High Dynamic Range imagery (HDRI) is creating a revolution in digital photography, where the full tonal range of a scene’s lighting can be faithfully captured and recreated. xRez Studio has been at the forefront of this technology development, interacting with key researchers Paul Debevec and Greg Ward. Related to our gigapixel photography, we set out to capture a very high resolution HDR image taken simultaneously with the gigapixel image. By taking a range of exposures from the same station point but repeated throughout a sphere, the resulting images can be assembled into a single very high resolution HDR image used for a variety of purposes, from unlimited color correction of the image, to use in 3D animation where the exposure changes relative to viewing direction, to the realistic lighting of 3D objects integrated into the scene. For pure 3D rendering where very high quality reflections are required such as automotive advertising, this technique allows the highest performance solution. Using the same programmable panoramic head for gigapixel work allows an automated, high-resolution approach versus the more traditional and limited method of shooting reflective spheres or expensive scanning back cameras such as the Spheron. More information on HDR technology can be found on xRez Studio principal Greg Downing’s site.
