Accelerated walkthrough of large spline models
Subodh Kumar, Dinesh Manocha, Hansong Zhang, Kenneth E. Hoff · 1997
Spline surfaces are routinely used to represent large-scale models for CAD and rmimation applications.In this paper, we present algorithms for interactive walkthrough of complex NURBS models composed of tens of thousands of patches on current graphics systems.Given a spline model, the algorithm precomputes simplification of a collection of patches and represents them hierarchically.Given a changing viewpoint, the algorithm combines these simplifications with dynamic tessellations to generate appropriate levels of detail.We also propose a system pipeline for parallel implementation on multi-processor configurations.Diiferent components, such as visibtit y and dynamic tessellation, are divided into independent threads.We describe an implement ation of our algorithm and report its performance on an SGI Onyx with Reality Enginez graphics accelerator and using three R4400 processors.It is able to render models composed of ahnost than 40,000 B6zier patches at 7-15 frames a second, almost an order of magnitude faster than previously known algorithms and implementations.