Steve Marschner
Cornell Computer Science Department, Cornell University
Abstract:
Amazingly large fractions of today's blockbuster films are computed,
rather than photographed. This computer-generated imagery has to be
realistic enough for audiences to immediately accept it as real footage,
which requires clever technology and artistry to achieve. One of the
problems that must be solved is a physical modeling problem: building
mathematical models of how light reflects from materials on its way from light sources to the camera.
As computer graphics is used more broadly in films, not just for spaceships and car crashes but increasingly for creatures and even humans that play starring roles, we have had to learn to model increasingly complex materials. In this talk I'll discuss the development of reflection models from the early models that worked so well for plastic toys to the models used now for skin, hair, and other natural materials. The key question we have to answer for each kind of material is, Why does this material look the way it does? Getting clear answers to this question is a prerequisite for finding the simple models we need that capture the key phenomena responsible the material's appearance.
Steve Marschner is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University. He received his Sc.B. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Brown University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell in 1998. He held research positions at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Microsoft Research, and Stanford University before joining the Cornell faculty in 2002. He is the recipient of a 2003 Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an NSF CAREER award in 2004, and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 2006.
2009 Run
March 25th - May 11th
