1. A method of visualizing surface radiance of an object based on surface, light and view maps of the object corresponding to a view point with lighting provided from a lighting point, the method comprising: selecting a vertex of a mesh component for which surface radiance is to be visualized; determining texture coordinates for the selected vertex based on the lighting point and the view point; recalling surface, light and view maps associated with the texture coordinates corresponding to the selected vertex of the mesh component; decoding the surface, light and view maps into a decoded reflectance function by combining the surface, light and view maps corresponding to the selected vertex of the mesh component; modulating a color of the selected vertex with the combination of the surface, light and view map; and displaying the selected vertex.