Design and simulation of opera lighting and projection effects

Abstract:

AbstractA major problem challenging opera designers is the inability to co- ordinate lighting, projection systems, and set designs in the prelim- inary planning phase. New computer graphics techniques, which provide the set and lighting designer [be opportunity to evaluate, test, and control opera designs prior to the construction of full scale systems are presented, These techniques—light source input. simu- lation of directional lighting, modeling of scenic projection systems, and full three-dimensional simulation—show the potential for the use of computer graphics in theater design,

The light source input component consists of a program for as- signing light source attributes with a set of theater lighting icons. This module allows a designer to specify light source characteristics in a way familiar to the discipline and to make preliminary evalua- tions of the lighting conditions.

An extended progressive radiosity method is introduced to sim- ulate the directional lighting characteristics which are specified by the input program.

A new projection approach is presented to simulate the optical effects of scenic projectors. In addition, a solution to the distortion problem produced by angular projections is described.

The above components are integrated to produce full three- dimensional simulations of the global illumination effects in an opera scene.