Design and simulation of opera lighting and projection effects

Abstract

A major problem challenging opera designers is the inability to co-ordinate lighting, projection systems, and set designs in the preliminary planning phase. New computer graphics techniques, which provide the set and lighting designer the opportunity to evaluate, test, and control opera designs prior to the construction of full scale systems are presented. These techniques---light source input, simulation 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 assigning 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 evaluations of the lighting conditions.An extended progressive radiosity method is introduced to simulate 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.