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Subdivision surfaces in character animation

Authors:

Tien TruongAuthors Info & Claims

SIGGRAPH '98: Proceedings of the 25th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques

Pages 85 - 94

https://doi.org/10.1145/280814.280826

Published: 24 July 1998 Publication History

Abstract

The creation of believable and endearing characters in computer graphics presents a number of technical challenges, including the modeling, animation and rendering of complex shapes such as heads, hands, and clothing. Traditionally, these shapes have been modeled with NURBS surfaces despite the severe topological restrictions that NURBS impose. In order to move beyond these restrictions, we have recently introduced subdivision surfaces into our production environment. Subdivision surfaces are not new, but their use in high-end CG production has been limited.

Here we describe a series of developments that were required in order for subdivision surfaces to meet the demands of high-end production. First, we devised a practical technique for constructing provably smooth variable-radius fillets and blends. Second, we developed methods for using subdivision surfaces in clothing simulation including a new algorithm for efficient collision detection. Third, we developed a method for constructing smooth scalar fields on subdivision surfaces, thereby enabling the use of a wider class of programmable shaders. These developments, which were used extensively in our recently completed short film Geri's game, have become a highly valued feature of our production environment.

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Cited By

Luo FLi X(2025)Higher-degrees Hybrid Non-uniform Subdivision SurfacesComputer-Aided Design10.1016/j.cad.2024.103822179(103822)Online publication date: Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cad.2024.103822
Atiker B(2024)A Comprehensive Analysis of Toy Story and Its Impact on CGI TechnologyStudies on Cinematography and Narrative in Film10.4018/979-8-3693-1958-1.ch003(42-67)Online publication date: 31-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-1958-1.ch003
Wang XMa W(2024)A class of new tuned primal subdivision schemes with high-quality limit surface in extraordinary regionsACM Transactions on Graphics10.1145/368798743:6(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3687987
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Subdivision surfaces in character animation
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Computer graphics
2. Mathematics of computing
  1. Continuous mathematics
    1. Topology
      1. Geometric topology

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

SIGGRAPH '98: Proceedings of the 25th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques

July 1998

472 pages

ISBN:0897919998

DOI:10.1145/280814

Chairmen:
Steve Cunningham
California State Univ. Stanislaus, Trulock, CA
,
Walt Bransford
Thrillistic
,
Michael F. Cohen,
General Chairs:
Srinivas Aluru
Georgia Institute of Technology
,
May Dongmei Wang
Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
,
Program Chairs:
Christopher C. Yang
Drexel University
,
T. M Murali
Virginia Tech

Seminal Graphics Papers: Pushing the Boundaries, Volume 2
August 2023
893 pages
ISBN:9798400708978
DOI:10.1145/3596711
Editor:
Mary C. Whitton
Department of Computer Science, UNC Chapel Hill, USA

Copyright © 1998 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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New York, NY, United States

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Published: 24 July 1998

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SIGGRAPH '98 Paper Acceptance Rate 45 of 303 submissions, 15%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,822 of 8,601 submissions, 21%

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Cited By

Luo FLi X(2025)Higher-degrees Hybrid Non-uniform Subdivision SurfacesComputer-Aided Design10.1016/j.cad.2024.103822179(103822)Online publication date: Feb-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cad.2024.103822
Atiker B(2024)A Comprehensive Analysis of Toy Story and Its Impact on CGI TechnologyStudies on Cinematography and Narrative in Film10.4018/979-8-3693-1958-1.ch003(42-67)Online publication date: 31-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-1958-1.ch003
Wang XMa W(2024)A class of new tuned primal subdivision schemes with high-quality limit surface in extraordinary regionsACM Transactions on Graphics10.1145/368798743:6(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3687987
Akalin KFinnendahl USorkine‐Hornung OAlexa M(2024)Mesh Parameterization Meets Intrinsic TriangulationsComputer Graphics Forum10.1111/cgf.1513443:5Online publication date: 31-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.15134
Feng YShen LLi XYuan CJiang X(2024)Patching Non-Uniform Extraordinary PointsIEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics10.1109/TVCG.2023.327166930:8(4683-4693)Online publication date: Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2023.3271669
Moulaeifard MBernard SWellmann F(2023)PySubdiv 1.0: open-source geological modeling and reconstruction by non-manifold subdivision surfacesGeoscientific Model Development10.5194/gmd-16-3565-202316:12(3565-3579)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-3565-2023
Zhou JBoonstra JKosinka J(2023)Subdivision Shading for Catmull-Clark and Loop Subdivision Surfaces with Semi-Sharp CreasesComputers10.3390/computers1204008512:4(85)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2023
https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12040085
Wang MJing JGao SBian PMa YZhou N(2023)Improved adaptive tessellation rendering algorithmTechnology and Health Care10.3233/THC-23600931:S1(81-95)Online publication date: 28-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.3233/THC-236009
Ma WWang XMa Y(2023)An Unified λ-subdivision Scheme for Quadrilateral Meshes with Optimal Curvature Performance in Extraordinary RegionsACM Transactions on Graphics10.1145/361840042:6(1-15)Online publication date: 5-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3618400
Djuren TKohlbrenner MAlexa M(2023)K-Surfaces: Bézier-Splines Interpolating at Gaussian Curvature ExtremaACM Transactions on Graphics10.1145/361838342:6(1-13)Online publication date: 5-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3618383
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