Conference Tools of Tomorrow Lighting & Rendering
ON SITE Meidinger-Saal Thursday, May 08, 14:30

An Overview of HDR Image-Based Lighting Techniques and Best Practices

Video on demand

HDR Image-Based Lighting – lighting CGI objects with panoramic imagery shot on location – was introduced back in 1998.  Since then, a lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same.  This talk will overview the key developments in HDRI lighting, some of its most iconic use cases, and how it can best be practiced today, while remembering key lessons from the past.  

The talk will include advanced topics including how to capture the full intensity of the sun, how to capture and simulate spatially-varying illumination, and how RGB lighting is really just an approximation in a multispectral world.

Paul Debevec

Paul Debevec, Chief Research Officer, Eyeline Studios powered by Netflix

Paul Debevec received degrees in Computer Engineering and Mathematics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1992 and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996.

He is the Chief Research Officer at Netflix’s Eyeline Studios, overseeing R&D for visual effects and virtual production with computer vision, graphics, and machine learning. In 2002, Paul's Light Stage 3 system pioneered the virtual production technique of surrounding actors with color LEDs to display images of virtual environments for lighting-accurate compositing.

Paul’s techniques for photogrammetry, HDR imaging, image-based lighting, and photoreal digital actors have been used to createkey visual effects sequences in "Matrix", "Spider-Man 2", "Benjamin Button", "Avatar", "Gravity", "Oblivion", "Maleficent","Furious 7", "Blade Runner: 2049", "Gemini Man", "Free Guy", and numerous video games.

Paul's work in technology for visual effects and virtual production has been recognized with two Academy Awards for Scientific and Technical Achievement, the Progress Medal from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers,and in 2022, the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award.

Paul is a Governor of the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,a Fellow of the Visual Effects Society, and an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Southern California.