The Shadow Meets the Mask: Pyramid-Based Shadow Removal
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Date
2008
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Eurographics Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Abstract
In this paper we propose a novel method for detecting and removing shadows from a single image thereby obtaining a high-quality shadow-free image. With minimal user assistance, we first identify shadowed and lit areas on the same surface in the scene using an illumination-invariant distance measure. These areas are used to estimate the parameters of an affine shadow formation model. A novel pyramid-based restoration process is then applied to produce a shadow-free image, while avoiding loss of texture contrast and introduction of noise. Unlike previous approaches, we account for varying shadow intensity inside the shadowed region by processing it from the interior towards the boundaries. Finally, to ensure a seamless transition between the original and the recovered regions we apply image inpainting along a thin border. We demonstrate that our approach produces results that are in most cases superior in quality to those of previous shadow removal methods. We also show that it is possible to easily composite the extracted shadow onto a new background or modify its size and direction in the original image.
Description
@article{10.1111:j.1467-8659.2008.01155.x,
journal = {Computer Graphics Forum},
title = {{The Shadow Meets the Mask: Pyramid-Based Shadow Removal}},
author = {Shor, Yael and Lischinski, Dani},
year = {2008},
publisher = {The Eurographics Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd},
ISSN = {1467-8659},
DOI = {10.1111/j.1467-8659.2008.01155.x}
}