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Implicit Modeling Picks Up Speed.
Subdivision techniques help make implicit surfaces a more timely option for interactive graphics applications
A hybrid modeling technique being developed by researchers in Canada could help propel implicit surfaces into the computer graphics mainstream.
Unlike most computer-based 3D geometric modeling techniques, which are based on polygonal models or parametric surfaces generated from sets of carefully constructed control points, implicit surfaces consist of contours (isosurfaces) through some scalar field in 3D. The resulting implicit models are defined by finding a field value for a large number of points in space to calculate the 3D contour.
Primitive shapes, or skeletons, such as spheres, planes, and cylinders may be combined using various operations. These include adding, subtracting, and blending multiple skeletons to describe smooth, intricate, deformable shapes that are difficult or inefficient to represent with conventional polygonal or parametric building blocks, even if primitives such as spheres or Bezier-spline surfaces are used.
Unfortunately, implicit surface techniques are hampered by the lack of efficient methods for producing polygonal meshes from the skeletal descriptions, which is necessary for visualizing the implicit models. Current graphics hardware is not fast enough to enable existing polygon conversion techniques (such as particle, voxel-based, and adaptive methods) to be used for the interactive modeling of complex implicit forms. Consequently, computer graphics researchers have been searching for new algorithms that will enable them to fully exploit the advantages of implicit surfaces.
A Smooth Approach
Toward this end, Brian Wyvill and Pauline Jepp of the University of Calgary, together with colleagues Kees van Overveld of Philips Research and Geoff Wyvill of the University of Otago, have developed a system that combines an existing, voxel-based implicit polygonization method with a subdivision surface technique to quickly approximate and smooth an implicit mesh.
- Pixar Releases PhotoRealistic RenderMan 3.9 and RenderMan Artist Tools 4.0.
- Press release article from: PR Newswire August 3, 1999 700+ words
...previously only been available on Unix-based servers. * Implicit surface geometric primitives (sometimes known as blobs or metaballs...RenderMan 3.9's breakthrough subdivision surface and implicit surface features; * ALFRED 4.0, a scriptable network job distribution...
- POPULATIONS ON FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPES WITH SPATIALLY STRUCTURED HETEROGENEITIES:...
- Magazine article from: Ecology HIEBELER, DAVID June 1, 2000 700+ words
...combine some of the best features of spatially explicit and implicit models and serve as a useful supplement to those methods for understanding...fall into three categories. The first category, spatially implicit models, is the most common theoretical approach. These models...
- A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution.
- Magazine article from: Independent Review Gunderson, Gerald March 22, 1997 700+ words
...that they are "captive to narrow constructs" but rather "choose the method that is best in each case" are prisoners of implicit models that not only vary but all too often contradict each other. In contrast, Draper is very forthright about his thesis and...
- Alias/Wavefront Announces Maya 4.5 - Innovative Fluid Effects Technology Brings...
- Press release article from: Business Wire July 17, 2002 700+ words
...interactive 2D solver, 3D fluids solver, interactive control with Maya Artisan(TM), an Ocean Shader, and volumetric and implicit surface texturing and rendering. Fluid motion is accurately simulated using state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics...
- Spatial Ecology: The Role of Space in Population Dynamics and Interspecific...
- Magazine article from: Ecology Belgrano, Andrea December 1, 1998 700+ words
...describe scaling laws in ecology using spatial stochastic models are described, including nonlinear systems. Spatially implicit models using production functions are presented for a variety of organisms from terrestrial to aquatic environments. The empirical...
- Researchers from City University of New York report details of new studies and...
- Newspaper article from: Biotech Week November 12, 2008 700+ words
...characterizes their lives, are explored in depth. Wiesler's transformation is based in part on the capacity to form implicit models of the behavior and experiences of others, based on the mirror neuron system, that Gallese and his colleagues call 'embodied...
- SplutterFish Announces Brazil Rendering System(TM) 2.0 -- Performance Rendering...
- Press release article from: Business Wire August 9, 2005 700+ words
...end features. Significant new advancements to Brazil r/s 2.0 include rendertime displacement, 3d motion blur, implicit surface rendering, core-level caching, and on-demand buffer generation for irradiance, baking, and nearly infinite data...
- SplutterFish Announces Worldwide Availability of Brazil Rendering System v2.
- Press release article from: Business Wire November 28, 2007 700+ words
...sampling core that supports combinations of features that previously killed rendertimes * Full 3d-Motion Blur * Expanded Implicit Surface Support including Rendertime Displacements * Polygonal Rendertime Displacements (Pro-Beta version only) * On-Demand...