Abstract:

We present a simple system for interactively specifying lighting parameters, including position, for high-quality image synthesis. Unlike inverse approaches to the lighting-design problem, we do not require the user to indicate a priori the desired illuminative characteristics of an image. In our approach the computer proposes, culls, and organizes a set of candidate lights automatically, using an elementary measure of image similarity as the basis for both culling and organization. The user then browses the set of candidate-light images, selects which lights to include, and combines them as desired. This work is a particular instance of a general strategy --- sampling a design space broadly and intelligently and organizing the results for rapid browsing by the user --- that may be applicable to many other design problems in computer graphics.