This is an ongoing project. Please check back for new developments.

12 March 2009

End of quarter update:
As my project stands, I''m still in the theoretical phase, determining what my
angle of attack will be. I've arranged to have time to work on it next quarter,
though I still need to put together a team of advisors who can help me with the
stickier technical details.

10 March 2009

I think I've got a functional concept for the core of the refraction shader, based
around a multi-frequency color map. By comparing this map to the Ci values of
the objects to the stored colors in the map, I should be able to get the desired
dispersion effect. This approach is a bit roundabout, but was necessitated by the
way Renderman conceptualizes the motion of rays in the scene, where they
originate from the camera rather than the object.

23 February 2009

I've pitched this project as my MFA thesis, and it has been accepted. Based on
the responses from the review committee, and my review of my research
sources, I'm going to have to adjust my goals for the end of the quarter
regarding this project. My primary focus will be developing the frequency to
refractive index module, originally planned as step two. My secondary goal
would be to pull together a group of faculty advisors who have the appropriate
expertise to help me if I get stuck. As a tertiary goal, I'd like to nail down
my understanding of Yinlong Sun's methods for mapping RGB to frequency
colorspace and, if possible, start building the color remapping module as well.

19 February 2009

I believe I've pulled together the research materials necessary to begin work on
the modules that will make up my tools. My primary reference at the moment is
a paper entitled "Rendering Biolgical Iridescences with RGB-Based Renderers"
by Yinlong Sun. The paper deals with a method of mapping RGB colorspace
into something called CIE-XYZ colorspace, and then extracting wavelength and
frequency values from there. The technique is very math heavy, and it's been a
while since I last took a math class (seven years to be exact).

I've made the decision to use this project as my thesis topic, and the past week
has largely been dominated by preparations for my 45-hour review where I must
pitch this topic to the review committee.