Publications by Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

Radiance Surfaces: Optimizing Surface Representations with a 5D Radiance Field Loss

Wenzel Alban Jakob, Nicolas Julien Roussel, Tizian Lucien Zeltner, Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

We present a fast and simple technique to convert images into a radiance surface-based scene representation. Building on existing radiance volume reconstruction algorithms, we introduce a subtle yet impactful modification of the loss function requiring cha ...

ACM2025

Unbiased Inverse Volume Rendering with Differential Trackers

Wenzel Alban Jakob, Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

Volumetric representations are popular in inverse rendering because they have a simple parameterization, are smoothly varying, and transparently handle topology changes. However, incorporating the full volumetric transport of light is costly and challengin ...

ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY2022

Differentiable Physically Based Rendering: Algorithms, Systems and Applications

Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

Physically based rendering methods can create photorealistic images by simulating the propagation and interaction of light in a virtual scene. Given a scene description including the shape of objects, participating media, material properties, etc., the sim ...

EPFL2022

Differentiable inverse rendering based on radiative backpropagation

Wenzel Alban Jakob, Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

A computer-implemented inverse rendering method is provided. The method comprises: computing an adjoint image by differentiating an objective function that evaluates the quality of a rendered image, image elements of the adjoint image encoding the sensitiv ...

2021

Radiative Backpropagation: An Adjoint Method for Lightning-Fast Differentiable Rendering

Wenzel Alban Jakob, Sébastien Nicolas Speierer, Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

Physically based differentiable rendering has recently evolved into a powerful tool for solving inverse problems involving light. Methods in this area perform a differentiable simulation of the physical process of light transport and scattering to estimate ...

ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY2020

Mitsuba 2: A Retargetable Forward and Inverse Renderer

Wenzel Alban Jakob, Tizian Lucien Zeltner, Delio Aleardo Vicini, Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

Modern rendering systems are confronted with a dauntingly large and growing set of requirements: in their pursuit of realism, physically based techniques must increasingly account for intricate properties of light, such as its spectral composition or polar ...

ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY2019

Building and Animating User-Specific Volumetric Face Rigs

Mark Pauly, Ladislav Kavan, Alexandru Eugen Ichim, Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

Currently, the two main approaches to realistic facial animation are 1) blendshape models and 2) physics-based simulation. Blendshapes are fast and directly controllable, but it is not easy to incorporate features such as dynamics, collision resolution, or ...

Association for Computer Graphics2016

Building and Animating User-Specific Volumetric Face Rigs

Mark Pauly, Ladislav Kavan, Alexandru Eugen Ichim, Merlin Eléazar Nimier-David

Currently, the two main approaches to realistic facial animation are 1) blendshape models and 2) physics-based simulation. Blendshapes are fast and directly controllable, but it is not easy to incorporate features such as dynamics, collision resolution, or ...

The Eurographics Association2016