3D Object Representations
Methods:
Polygon and Quadric surfaces: For simple Euclidean objects
Spline surfaces and construction: For curved surfaces
Procedural methods: Eg. Fractals, Particle systems
Physically based modeling methods
Octree Encoding
Isosurface displays, Volume rendering, etc.
Classification:
Boundary Representations (B-reps) eg. Polygon facets and spline patches
Space-partitioning representations eg. Octree Representation
Objects may also associate with other properties such as mass, volume, so as to determine
their response to stress and temperature etc.
5.1 Polygon Surfaces
This method simplifies and speeds up the surface rendering and display of objects.
For other 3D objection representations, they are often converted into polygon
surfaces before rendering.
Polygon Mesh
- Using a set of connected polygonally bounded planar surfaces to represent an object,
which may have curved surfaces or curved edges.
- The wireframe display of such object can be displayed quickly to give general
indication of the surface structure.
- Realistic renderings can be produced by interpolating shading patterns across the
polygon surfaces to eliminate or reduce the presence of polygon edge boundaries.
5.2 Polygon Tables
This is the specification of polygon
surfaces using vertex coordinates and
other attributes:
1. Geometric data table: vertices, edges,
and polygon surfaces.
2. Attribute table: eg. Degree of
transparency and surface reflectivity
etc.
Some consistency checks of the
geometric data table:
Every vertex is listed as an endpoint
for at least 2 edges
Every edge is part of at least one polygon
Every polygon is closed
5.3 Plane equation and visible points
Consider a cube, each of the 6 planes has 2 sides: inside
face and outside face.
For each plane (in a right-handed coordinate system), if we
look at its surface and take 3 points in counter-clockwise
direction: (x1,y1), (x2,y2), and (x3,y3), we can compute 4
values: A,B,C,D as
1 y1 z1 x1 1 z 1 x1 y1 1 x1 y1 z1
D=
A = 1 y2 z2 B = x2 1 z2 C = x2 y2 - x2 y2 z2
1
1 y3 z3 x3 1 z 3 x3 y3 1 x3 y3 z3
Then, the plane equation at the form: Ax+By+Cz+D=0 has the property that:
If we substitute any arbitrary point (x,y) into this equation, then,
Ax + By + Cz + D < 0 implies that the point (x,y) is inside the surface, and
Ax + By + Cz + D < 1 implies that the point (x,y) is outside the surface.
Polygon Meshes
Common types of polygon meshes are triangle strip and quadrilateral mesh.
Fast hardware-implemented polygon renderers are capable of displaying up to 1,000,000 or
more shaded triangles per second, including the application of surface texture and special
lighting effects.
Curved Surfaces
1. Regular curved surfaces can be generated as
- Quadric Surfaces, eg. Sphere, Ellipsoid, or
- Superquadrics, eg. Superellipsoids
These surfaces can be represented by some simple parametric equations, eg, for ellipsoid:
s1 s2
x = rx cos cos , - /2<= <= /2
s1 s2
y = ry cos sin , - <= <=
s1
z = rz sin
Where s1, rx, ry, and rx are constants. By varying the values of and , points on the
surface can be computed.
2. Irregular surfaces can also be
generated using some special
formulating approach, to form a kind of
blobby objects -- The shapes showing a
certain degree of fluidity.
5.4 Spline Representations
Spline means a flexible strip used to produce a smooth curve through a designated set of
points. Several small weights are distributed along the length of the strip to hold it in position
on the drafting table as the curve is drawn.
We can mathematically describe such a curve with a piecewise cubic polynomial function =>
spline curves. Then a spline surface can be described with 2 sets of orthogonal spline curves.
Sweep Representations
Sweep representations mean sweeping a 2D surface in 3D space to create an object.
However, the objects created by this method are usually converted into polygon meshes
and/or parametric surfaces before storing.
A Translational Sweep: A Rotational Sweep:
Other variations:
- We can specify special path for the sweep as some curve function.
- We can vary the shape or size of the cross section along the sweep path.
- We can also vary the orientation of the cross section relative to the sweep path.
Introduce types of curves and surfaces
– Explicit
– Implicit
– Parametric
Modeling with Curves
data points interpolating data point approximating curve
There are many ways to represent curves and surfaces
Want a representation that is
–Stable
–Smooth
–Easy to evaluate
Explicit Representation
• Most familiar form of curve in 2D
y=f(x)
• Cannot represent all curves
–Vertical lines
–Circles
• Extension to 3D
y=f(x), z=g(x) – gives a curve
The form y = f(x,z) defines a surface
Implicit Representation
• Two dimensional curve(s)
g(x,y)=0
• Much more robust
– All lines ax+by+c=0
– Circles x2+y2-r2=0
• Three dimensions g(x,y,z)=0 defines a surface
– (we could intersect two surfaces to get a curve)
Parametric Curves P(u)
Separate equation for each spatial variable
P(umax)
x=x(u) P(umin)
y=y(u)
T
z=z(u) p(u)=[x(u), y(u), z(u)]
For u ≥ u ≥u we trace out a curve in two or three dimensions
max min
Hermite Curves and Surfaces
• How can we get around the limitations of the interpolating form
– Lack of smoothness
– Discontinuous derivatives at join points
• We have four conditions (for cubics) that we can apply to each segment
– Use them other than for interpolation
– Need only come close to the data
Hermite Form
pp
’’
((
01
))
p(0) p(1)
Use two interpolating conditions and two derivative conditions per segment
Ensures continuity and first derivative continuity between segments
Bezier Curves
• In graphics and CAD, we do not usually have derivative data
• Bezier suggested using the same 4 data points as with the cubic interpolating curve to
approximate the derivatives in the Hermite form
B-Splines
• Basis splines: use the data at p=[pi-2 pi-1 pi pi+1]T to define curve only
between pi-1 and pi
• Allows us to apply more continuity conditions to each segment
• For cubics, we can have continuity of the function and first and second
derivatives at the join points
