Accelerated occlusion culling using directional discretized occluders and system therefore
US6574360B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 23, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jun 3, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 23, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T15/40
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An occlusion culling method for image processing and system therefor. The culling method first determines which polygons are hidden, or occluded, by other objects. These hidden or occluded polygons will not contribute to the final scene and, therefore, need not be rendered. In the first major step, the input models are preprocessed to build a hierarchical data structure which is as an approximation to the input models. Simple polygonal occluders are determined for substitution in place of the complex image geometry in successive visibility queries. Once the first preprocessing step is complete, the second step may be executed at run-time, while a user is inspecting, or visualizing, the input. In the second step, the occluders, determined in the first step, are used to selectively forego rendering shapes or shape portions that are unseen from the current viewpoint.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.