Automatic 3D model creation with velocity-based surface deformations
Date
2007
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Doctoral
Abstract
The virtual worlds of Computer Graphics are populated by geometric objects, called models.
Researchers have addressed the problem of synthesizing models automatically. Traditional modeling approaches often require a user to guide the synthesis process and to look after the geometry being synthesized, but user attention is expensive, and reducing user interaction is therefore desirable. I present a scheme for the automatic creation of geometry by deforming surfaces. My scheme includes a novel surface representation; it is an explicit representation consisting of points and edges, but it is not a traditional polygonal mesh. The novel surface representation is paired with a resampling policy to control the surface density and its evolution during deformation. The surface deforms with velocities assigned to its points through a set of deformation operators. Deformation operators avoid the manual computation and assignment of velocities, the operators allow a user to
interactively assign velocities with minimal effort. Additionally, Petri nets are used to automatically deform a surface by mimicking a user assigning deformation operators. Furthermore, I present an algorithm to translate from the novel surface representations to a polygonal mesh. I demonstrate the utility of my model generation scheme with a gallery of models created automatically. The scheme's surface representation and resampling policy enables a surface to
deform without requiring a user to control the deformation; self-intersections and hole creation
are automatically prevented. The generated models show that my scheme is well suited to create
organic-like models, whose surfaces have smooth transitions between surface features, but can also
produce other kinds of models. My scheme allows a user to automatically generate varied instances
of richly detailed models with minimal user interaction.
Description
Keywords
Computer Graphics, Modeling, Surface Deformation
Citation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Computer Science
Program
Computer Science