That is pretty cool, lightning seems a bit too jagged
http://vimeo.com/1491917 for reference

Sound Effects Please!!
I actually really liked the 3D landscape you showed. Something about that low-poly old school 3d game look…

Noice.

Is the lightning actually seeking the high points in the photo?

very cool final form of your exploration

Nice explanation of process. The shading/halo really adds something. A shame it doesn’t look as good on the projector. Does it actually have some understanding of the shape of the skyline in your photo, or does the lightning just strike at some arbitrary y coordinate? Neat project. The discussion of perceived simulation versus real simulation this has sparked is also very cool. -SB

Another cool effect would be to create a flashing glow in the clounds to create the illusion of internal/far away lightning

Look at Robert Hodgin’s meteorties: http://www.barbariangroup.com/posts/1842-augmenting_a_webcam

Nice process. how about a hand cursor, pointing upside down? 🙂
Have the lighting relate to the space — falling between layers, hitting pointy things.
see http://roberthodgin.com/city-on-fire/
Please post links/references to the papers you read!
GL

Wow!