Evening

“Portraiture stands apart from other genres of art as it marks the intersection between portrait, biography, and history. They are more than artworks; when people look at portraits, they think they are encountering that person,” says Alison Smith, chief curator at the National Portrait Gallery in London. For thousands of years, artists have used cutting-edge tools and resources to create portraiture, giving viewers a glimpse into the subject’s life. A successful portrait embraces technology to bring the viewer closer to the subject but is not overshadowed by it. 

In this course, we will delve into portraiture through the lens of various volumetric capture systems, including Depth Kit, Evercoast, Polycam, and Gaussian splatting. Through hands-on assignments, students will learn the entire pipeline of volumetric capture, from configuring the systems to capturing our subjects and final output. Simultaneously, we will focus on fundamental aspects of portraiture, such as lighting, storytelling, production techniques, and historical foundations. The course will explain the techniques and considerations involved in creating volumetric portraits. Students will gain proficiency in the systems to produce high-quality volumetric portraits that can be integrated into different mediums, including game engines, augmented reality (AR), or traditional 2D outputs.

Prerequisite: Comm. Lab (IMNY-UT 102)