New Book: The Complete Guide To Photorealism For Visual Effects, Visualization and Games by E. Dinur
By Forester - Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:36 pm
- Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:36 pm
#401177
A new resource from Eran Dinur, whom some of you may know. A quite talented artist in his own right, but a man who has worked more as a director and production manager in his matrue ages, and a remarkably excellent teacher in the various CG "crafts" over the last 30 years.
Books on CG lighting, color theory, shader development, camera theory and rendering are common enough: most of us are past the point where basic coverage of these topics is useful. This book differs from most of those that promise "comprehensive" coverage in that it is a kind of a rumination on all these subjects from the perspective of a man who has watched the long development of CG from infancy. By "rumination", I mean that Eran makes a good description of his self-assigned topics reasonably well enough. But the usefulness of this book is that he focuses on a few "central observations" about each of the topics - observations and thoughts borne out of long experience. The book also is "topical" - providing good descriptions of the current state of the art and it ends with a little speculation about the future of photorealism. If you are well versed in any one craft, such as product visualization, you'll find his coverage of your specialty to be relatively brief. But if you are well-versed in one craft, and have only a brushing acquaintance with related subjects, this is a good book to deepen your knowledge of topics allied to your own specialty and their potential relevance . (Plus, it helps to know how the demands of photorealism in one craft, and the technologies supporting it will likely affect the development of technologies in your particular field of endeavor.)
Here is a quick overview of the book's contents, in Eran's own words.
Chapter 1: Reality and Photorealism
A discussion of the fundamental aspects of photorealism, such as the difference between human vision and photography, detail and imperfections in simulated reality, the uncanny valley and more.
Chapter 2: Photorealism in Digital Media
This chapter compares the different roles, methodologies, aesthetics and challenges of photorealism in three main categories: visual effects, games and visualizations.
Chapter 3: Color
Understanding color is crucial for achieving photorealism - this chapter offers a methodological look at essential color subjects like color perception, additive color theoru and operations, black and white levels, and dynamic range.
Chapter 4: Light Essentials
The fundamental physical properties of light are explained here from a visual perspective. Subjects covered include the particle/wave duality, photons and electromagnetic spectrum, light decay and direct/indirect light.
Chapter 5: Light Interaction
What happens to photons when they hit an obstacle? This chapter explores the principal light/surface interactions: diffuse and specular reflection, absorbtion and transmission.
Chapter 6: Daylight
Daylight is explained by studying the interaction of sunlight with atmosphere elements and the effect of Rayleigh and Mie scattering. This chapter also covers the principles of aerial perspective,
Chapter 7: Nighttime and Artificial Lighting
An overview of common emitters and fixtures, luminance and temperature measurements and natural nighttime light.
Chapter 8: Shadows
Analysis of shadows: softness and color, nested and overlapping shadows, contact and proximity shadows.
Chapter 9: Basic Material Properties
This chapter expands the subject of light-surface interaction by examining material properties like diffuse/specular balance, large and small-scale roughness, the Fresnel effect and the difference between metallic and dielectric materials.
Chapter 10: Lens and Camera Characteristics
This chapter provides a discussion of depth and field, Bokeh, lens distortion, chromatic aberrations, lens flares, lens blooms, motion blur and grain.
Chapter 11: Rendering and Lighting
A brief overview of rendering and global illumination methods followed by a close look at path tracing and physically based rendering. This chapter also focuses on various CG lighting tools like area lights and image-based lighting, and discusses physically based lighting practices for varying scenarios.
Chapter 12: Shading
This chapter starts with a glance at the evolution of shader technologies, then moves on to the various attributes of BRDF and how they contribute to photoreal renders. Additional shaders like hair/fur and volumetric are also discussed.
Chapter 13: Texturing
This chapter offers an overview of the PBR texturing workflow and discusses best practices and techniques for image based lighting and procedural textures.
Chapter 14: Modeling
The focuse in this chapter is on aspects of modelig that related to photorealism, like modeling for light and procedural generation of complex natural elements such as plants and terrains.
Chapter 15: Integrating 2D Elements
This chapter provides a thorough examination of different techniques for 2D integration and edge treatment, such as color matching, edge keying, matte-less extractions and motion blur reconstruction.
Chapter 16: Integrating CG Elements
An overview of lighting and utility render passes and their use for improving the integration and realism of rendered elements, followed by additional techniques for "sweetening" the CG look.
Chapter 17: Lighting In 2D
This chapter examines different techniques of using color to modify the lighting, create atmopsheric depth, shadows and reflections in 2D.
Chapter 18: Lens and Camera Effects
In this chapter, we look at tools and techniques for simulating lens and camera effects like depth of field, distortion, chromatic aberrations and grain
Epilogue: The Future
A brief discussion of some of the emerging trands and technologies that may shape the way we approach photorealism in the future.
I am, primarily, a freelance model-builder with a VFX speciality. Not a rendering specialist. Not normally a shader/materials development specialist, although I am gradually becoming the latter out of necessity. However, to stay in business, my model-building work must meet the hugely varying demands of the visualization, game and special effects market places. This book is useful for a person like me - because, to my knowledge, it accurately describes the many and significantly different rendering requirements in these fields. Like all of you, I am already knowledgeable of a bunch of the topics covered in this book, but it sure helps to get a sense of the current state of the art in some of the other areas. For example, even as a model-builder, I have to be pretty familiar with the subject of Rayleigh and Mie Scattering - these can affect creation of dielectric materials - of which, I must be an absolute master. But I always wondered whether I should invest time and energy in Chromatic Abberation and Bokeh. Now, I know...(never going to be necessary...) Plus, I continually struggle with nighttime lighting, and I think the chapter on this subject will give me a "leg up" on these types of renders in the future.
So, this is a very useful book - not because it dives deep into any one subject, but "useful" because it provides a contemporary overview of what is needed to achieve photorealism in many fields and crafts. It also provides a good current set of descriptions of tools and technologies required to achieve these ends. And, it comes from a master craftsman.
Books on CG lighting, color theory, shader development, camera theory and rendering are common enough: most of us are past the point where basic coverage of these topics is useful. This book differs from most of those that promise "comprehensive" coverage in that it is a kind of a rumination on all these subjects from the perspective of a man who has watched the long development of CG from infancy. By "rumination", I mean that Eran makes a good description of his self-assigned topics reasonably well enough. But the usefulness of this book is that he focuses on a few "central observations" about each of the topics - observations and thoughts borne out of long experience. The book also is "topical" - providing good descriptions of the current state of the art and it ends with a little speculation about the future of photorealism. If you are well versed in any one craft, such as product visualization, you'll find his coverage of your specialty to be relatively brief. But if you are well-versed in one craft, and have only a brushing acquaintance with related subjects, this is a good book to deepen your knowledge of topics allied to your own specialty and their potential relevance . (Plus, it helps to know how the demands of photorealism in one craft, and the technologies supporting it will likely affect the development of technologies in your particular field of endeavor.)
Here is a quick overview of the book's contents, in Eran's own words.
Chapter 1: Reality and Photorealism
A discussion of the fundamental aspects of photorealism, such as the difference between human vision and photography, detail and imperfections in simulated reality, the uncanny valley and more.
Chapter 2: Photorealism in Digital Media
This chapter compares the different roles, methodologies, aesthetics and challenges of photorealism in three main categories: visual effects, games and visualizations.
Chapter 3: Color
Understanding color is crucial for achieving photorealism - this chapter offers a methodological look at essential color subjects like color perception, additive color theoru and operations, black and white levels, and dynamic range.
Chapter 4: Light Essentials
The fundamental physical properties of light are explained here from a visual perspective. Subjects covered include the particle/wave duality, photons and electromagnetic spectrum, light decay and direct/indirect light.
Chapter 5: Light Interaction
What happens to photons when they hit an obstacle? This chapter explores the principal light/surface interactions: diffuse and specular reflection, absorbtion and transmission.
Chapter 6: Daylight
Daylight is explained by studying the interaction of sunlight with atmosphere elements and the effect of Rayleigh and Mie scattering. This chapter also covers the principles of aerial perspective,
Chapter 7: Nighttime and Artificial Lighting
An overview of common emitters and fixtures, luminance and temperature measurements and natural nighttime light.
Chapter 8: Shadows
Analysis of shadows: softness and color, nested and overlapping shadows, contact and proximity shadows.
Chapter 9: Basic Material Properties
This chapter expands the subject of light-surface interaction by examining material properties like diffuse/specular balance, large and small-scale roughness, the Fresnel effect and the difference between metallic and dielectric materials.
Chapter 10: Lens and Camera Characteristics
This chapter provides a discussion of depth and field, Bokeh, lens distortion, chromatic aberrations, lens flares, lens blooms, motion blur and grain.
Chapter 11: Rendering and Lighting
A brief overview of rendering and global illumination methods followed by a close look at path tracing and physically based rendering. This chapter also focuses on various CG lighting tools like area lights and image-based lighting, and discusses physically based lighting practices for varying scenarios.
Chapter 12: Shading
This chapter starts with a glance at the evolution of shader technologies, then moves on to the various attributes of BRDF and how they contribute to photoreal renders. Additional shaders like hair/fur and volumetric are also discussed.
Chapter 13: Texturing
This chapter offers an overview of the PBR texturing workflow and discusses best practices and techniques for image based lighting and procedural textures.
Chapter 14: Modeling
The focuse in this chapter is on aspects of modelig that related to photorealism, like modeling for light and procedural generation of complex natural elements such as plants and terrains.
Chapter 15: Integrating 2D Elements
This chapter provides a thorough examination of different techniques for 2D integration and edge treatment, such as color matching, edge keying, matte-less extractions and motion blur reconstruction.
Chapter 16: Integrating CG Elements
An overview of lighting and utility render passes and their use for improving the integration and realism of rendered elements, followed by additional techniques for "sweetening" the CG look.
Chapter 17: Lighting In 2D
This chapter examines different techniques of using color to modify the lighting, create atmopsheric depth, shadows and reflections in 2D.
Chapter 18: Lens and Camera Effects
In this chapter, we look at tools and techniques for simulating lens and camera effects like depth of field, distortion, chromatic aberrations and grain
Epilogue: The Future
A brief discussion of some of the emerging trands and technologies that may shape the way we approach photorealism in the future.
I am, primarily, a freelance model-builder with a VFX speciality. Not a rendering specialist. Not normally a shader/materials development specialist, although I am gradually becoming the latter out of necessity. However, to stay in business, my model-building work must meet the hugely varying demands of the visualization, game and special effects market places. This book is useful for a person like me - because, to my knowledge, it accurately describes the many and significantly different rendering requirements in these fields. Like all of you, I am already knowledgeable of a bunch of the topics covered in this book, but it sure helps to get a sense of the current state of the art in some of the other areas. For example, even as a model-builder, I have to be pretty familiar with the subject of Rayleigh and Mie Scattering - these can affect creation of dielectric materials - of which, I must be an absolute master. But I always wondered whether I should invest time and energy in Chromatic Abberation and Bokeh. Now, I know...(never going to be necessary...) Plus, I continually struggle with nighttime lighting, and I think the chapter on this subject will give me a "leg up" on these types of renders in the future.
So, this is a very useful book - not because it dives deep into any one subject, but "useful" because it provides a contemporary overview of what is needed to achieve photorealism in many fields and crafts. It also provides a good current set of descriptions of tools and technologies required to achieve these ends. And, it comes from a master craftsman.
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