Rendering 3D surfaces through limit surface projections
US6525727B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 29, 1999 |
| Grant date | Feb 25, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 29, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T17/20
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In rendering a 3D surface, a computer obtains an initial digital data set that defines a base mesh coarsely approximating the 3D surface, where the base mesh includes vertices connected to form 2D faces. The computer subdivides the 2D faces of the base mesh one or more times to form one or more subdivision meshes, where each subdivision mesh more closely approximates the 3D surface than each preceding mesh, and where each subdivision mesh includes more vertices than each preceding mesh. For each subdivision mesh, the computer applies a computer-implemented algorithm to the vertices in the subdivision mesh to project the vertices onto a limit surface that represents the actual shape of the 3D surface, where the projected vertices define a projected surface. The computer then renders an image of the projected surface for the subdivision mesh instead of rendering an image of the subdivision mesh itself.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.