To relate the form and aesthetics of the design of a luminaire to existing product photos, a model of the luminaire is simulated in a virtual photo studio. The actual lighting situation of the photo studio is transferred to the software by making a digital image of the photo studio in HDR format. With a mirror ball taking the place of the luminaire to be represented, the photographer takes a series of photos with different exposure times. In the appropriate image processing program, this series is then used to calculate a High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI). HDRI covers a far greater range of luminance contrasts than conventional digital photos. The HDR image is imported as an environment into which the simulation program provides information on beam direction, light colours, relative luminances, types of shadow and reflections, as will exist in an actual photo studio.

Luminaire design: ERCO

Simulation: ERCO; Aksel Karcher, Berlin