Non-Photorealistic Computer Graphics Library

User-Supported Interactive Illustration of Text

Author(s): Marcel Götze, Petra Neumann, Tobias Isenberg.
Proceedings: Simulation and Visualization 2005, pp. 195--206, Magdeburg, Germany, March 3-4, 2005.
[BibTeX]

Abstract:
This paper presents a novel way of illustrating textual documents. If one lacks the ability, time, or skill to create illustrations by hand he or she can use a 3D model for the creation or search for an appropriate image. By having a set of 3D models from an appropriate subject matter, we implemented a flexible system that allows it to control the final imagery, both in terms of viewing angle and size and in terms of visual style. The style of rendition may be adapted to the text by using photorealistic, non-photorealistic, and hybrid rendering. For the search for an appropriate image, numerous sources are available, e. g., image databases or the World Wide Web. Therefore, the process of illustrating a text has shifted from the creation of the image to the search for the right image. We present a method that supports the interactive search for a 3D model that can also be used to find illustrative images using a Web search engine. The search can be performed interactively or automatically and is based on keywords. Embedding an image into the text is simplified to a drag and drop operation from the search results into the text while figure caption and figure references are automatically generated, based on the selected keywords.