The animation The Parthenon uses new computer graphics research to present an interpretation of the history of the Parthenon and its sculptures. The film begins with models of the Parthenon’s frieze, metopes, and pediment sculptures obtained using a structured light 3D scanning. A Christian column carving and a Turkish-era cannonball impact were recorded on-site using photometric stereo. With high dynamic range timelapse illumination, a complete day of light is simulated on a 90-million polygon model of the Parthenon obtained through laser scanning. Inverse global illumination reflectometry techniques were used to recover lighting-independent texture maps for the Parthenon, and renderings were created using Monte-Carlo based global illumination. The sunset is shown from a virtual reconstruction of the Erechtheion featuring scanned models of the Caryatid figures. A 3D model of the Parthenon Gallery in the British Museum created using photogrammetry is used to show the current location of most of the Parthenon’s remaining sculptures. High dynamic range lighting and image-based rendering are used to create virtual camera moves within the virtual version of the museum. The final sequence uses all of these techniques together to perform several crossdissolves between the sculptures in the museum and the locations they once occupied on the Parthenon.

The textured 3D model of the Parthenon was produced using novel techniques described in “Estimating Surface Reflectance Properties of a Complex Scene under Captured Natural Illumination”. The paper describes the reflectometry techniques used for building the textured 3D model of the Parthenon from laser scans, digital photographs, and incident illumination measurements taken on site. The outdoor scenes are lit with captured real-world outdoor illumination using new techniques.

This is not the final version of the piece—we are still improving the lighting and modeling for many of the shots in the second half of the film.

Paul Debevec (USA) earned degrees in Mathematics and Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan in 1992 and a Ph.D. in Computer Science at UC Berkeley in 1996. He began doing research into computer graphics and vision in 1991. At Interval Research Corporation he contributed to Michael Naimark’s Immersion ‘94 virtual exploration of the Banff National forest and collaborated with Golan Levin on Rouen Revisited. Debevec works at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies, where he directs research into virtual actors, virtual environments, and applying computer graphics to creative projects. He is a Research Assistant Professor in the USC Computer Science Department.