Project Title: 
A Framework for Imaging System Simulation

Project Description:
Technological advancement has made high image quality almost a given in TV/film productions. This pristine quality in turn prompted artists and cinematographers to deliberately incorporate more imperfections by using vintage lenses, chemical films, and other means to build a “vintage look”. However, computer generated images (CGI) are currently not equipped with methods to recreate these imperfect characteristics faithfully, thus experiencing difficulties to match the CGI sequences with live action footage shot with the vintage aesthetic. This thesis establishes a framework that uses physics-based simulation to faithfully recreate the image characteristics caused by the various components of an imaging system, including but not limited to a lens, an imager such as a digital sensor or chemical film, and other modifiers.  

Committee Members:

Matt Lewis (Advisor), Maria Palazzi, Hanwei Shen

Exhibition Artifact: 
A Framework for Imaging System Simulation 

Artifact Description:
Spectral tracer based on a hybrid of geometric optics and fourier optics that models different components in an imaging system.

Technical Description:
Display on monitor