Synthesizing and Editing Photo-Realistic Visual Objects

当前的计算机图形技术使我们能够以接近照片的质量渲染几乎任何物体。然而，标准方法要求用户煞费苦心地指定对象的几何和材料属性的所有方面。这是耗时的，需要熟练的人工操作。除了指定的低水平几何和材料外，很难编辑生成的模型。此外，如果不对底层模型进行逆向工程，我们就无法编辑真实照片，这是非常困难的。在这个建议中，我们研究了一个完全不同的计算机图形管道，它将允许非专家快速创建和编辑逼真的物体二维图像。我们方法的关键是为计算机提供对所考虑的对象类别的更深层次的理解。然后利用这些知识（采用统计模型的形式）来帮助用户更容易地实现他们的目标。这个项目的潜在影响是巨大的。这种技术可以成为安装在每台家庭和商用计算机上的标准工具。许多潜在的应用包括：-概念设计。制造业经常需要勾画出新的产品创意，并改进现有的设计。我们的系统可以帮助时装设计师制作和处理新服装的逼真图像。-剪贴画对象。在线和现实世界的出版需要库存图像，这些通常通过搜索引擎（例如谷歌图像）寻找。但是，返回的结果往往不理想，并且可能受到版权的限制。我们的方法将允许用户设计定制的图像，完全符合他们的规格。-照片和电影编辑。图像和电影的数字编辑是司空见惯的，但需要相当的技能。我们的技术可以用来修改人像摄影中的面部表情，或者在电影后期制作中应用数字化妆品。-虚拟世界的内容。电子游戏中更大的“沙盒”环境的趋势创造了对图像内容的爆炸性需求。我们的系统可以自动或半自动化地为大型虚拟环境创建逼真的建筑立面。

Current computer graphics techniques allow us to render almost any object at near photo-realistic quality. However, the standard approach necessitates that the user painstakingly specifies all aspects of the geometric and material properties of the object. This is time-consuming and needs skilled human operators. It is hard to edit the resulting models at anything other than the low level of geometry and materials at which they are specified. Moreover, we cannot edit real photographs without reverse engineering the underlying model and this is very difficult.In this proposal we investigate a radically different pipeline for computer graphics that will allow non-experts to rapidly create and edit photo-realistic two dimensional images of objects. The crux of our approach is to provide the computer with a deeper understanding of the class of objects under consideration. This knowledge (which takes the form of a statistical model) is then leveraged to help the user achieve their goals more easily. The impact of this project is potentially enormous. Such a technology could become a standard tool installed on every home and business computer. Some of the many potential applications are:- Conceptual design. Manufacturing industries often need to sketch new product ideas and refine existing designs. Our system could help a fashion designer produce and manipulate photo-realistic images of new garments.- Clipart objects. Stock images are required for on-line and real-world publishing and these are often sought via search engines (e.g. Google Images). However, the returned results are often not ideal and may be subject to copyright. Our approach will allow the user to design bespoke images to exactly their specifications.- Photo and movie editing. Digital editing of images and movies is commonplace, but requires considerable skill. Our techniques could be used to modify facial expressions in portrait photography or apply digital cosmetics in movie post-production.- Content for virtual worlds. The trend towards larger 'sandbox' environments in video games has created an explosive demand for graphical content. Our system could allow automated or semi-automated creation of photorealistic building facades for a large virtual environment.