Image-Based Flow Transfer

Abstract

Weathering phenomena are ubiquitous to urban environments. In particular, fluid flow becomes a specially representative but difficult phenomenon to reproduce. In order to produce realistic flow effects, it is possible to take advantage of the widespread availability of flow images on the internet, which can be used to gather key information about the flow. In this paper we present a technique that allows transferring flow phenomena between photographs, adapting the flow to the target image and giving the user flexibility and control through specifically tailored parameters. This is done through two types of control curves: a fitted theoretical curve for the mass of deposited material, and a control curve extracted from the images for the color. This way, the user has a set of simple and intuitive parameters and tools to control the flow phenomena on the target image. To illustrate our technique, we present a complete set of images that somewhat cover a large range of flow phenomena in urban environments.