Practical Physically Based Shading in Film and Game Production

Physically based shading is increasingly important in both film and game production. By adhering to physically based, energy-conserving shading models, one can easily create high-quality, realistic materials that maintain that quality under a variety of lighting environments. Traditional “ad-hoc” models require extensive tweaking to achieve the same result, so it is no surprise that physically based models have increased in popularity in film and game production, particularly because they are often no more difficult to implement or evaluate.

This course was last presented at SIGGRAPH 2010. With extensive updates, the SIGGRAPH 2012 course presents two years of advances in physically based shading. It includes new research in the area and more production examples from film and game. The course begins with a brief introduction to the physics and mathematics of shading before instructors share examples of how physically based shading models are being used in production. Real-world examples are a particular focus of this year’s course, which is designed to give attendees a practical grounding in the subject.

COURSE SCHEDULE

9 am
Introduction: The Importance of Physically Based Shading
Hill

9:05 am
Background: Physically Based Shading
Hoffman

9:30 am
Calibrating Lighting and Materials in Far Cry 3
McAuley

10 am
Beyond a Simple Physically Based Blinn-Phong Model in Real-Time
Gotanda

10:30 am
Break

10:45 am
Physical Production Shaders With OSL
Martinez

11:15 am
Physically Based Shading at Disney
Burley

11:45 am
Reflection Model Design for WALL-E and Up
Smits