Non-Photorealistic Computer Graphics Library

Stylized and Abstract Painterly Rendering System Using a Multiscale Segmented Sphere Hierarchy

Author(s): Ming-Te Chi, Tong-Yee Lee.
Proceedings: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 61--72, January/February, 2006.
[BibTeX] [DOI]

Abstract:
This paper presents a novel system framework for interactive, three-dimensional, stylized, abstract painterly rendering. In this framework, the input models are first represented using 3D point sets and then this point-based representation is used to build a multiresolution bounding sphere hierarchy. From the leaf to root nodes, spheres of various sizes are rendered into multiple-size strokes on the canvas. The proposed sphere hierarchy is developed using multiscale region segmentation. This segmentation task assembles spheres with similar attribute regularities into a meaningful region hierarchy. These attributes include colors, positions, and curvatures. This hierarchy is very useful in the following respects: 1) it ensures the screen-space stroke density, 2) controls different input model abstractions, 3) maintains region structures such as the edges/boundaries at different scales, and 4) renders models interactively. By choosing suitable abstractions, brush stroke, and lighting parameters, we can interactively generate various painterly styles. We also propose a novel scheme that reduces the popping effect in animation sequences. Many different stylized images can be generated using the proposed framework. Index Terms--Painterly rendering, bounding sphere hierarchy, multiscale region segmentation, stylization and abstraction, stroke-based rendering.