Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for surface approximation without cracks

US7277096B2 · kind B2 · utility

7Cited by
4References
25Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJan 28, 2004
Grant dateOct 2, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 29, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T17/20
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for surface approximation without cracks. In one or more embodiments, a surface to be rendered is split into multiple adjacent regions (e.g., subdivision surfaces or patches). A data structure is associated with each boundary edge between two regions for storage of adjacency information in the form of a sequence of tessellation vertices. Adjacency information for a given edge is written into the data structure when an adjacent region is first tessellated. When the remaining adjacent region is tessellated, the adjacency information is read from the data structure and used to achieve tessellation without cracks. In one embodiment, visible cracks due to T-vertices are prevented by forming an overlap of adjacent regions at the location of each T-vertex. This technique allows regions to be tessellated and rendered without any advance knowledge of how the adjacent regions will be split. The regions may be tessellated and rendered separately and in any order, reducing time and memory requirements for rendering.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.