Anisotropic MatCap: easy capture and reproduction of anisotropic materials

We propose Anisotropic MatCap, a simple data structure based on a small volumetric texture that is able to represent, under a fixed lighting, the behavior of anisotropic materials. The data structure is designed to allow fast and practical capture of real-world anisotropic materials (like for example fabrics) and to be used in real-time renderings, requiring only negligible time and texture memory overheads. The resulting technique is suited for application scenarios where digital objects must be inspected by an end user, recreating the look of an object made of a captured anisotropic material and seen under the predetermined lighting conditions. The technique proved particularly useful for garments and cloth visualization and design.