Multiscale Representation for Plenoptic Illumination Functions

Description

A plenoptic illumination function (PIF) explicitly specifies the illumination component of a scene or an object. However, there are several problems in existing representation methods for PIFs. For example, in the conventional spherical harmonic (SH) approach, the basis functions are poorly localized. They are not good for capturing locally high frequency lighting features. Another disadvantage is that SH basis functions are defined in a complex manner. Hence, the rendering speed of using the SH approach for local illuminations (such as a point light source) is very slow. This project will develop a multiscale basis to approximate the radiance property of surface elements (pixels or vertices) in those reference images. The objectives are to speed up the rendering process for local illuminations and to provide a multi-resolution ability for global illuminations such that high frequency lighting features can be preserved. Also, a framework will be developed for the proposed basis in the global relighting under a time-varying environment.