An Inverse Problem Approach to BRDF Modeling

This paper presents a BRDF modeling method, based on an inverse problem approach. Our method calculates BRDFs to match the appearance of the object specified by the user. By representing BRDFs by a linear combination of basis functions, outgoing radiances of the object surface can be represented using basis functions. The calculation of the desired BRDF results from calculating the corresponding coefficients of basis functions that minimize the sum of differences between the outgoing radiances, represented using basis functions and user specified radiances. The properties that BRDFs must satisfy are described by linear constraint conditions. This minimization problem can be solved, interactively, using a linearly constrained least squares approach. Thus, our method allows the user to design BRDFs directly, under fixed complex lighting and viewpoint, and to view the rendering results interactively, under dynamic lighting and viewpoint.