frames of a video texture may be repeated from time to time, the video sequence as a whole is never repeated exactly. Video textures can be used in place of digital photos to infuse a static image with dynamic qualities and explicit action. We present techniques for analyzing a video clip to extract its structure, and for synthesizing a new, similar looking video of arbitrary length. We combine video textures with view morphing techniques to obtain 3D video textures. We also introduce videobased animation, in which the synthesis of video textures can be guided by a user through high-level interactive controls. Applications of video textures and their extensions include the display of dynamic scenes on web pages, the creation of dynamic backdrops for sp...

This paper presents a novel 3D plenoptic function, which we call concentric mosaics. We constrain camera motion to planar concentric circles, and create concentric mosaics using a manifold mosaic for each circle (i.e., composing slit images taken at different locations) . Concentric mosaics index all input image rays naturally in 3 parameters: radius, rotation angle and vertical elevation. Novel views are rendered by combining the appropriate captured rays in an efficient manner at rendering time. Although vertical distortions exist in the rendered images, they can be alleviated by depth correction. Like panoramas, concentric mosaics do not require recovering geometric and photometric scene models. Moreover, concentric mosaics provide a much richer user experience by allowing the user to move freely in a circular region and observe significant parallax and lighting changes. Compared with a Lightfield or Lumigraph, concentric mosaics have much smaller file size because only a 3D plenopt...

A pair of rendered images and their Z-buffers contain almost all of the information necessary to re-render from nearby viewpoints. For the small changes in viewpoint that occur in a fraction of a second, this information is sufficient for high quality re-rendering with cost independent of scene complexity. Re-rendering from previously computed views allows an order-of-magnitude increase in apparent frame rate over that provided by conventional rendering alone. It can also compensate for system latency in local or remote display. We use