[Radiance-general] integrating lens system in Radiance

[Greg Ward]

Hi Randhir,

You should read the 1995 SIGGRAPH paper by Craig Kolb, Don Mitchell and 
Pat Hanrahan, "A Realistic Camera Model for Computer Graphics," which 
you may find at the following URL:

	http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/camera/gamma-corrected/

Radiance's inherent camera model is indeed a pinhole, though there are 
methods available for simulating depth-of-field using a synthetic 
aperture.  Vignetting, coating effects, etc. are all beyond what 
Radiance was designed to simulate in it's camera model.  You could 
model the lens system and camera geometry in Radiance directly, I 
suppose, but it would be a lot of work.  Calculating an image this way 
would be quite expensive, but I think it's possible.

Have you considered using a more general optics simulation package, 
such as TracePro?

	http://www.lambdares.com/products/tracepro/

-Greg

> From: Randhir Kumar Singh <randhirkumar.singh at epfl.ch>
> Date: March 9, 2005 3:37:38 AM PST
>
> Hi,
>   I am trying to simulate digital camera system in software. I 
> understand that
> the Radiance uses pinhole camera model to render a 3D scene. Is it 
> possible to
> integrate a lens system before rendering? Or any ideas how to go about 
> it?
>
> Regards,
> Randhir