A procedural approach to authoring solid models
Barbara Cutler, Julie O'B. Dorsey, Leonard McMillan, Matthias Müller, Robert Jagnow · 2002
We present a procedural approach to authoring layered, solid mod-els. Using a simple scripting language, we define the internal struc-ture of a volume from one or more input meshes. Sculpting and simulation operators are applied within the context of the language to shape and modify the model. Our framework treats simulation as a modeling operator rather than simply as a tool for animation, thereby suggesting a new paradigm for modeling as well as a new level of abstraction for interacting with simulation environments. Capturing real-world effects with standard modeling techniques is extremely challenging. Our key contribution is a concise pro-cedural approach for seamlessly building and modifying complex solid geometry. We present an implementation of our language us-ing a flexible tetrahedral representation. We show a variety of com-plex objects modeled in our system using tools that interface with finite element method and particle system simulations. Additional Keywords: volumetric modeling, signed-distance function, tetrahedral representation.