Edited by
Markus Gross, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich, Switzerland
Hanspeter Pfister, MERL (Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories), Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Description
The polygon-mesh approach to 3D modeling was a huge advance, but today its limitations are clear. Longer render times for increasingly
complex images effectively cap image complexity, or else stretch budgets and schedules to the breaking point.
Point-based
graphics promises to change all that, and this book explains how. Comprised of contributions from leaders in the development and application
of this technology, Point-Based Graphics examines it from all angles, beginning with the way in which the latest photographic and scanning
devices have enabled modeling based on true geometry, rather than appearance.
From there, it’s on to the methods themselves.
Even though point-based graphics is in its infancy, practitioners have already established many effective, economical techniques for
achieving all the major effects associated with traditional 3D Modeling and rendering. You’ll learn to apply these techniques, and you’
ll also learn how to create your own. The final chapter demonstrates how to do this using Pointshop3D, an open-source tool for developing
new point-based algorithms. A copy of this tool can be found on the companion website.
Included in series
The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics
Audience:
Developers in games, film special effects, graphics hardware, 3D scanning, imaging, animation, and geometric modeling. Researchers in
graphics, visualization, and imaging. Students in advanced computer graphics.
