A Subdivision Algorithm for Computer Display of Curved Surfaces

Abstract

This report presents a method for producing computer shaded pictures of curved surfaces. Three-dimensional curved patches are used, as contrasted with conventional methods using polygons. The method subdivides a patch into successively smaller subpatches until a subpatch is as small as a raster- element, at which time it can be displayed. In general this method could be very time consuming because of the great number of subdivisions that must take place; however, there is at least one very useful class of patches - the bicubic patch - that can be subdivided very quickly. Pitures produced with the method accurately portray the shading and silhouette of curved surfaces. In addition, photographs can be 'mapped' onto patches thus providing a means for putting texture on computer-generated pictures.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1974
Accession Number
ADA004968

Entities

People

  • Edwin Catmull

Organizations

  • University of Utah

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cameras
  • Computer Graphics
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Crystal Structure
  • Equations
  • Geometry
  • Graphics
  • Images
  • Mathematics
  • Photographic Materials
  • Photographs
  • Photography
  • Shadows
  • Silhouettes
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Computer Vision.