Estimation of 3D Dynamic Lighting Environment with Reference Objects

A complex dynamic light field is generated in the world of 3D video, while a multi-view camera system can only observe a limited part of light field even if the number of cameras is increased. This chapter presents a novel method of estimating 3D dynamic lighting environment using shading patterns and shadows cast on reference objects. The novelty rests in the 3D shape and structure design of the reference objects, which enables the accurate estimation of 3D shape and motion of distributed light sources such as candle lights. Estimated 3D lighting environment data can be used to render natural atmospheres to 3D video as well as CG objects.