Physically based shading in theory and practice

Physically based shading is increasingly important in both film and game production. By adhering to physically based, energy-conserving shading models, one can easily create high-quality, realistic materials that maintain their quality in a variety of lighting environments. Traditional "ad-hoc" models have required extensive tweaking to achieve the same result, so it is no surprise that physically based models have increased in popularity, particularly because they are often no more difficult to implement or evaluate. Since last year's course (Practical Physically Based Shading in Film and Game Production, SIGGRAPH 2012), many advances have been made in this field, and once again game and film studios present their latest research and techniques.