Fabio Pellacini
Full Professor of Computer Science
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Background
Since the Winter of 2023, I am a Full Professor in Computer Science at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where I work on Computer Graphics methods to solve content creation and design problems. Before then I was an Associate Professor (2011–2017) and then Full Professor (2017–2023) in Computer Science at Sapienza University of Rome, and an Assistant Professor (2005-2009) and then an Associate Professor (2009-2011) in Computer Science at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League University. Before Dartmouth I was a Visiting Assistant Professor (2004-2005) in Computing and Information Science at Cornell University. I also worked in the research division of Pixar Animation Studios (2002-2004) developing new algorithms used in various award winning feature films (Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars). I received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University in 2002, working at the Program of Computer Graphics, and a Laurea degree in Physics (equiv. to BS and MS) from the University of Parma, Italy. I have received an NSF CAREER award in 2008, and an Alfred P. Sloan research fellowship in 2009.
Research
Overview
My main research interest is the investigation of computational methods to support design of 3D objects, from their shape to their appearance, through the development of interactive rendering algorithms, intuitive design interfaces, novel fabrication methods, and user studies. This research led to various theoretical results and practical applications in the areas of interactive realistic rendering, 3d printing, user interfaces and visual perception. A comprehensive list of [publications][publications] is available.
Collaborative Design Workflows
While cloud-based computing have ushered an era of realtime collaborative tools, 3D content creation is still mostly done by artists working individually on single assets. In this project, we investigate methods that allows artists to freely collaborate on 3D content both offline, via version control, and in realtime, via collaborative interfaces.
Intuitive appearance design
Designing appearance, i.e. material and lighting parameters, is cumbersome since current interfaces require designers to specify algorithmic parameters that are only indirectly related to objects' appearance. My work investigates interfaces that allow users to effectively specify environments' final looks, and algorithms that automatically set the appearance parameters required to achieve users' goals.
Analysis and Support of Design Workflows
Content creation is the largest remaining bottleneck for a ubiquitous use of synthetic imagery. My experience in industry as well as academia is that, while many user interfaces exist, little is known objectively about how well these methods work in real-world usage and what are the current bottlenecks that are left in designers’ workflows. In this project, we are interested in understanding how different users model a variety of shapes, materials, and lighting, first individually and then in the context of entire scenes.
Physical Appearance Reproduction
Today printing methods can reproduce the color and shapes of physical objects. This project investigates how to use current printing hardware to reproduce a large variety of material appearance for opaque and translucent objects.
Efficient rendering of complex appearance
High-quality rendering of complex environments remains problematic, especially when complex materials and lighting are involved. I am interested in deriving scalable algorithms for offline rendering of complex appearance in environments with high geometric complexity. I believe these developments will shed insights on how to derive interactive scalable formulations on future machines. Some of these algorithms can also be used to provide interactive feedback, that is necessary for efficient appearance design. While for simple scenes current algorithms serves us well, I am particularly interested in guaranteeing interactivity while designing materials and lighting in the globally-illuminated high-complexity environments, which remains problematic for typical applications in architectural, cinematic and game lighting.
Perceptual metrics for rendering algorithms (not active)
The basic premise of appearance-based rendering is to avoid computing details of an image that our eyes cannot see. In the past, I have been interested in understanding how perceptual metrics can be used in interactive applications, instead of offline ones. To do so, I have investigated a decision theoretic formulation of interactive rendering, where perceptual metrics are used as priority schemes.
Non-photorealistic rendering (not active)
And finally, as most graphics people, I love artistic renditions. As a side project, I developed a generalized mosaicing algorithm that made the frontispiece for siggraph.
Books
- F. Pellacini. Fondamenti di Programmazione in Python. Apple iBook Store and Amazon Kindle Store.
Publications
Leading Journal Articles: SIGGRAPH, TOG, PAMI, TVCG
- [S40] M. Riso, G. Nazzaro, E. Puppo, A. Jacobson, Q. Zhou, F. Pellacini. BoolSurf : Boolean Operations on Surfaces. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2022), 2022. Links: paper, video.
- [S39] G. Cherchi, F. Pellacini, M. Attene, M. Livesu. Interactive and Robust Mesh Booleans. ACM Transaction on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2022), 2022. Links: paper, video, youtube.
- [S38] C. Mancinelli, G. Nazzaro, F. Pellacini, E. Puppo. b/Surf: Interactive Bèzier Splines on Surface Meshes. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2022. Links: paper, video.
- [S37] G. Nazzaro, E. Puppo, F. Pellacini. GeoTangle: Interactive Design of Geodesic Tangle Patterns on Surfaces. ACM Transaction on Graphics, 2022. Links: paper, video.
- [S36] F. A. Fanni, F. Pellacini, R. Scateni, A. Giachetti. Pavel: Decorative Patterns with Packed Volumetric Elements. ACM Transaction on Graphics, 2022. Links: paper.
- [S35] E. Carra, F. Pellacini. SceneGit: a Practical System for Diffing and Merging 3D Environments. ACM Transaction on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2019), 2019. Links: paper, supplemental.
- [S34] C. Santoni, F. Pellacini. gTangle: a Grammar for the Procedural Generation of Tangle Patterns. ACM Transaction on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2016), 2016. Links: paper, video, supplemental.
- [S33] M. Fratarcangeli, V, Tibaldo, F. Pellacini. Vivace: a Practical Gauss-Seidel Method for Stable Soft Body Dynamics. ACM Transaction on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2016), 2016. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [S32] C. Calabrese, G. Salvati, M. Tarini, F. Pellacini. cSculpt: A System for Collaborative Sculpting. ACM Transaction on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2016), 2016. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [S31] G. Salvati, C. Santoni, V. Tibaldo, F. Pellacini. MeshHisto: Collaborative Modeling by Sharing and Retargeting Editing Histories. ACM Transaction on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2015), 2015. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental.
- [S30] J. Denning, V. Tibaldo, F. Pellacini. 3DFlow: Continuous Summarization of Mesh Editing Workflows. ACM Transaction on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2015), 2015. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [S29] A. Attanasi, A. Cavagna, L. Del Castello, I. Giardina, A. Jelic, S. Melillo, L. Parisi, F. Pellacini, E. Shen, E. Silvestri, M. Viale. Greta: A Novel Global and Recursive Tracking Algorithm in Three Dimensions. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 2015. Links: paper, supplemental.
- [S28] F. Di Renzo, C. Calabrese, F. Pellacini. AppIm: Linear Spaces for Image-based Appearance Editing. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2014), 2014. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental, talk.
- [S27] A. Jarabo, B. Masia, A. Bousseau, F. Pellacini, D. Gutierrez. How Do People Edit Light Fields?. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2014), 2014. Links: paper, video, supplemental.
- [S26] J. Denning, F. Pellacini. MeshGit: Diffing and Merging Meshes for Polygonal Modeling. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2013), 2013. Links: paper, talk.
- [S25] Y. Lan, Y. Dong, F. Pellacini, X. Tong. Bi-Scale Appearance Fabrication. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2013), 2013. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [S24] Y. Dong, X. Tong, F. Pellacini, B. Guo. Printing Spatially Varying Reflectance for Reproducing HDR Images. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2012), 2012. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [S23] J. Ou, F. Pellacini. LightSlice: Matrix Slice Sampling for the Many-Lights Problem. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2011), 2011. Links: paper, talk.
- [S22] X. An, X. Tong, J. D. Denning, F. Pellacini. AppWarp: Retargeting Measured Materials by Appearance-Space Warping. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2011), 2011. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental, talk.
- [S21] Y. Dong, X. Tong, F. Pellacini, B. Guo. AppGen: Interactive Material Modeling from a Single Image. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2011), 2011. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental.
- [S20] J. Denning, W. B. Kerr, F. Pellacini. MeshFlow: Interactive Visualization of Mesh Construction Sequences. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2011), 2011. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental, talk.
- [S19] F. Pellacini. EnvyLight: An Interface for Editing Natural Illumination. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2010), 2010. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental, talk.
- [S18] W. B. Kerr, F. Pellacini. Toward Evaluating Material Design Interface Paradigms for Novice Users. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2010), 2010. Links: paper, supplemental.
- [S17] Y. Dong, J. Wang, F. Pellacini, X. Tong, B. Guo. Fabricating Spatially-Varying Subsurface Scattering. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2010), 2010. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [S16] W. Matusik, B. Ajdin, J. Gu, J. Lawrence, H. Lensch, F. Pellacini, S. Rusinkiewicz. Printing Spatially-Varying Reflectance. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2009), 2009. Links: paper.
- [S15] W. Kerr, F. Pellacini. Toward Evaluating Lighting Design Interface Paradigms for Novice Users. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2009), 2009. Links: paper, supplemental.
- [S14] Y. Song, X. Tong, F. Pellacini, P. Peers. SubEdit: A Representation for Editing Measured Heterogeneous Subsurface Scattering. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2009), 2009. Links: paper, video, supplemental.
- [S13] E. Cheslack-Postava, R. Wang, O. Akerlund, F. Pellacini. Fast, Realistic Lighting and Material Design using Nonlinear Cut Approximation. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH Asia 2008), 2008. Links: paper, video.
- [S12] X. An, F. Pellacini. AppProp: All-Pairs Appearance-Space Edit Propagation. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2008), 2008. Links: paper, video, supplemental, talk.
- [S11] F. Pellacini, J. Lawrence. AppWand: Editing Measured Materials using Appearance-Driven Optimization. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2007), 2007. Links: paper, video, talk.
- [S10] M. Hasan, F. Pellacini, K. Bala. Matrix Row-Column Sampling for the Many Light Problem. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2007), 2007. Links: paper, talk.
- [S09] F. Pellacini, F. Battaglia, K. Morley, A. Finkelstein. Lighting with Paint. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 2007. Links: paper, video.
- [S08] M. Hasan, F. Pellacini, K. Bala. Direct-to-Indirect Transfer for Cinematic Relighting. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2006), 2006. Links: paper, videotalk.
- [S07] F. Pellacini. User-Configurable Automatic Shader Simplification. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2005), 2005. Links: paper, talk.
- [S06] F. Pellacini, K. Vidimce, A. Lefohn, A. Mohr, M. Leone, J. Warren. Lpics: a Hybrid Hardware-Accelerated Relighting Engine for Computer Cinematography. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2005), 2005. Links: paper, video.
- [S05] R. Dumont, F. Pellacini, J. Ferwerda. Perceptually-Driven Decision Theory for Interactive Realistic Rendering. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 2003. Links: paper.
- [S04] F. Pellacini, P. Tole, D. Greenberg. A User Interface for Interactive Cinematic Shadow Design. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2002), 2002. Links: paper, talk.
- [S03] P. Tole, F. Pellacini, B. Walter, D. Greenberg. Interactive Global Illumination in Dynamic Scenes. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2002), 2002. Links: paper, video, talk.
- [S02] J. Kim, F. Pellacini. Jigsaw Image Mosaics. ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2002), 2002. Links: paper.
- [S01] F. Pellacini, J. Ferwerda, D. Greenberg. Toward a Psychophysically-based Light Reflection model for Image Synthesis. SIGGRAPH 2000, 2000. Links: paper, talk.
Journals
- [J19] M. Riso, D. Sforza, F. Pellacini pOp: Parameter Optimization of Differentiable Vector Patterns. Computer Graphics Forum, 4 (41), 2022. Links: paper.
- [J18] T. G. Dulecha, F. A. Fanni, F. Ponchio, F. Pellacini, A. Giachetti Neural reflectance transformation imaging. The Visual Computer, 36 (10), 2161–2174, 2020. Links: paper.
- [J17] E Carra, C. Santoni, F. Pellacini. Grammar-based procedural animations for motion graphics. Computers & Graphics, 2019. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental.
- [J16] C. Santoni, G. Salvati, V. Tibaldo, F. Pellacini. LevelMerge: Collaborative Game Level Editing by Merging Labeled Graphs. IEEE CG&A, 2016. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [J15] T.-W. Schmidt, F. Pellacini, D. Nowrouzezahrai, W. Jarosz, C. Dachsbacher. State of the Art in Artistic Editing of Appearance, Lighting, and Material. Computer Graphics Forum, 2016. Links: paper.
- [J14] M. Fratarcangeli, F. Pellacini. Scalable Partitioning for Parallel Position Based Dynamics. Computer Graphics Forum (Eurographics), 2015. Links: paper, video.
- [J13] M. Fratarcangeli, F. Pellacini. A GPU-Based Implementation of Position-Based Dynamics got Interactive Deformable Bodies. Journal of Graphics Tools (extended version of SIGGRAD 2014), 2015. Links: paper.
- [J12] O. Karlík, M. Růžička, V. Gassenbauer, F. Pellacini, J. Křivánek. Toward Evaluating the Usefulness of Global Illumination for Novices in Lighting Design Tasks. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2014. Links: paper, video, supplemental.
- [J11] F. Banterle, M. Callieri, M. Dellepiane, M. Corsini, F. Pellacini, R. Scopigno. EnvyDepth: An Interface for Recovering Local Natural Illumination from Environment Maps. Computer Graphics Forum (Eurographics), 2013. Links: paper, supplemental.
- [J10] J. Ou, O. Karlik, J. Krivanek, F. Pellacini. Evaluating Progressive Rendering Methods in Appearance Design Tasks. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 2013. Links: paper, video, supplemental.
- [J09] J. Ou, F Xie, P. Krishnamachari, F. Pellacini. ISHair: Importance Sampling for Hair Scattering. Computer Graphics Forum (EGRS 2012), 2012. Links: paper, video, supplemental.
- [J08] X. An, F. Pellacini. User Controllable Color Transfer. Computer Graphics Forum (EG 2010), 2010. Links: paper.
- [J07] J. Ou, F. Pellacini. SafeGI: Type Checking to Improve Correctness in Rendering System Implementation. Computer Graphics Forum (EGSR 2010), 2010. Links: paper.
- [J06] W. B. Kerr, F. Pellacini, J. Denning. BendyLights: Artistic Control of Direct Illumination by Curving Light Rays. Computer Graphics Forum (EGSR), 2010. Links: paper, video.
- [J06] J. Obert, F. Pellacini, S. Pattanaik. Visibility Editing For All-Frequency Shadow Design. Computer Graphics Forum (EGSR 2010), 2010. Links: paper, video.
- [J04] M. Hasan, E. Velazquez-Armendariz, F. Pellacini, K. Bala. Tensor Clustering for Rendering Many-Light Animations. Computer Graphics Forum (EGSR 2008), 2008. Links: paper, video talk.
- [J03] J. Obert, J. Krivanec, F. Pellacini, D. Sykora, S. Pattanaik. iCheat: A Representation for Artistic Control of Indirect Cinematic Lighting. Computer Graphics Forum (EGSR 2008), 2008. Links: paper, talk.
- [J02] L. Lorigo, M. Haridasan, H. BrynjarsdÑttir, L. Xia, L. Granka, F. Pellacini, B. Pan, T. Joachims, G. Gay. Eye Tracking and Online Search: Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), 2008. Links: paper.
- [J01] L. Lorigo, F. Pellacini. Frequency and Structure of Long Distance Scholarly Collaborations in a Physics Community. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), 2007. Links: paper.
Conferences
- [C14] F. M. Caputo, S. Jacota, S. Krayevskyy, M. Pesavento, F. Pellacini, A. Giachetti. XR-Cockpit: a comparison of VR and AR solutions on an interactive training station. In ETFA, 2020.
- [C13] G. Nazzaro, E. Carra, F. Pellacini. Yocto/GL: A Data-Oriented Library for Physically-Based Graphics. In STAG, 2019. Links: paper.
- [C12] C. Joppi, M. Godi, A. Giachetti, F. Pellacini, M. Cristani. Texture Retrieval in the Wild Through Detection-Based Attributes. ICIAP, 2019. Links: paper.
- [C11] M. Godi, C. Joppi, A. Giachetti, F. Pellacini, M. Cristani. Texel-Att: Representing and Classifying Element-based Textures by Attributes. BMVC, 2019. Links: paper.
- [C10] E. Carra, C. Santoni, F. Pellacini. gMotion: A Spatio-Temporal Grammar for the Procedural Generation of Motion Graphics. GI, 2019. Links: paper, youtube, video, supplemental.
- [C09] C. Calabrese, M. Fratarcangeli, F. Pellacini. sLayer: a System for Multi-Layered Material Sculpting. EGSR, EI&I Track, 2017. Links: paper, youtube, video.
- [C08] M. Fratarcangeli, F. Pellacini. Towards a Massively Parallel Solver for Position Based Dynamics. SIGRAD 2014. Links: paper.
- [C07] T.-W. Schmidt, F. Pellacini, D. Nowrouzezahrai, W. Jarosz, C. Dachsbacher. State of the Art in Artistic Editing of Appearance, Lighting, and Material. Eurographics State of the Art Reports 2014. Links: paper.
- [C06] J. Ou, F. Xie, P. Krishnamachari, F. Pellacini. ISHair: Importance Sampling for Hair Scattering. ACM SIGGRAPH 2012 Talks, 2012.
- [C05] S. Bratus, A. Hansen, F. Pellacini, A. Shubina. Backhoe, a Packet Trace and Log Browser. Workshop for Visualization for Cyber Security (VizSEC), 2008. Links: paper.
- [C04] H. Li, F. Pellacini, K. Torrance. A Hybrid Monte Carlo Method for Accurate and Efficient Subsurface Scattering. Eurographics Symposium on Rendering, 2005. Links: paper, talk.
- [C03] J. Ferwerda, F. Pellacini. Functional Difference Predictors (FDPs): measuring meaningful image differences. Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems, and Computers, 2003. Links: paper.
- [C02] R. Dumont, F. Pellacini, J. Ferwerda. Perceptually-based texture caching for hardware rendering. Eurographics Workshop on Rendering, 2001. Links: paper.
- [C01] J. Ferwerda, F. Pellacini, D. Greenberg. A Psychophysically-Based Model of Surface Gloss Perception. Human vision and electronic imaging VI, 2001. Links: paper.
Book chapters
- [B03] F. Pellacini, M. Hašan, K. Bala. Interactive Cinematic Relighting with Global Illumination. In H. Nguyen ed., GPU Gems 3, Addison-Wesley, 2007.
- [B02] F. Pellacini, K. Vidimče. Cinematic Lighting. In R. Fernando ed., GPU Gems, Addison-Wesley, 2007.
- [B01] M. Bunnel, F. Pellacini. Shadow Map Antialiasing. In R. Fernando ed., GPU Gems, Addison-Wesley, 2007.
Courses
University Courses
- F. Pellacini. Computer Graphics. Sapienza University of Rome, 2017, 2020a, 2020b, 2021, 2022.
- F. Pellacini. Fundamentals of Computer Graphics. Sapienza University of Rome, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020a, 2020b, 2021, 2022.
- I. Masi, F. Pellacini. Fondamenti di Programmazione (Lab). Sapienza University of Rome.
- F. Pellacini, R. Silvestri, A. Monti. Fondamenti di Programmazione. Sapienza University of Rome, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.
- F. Pellacini. Physics Programming. University of Verona, 2016, 2017.
- F. Pellacini. Computer Graphics. Dartmouth College, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009.
- F. Pellacini. Topics in Computer Graphics. Dartmouth College, 2006, 2008.
- F. Pellacini. Projects in Digital Art. Dartmouth College, 2007, 2008, 2010.
- F. Pellacini. Programming for Interactive Digital Art. Dartmouth College, 2010.
- F. Pellacini. Concepts in Computing. Dartmouth College, 2007.
- F. Pellacini, D. P. Greenberg. Advanced Computer Animation. Cornell, 2005.
- F. Pellacini, D. P. Greenberg. Computer Animation. Cornell, 2004.
Conference Courses
- C. Boyd, K. Fatahalian, T. Forsyth, M. Houston, A. Lefohn, D. Luebke, A. Munshi, J. Olick, J. Owens, F. Pellacini, M. Pharr, J. Shopf. Beyond Programmable Shading. ACM SIGGRAPH, 2008.
- M. Olano, D. Blythe, L. Gritz, M. Kilgard, M. McCool, F. Pellacini, T. Scheuermann. GPU Shading and Rendering. ACM SIGGRAPH, 2006.