[Expert Talks] The challenge of lighting in virtual try-on

About Xavier Rivory, Fittingbox's StudioLab Manager

Xavier has been working on 3D technologies for 15 years in automotive and aircraft design. Along with his team, he brings a designer and graphist expertise to Fittingbox tools and improves the quality of 3D assets. Learn more about Frame Digitization.

About Lighting in the Virtual Try-On experience

To simulate an object in a 3D engine, we need 3 components: 3D data, materials and lighting.

Lighting is essential to give a true-to-life aspect to the object displayed in 3D.

The special thing about frames is that the reflection you see really stands out. On a same frame, there can be different materials with thin parts. As lighting creates volume, reflection effects are essential for metallic materials and lenses.

Depending on the environment and its lighting, the same material can have different variations. The color of the object is still the same but your eyes perceive this color differently.

One exemple is when your are at the beach with a bright blue sky: the colors are saturated and deeply luminous. The challenge is to create an environment with contrast and a balance of lights on all sides of the object. We had to simulate multiple light sources, as if there were several suns. While moving the glasses in the environment, reflection should be natural with subtle details such as palm leaves.