GPU-Based Multiresolution Deformation using Approximate Normal Field Reconstruction

Martin Marinov, Mario Botsch, and Leif Kobbelt
RWTH Aachen

This paper appears in issue Volume 12, Number 1.
An electronic version of this article is available.

Abstract

Multiresolution shape editing performs global deformations while preserving fine surface details by modifying a smooth base surface and reconstructing the modified detailed surface as a normal displacement from it. Since two nontrivial operators (deformation and reconstruction) are involved, the computational complexity can become too high for real-time deformations of complex models. We present an efficient technique for evaluating multiresolution deformations of high-resolution triangle meshes directly on the GPU. By precomputing the deformation functions as well as their gradient information, we can map both the deformation and the reconstruction operator to the GPU, which enables us to reconstruct the deformed positions and sufficiently close approximations of the normal vectors in the vertex shader in a single rendering pass. This allows us to render dynamically deforming 3D models several times faster than on the CPU. We demonstrate the application of our technique to two modern multiresolution approaches: one based on (irregular) displaced subdivision surfaces and the other one on volumetric space deformation using radial basis functions. A video, source code, and models are available at the website listed at the end of this paper.

Author Information

Martin Marinov, Autodesk Ltd., Caminus House, Castle Park, Cambridge CB3 0RA, United Kingdom Martin.Marinov@autodesk.com

Mario Botsch, Computer Graphics Laboratory, IFW D25.1, Haldeneggsteig 4-Weinbergstrasse, CH - 8092 Zurich, Switzerland botsch@inf.ethz.ch

Leif Kobbelt, Computer Graphics Group, RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany kobbelt@cs.rwth-aachen.de

Video

Source Code

Test Models

BibTeX Entry

@article{MarinovEtAl07,
  author = "Martin Marinov and Mario Botsch and Leif Kobbelt",
  title = "GPU-Based Multiresolution Deformation using Approximate Normal Field Reconstruction",
  journal = "journal of graphics, gpu, and game tools",
  volume = "12",
  number = "1",
  pages = "27-46",
  year = "2007",
}