Style Transfer Functions for Illustrative Volume Rendering
Stefan Brückner, M. Eduard Gröller · Computer Graphics Forum · 2007
Abstract Illustrative volume visualization frequently employs non‐photorealistic rendering techniques to enhance important features or to suppress unwanted details. However, it is difficult to integrate multiple non‐photorealistic rendering approaches into a single framework due to great differences in the individual methods and their parameters. In this paper, we present the concept of style transfer functions. Our approach enables flexible data‐driven illumination which goes beyond using the transfer function to just assign colors and opacities. An image‐based lighting model uses sphere maps to represent non‐photorealistic rendering styles. Style transfer functions allow us to combine a multitude of different shading styles in a single rendering. We extend this concept with a technique for curvature‐controlled style contours and an illustrative transparency model. Our implementation of the presented methods allows interactive generation of high‐quality volumetric illustrations.