Digital photography for 3D imaging and animation

This practical and easy-to-follow book showa you how to transform your 3D projects with your own digital photographs and enhance your 3D animation by adding photographs that you've composed, lit, and shot. The featured tips and ideas will quickly have you creating quality photographs for use throughout the 3D workflow. From the mechanics of megapixels to the tricks of lighting to the art of finding the best images to shoot, you'll learn valuable techniques that will transform your designs.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Author Notes

Dan Ablan is president of AGA Digital Studios, Inc., a 3D animation and visual effects company. He is also founder of 3D Garage.com, a Web site dedicated to 3D training. Dan has been involved in the visual arts since 1982 and is the author of ten books on computer graphics and animation.

Introduction	p. xvii
Chapter 1 Photography and 3D	p. 1
Early Imaging	p. 2
3D Animation	p. 3
Merging Technologies	p. 4
Digital Incorporation	p. 8
Chapter 2 Digital Photography Methods	p. 11
Working with Megapixels	p. 12
Working with Lenses	p. 17
Apertures and f-Stops	p. 18
Depth of Field	p. 22
Focal Length and f-Stop	p. 25
Your Next Shot	p. 27
Chapter 3 What to Shoot	p. 29
Composing Your Shot	p. 30
Noticing Details in Subject Matter and Light	p. 39
Shooting for 3D	p. 42
Your Next Shot	p. 47
Chapter 4 How to Shoot	p. 51
Camera Choice	p. 51
How to Handle Your Camera	p. 55
Camera Shake	p. 56
Viewfinders	p. 57
Digital SLRs	p. 57
Image Orientation and Proportion	p. 58
Framing	p. 58
Symmetry and Balance	p. 60
Patterns and Textures	p. 63
Image Orientation	p. 67
Perspective	p. 71
Your Next Shot	p. 73
Chapter 5 Image Management	p. 75
Organization	p. 76
Image Organization Software	p. 77
Color	p. 78
RGB vs. CMYK	p. 78
Hue and Saturation	p. 80
Bit Depth	p. 83
Image Types	p. 83
Lossy vs. Lossless	p. 85
Raw	p. 86
Noise	p. 87
Image Noise	p. 88
Your Next Shot	p. 91
Chapter 6 Image Mapping with Digital Photos	p. 93
Advantages of Image Mapping	p. 94
Your World	p. 98
Digital Photo vs. Image Map Size	p. 98
Image Size and Resources	p. 100
Digital Photos beyond Image Maps	p. 100
Displacement Maps from Digital Photos	p. 108
Normal Mapping	p. 111
Chapter 7 3D Imaging with Photography	p. 113
Creating an Interesting 3D Shde Show	p. 114
Creating the 3D Shapes	p. 115
Setting the Scene	p. 120
Lighting the Scene	p. 122
Animating the Scene	p. 128
Stacking Photos in 3D	p. 133
Going from Photos to Particles	p. 137
Creating Dynamic Photos	p. 141
Your Next Shot	p. 144
Chapter 8 2D Imaging Techniques	p. 147
Creating a Digital Photo Montage	p. 148
Setting Up After Effects	p. 149
Adding Multiple Digital Photos in After Effects	p. 156
Creating Secondary Elements	p. 164
Masking Digital Images	p. 169
Adding Final Elements	p. 173
Animating the Montage	p. 179
Your Next Shot	p. 185
Chapter 9 Creating and Using HDR Images	p. 187
What HDR Is	p. 188
Light-Probe Images	p. 191
Setting Up a Sphere Rig	p. 192
Taking Shots for Probe Images	p. 194
Creating an HDR Image	p. 197
Using HDR in 3D	p. 204
Your Next Shot	p. 207
Chapter 10 Image-Based Modeling	p. 209
Understanding Image-Based Modehng	p. 210
Shooting for Image-Based Modehng	p. 211
Using Realviz's ImageModeler	p. 214
Calibrating Images	p. 216
Creating Models	p. 222
Using Textures from Photos	p. 229
Exporting the Model	p. 232
Your Next Shot	p. 233
Chapter 11 Creating Panoramic Environments	p. 235
Envisioning Good Panoramas	p. 236
Planning the Shots	p. 238
Setting Exposure for Panoramas	p. 241
Correcting with Exposure Compensation	p. 243
Assembling Panoramas	p. 247
Using Panoramas in 3D	p. 253
Creating 360-Degree Panoramas	p. 258
Creating Panoramas with a Point-and-Shoot Camera	p. 264
Why a Panorama?	p. 264
Taking the Shots	p. 264
Using Simple Software to Stitch Images	p. 266
Your Next Shot	p. 269
Chapter 12 Digital Images: To 3D and Back	p. 271
Digital Image Manipulation in 3D	p. 272
Creating 3D Reflections	p. 274
Setting Up 3D Lighting	p. 282
Using 3D Filters on Digital Photos	p. 285
Creating Hairy Images	p. 287
Appendix A Choosing a Printer	p. 293
Resolution	p. 294
Paper	p. 295
Compatibility	p. 295
Size	p. 296
Appendix B Reference Materials	p. 299
Reading References	p. 300
Other References	p. 300
Index	p. 301

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Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents