Abstract: object model for computer graphics applications should contain two aspects of information: shape and reflectance properties of the object. A number of techniques have been developed for modeling object shapes by observing real objects. In contrast, attempts to model reflectance properties of real objects have been rather limited. In most cases, modeled reflectance properties are too simple or too complicated to be used for synthesizing realistic images of the object. In this paper, we propose a new method for modeling object tance properties, as well as object shapes, by observing real objects. an object surface shape is reconstructed by merging multiple range images of the object. By using the reconstructed object shape and a sequence of color images of the object, parameters of a tion model are estimated in a robust manner. The key point of the proposed method is that, first, the diffuse and specular reflection are separated from the color image sequence, and then, reflectance parameters of each reflection component are estimated separately. This approach enables estimation of reflectance ties of real objects whose surfaces show specularity as well as reflected lights. The recovered object shape and reflectance properties are then used for synthesizing object images with realistic shading effects under arbitrary illumination conditions.