Zeta: a resolution modeling system

Very large graphics models are common in a number of applications, and many different simplification methods have recently been developed. Some of them support the construction of multiresolution representations of the input meshes. On the basis of these innovative techniques, we foresee a modeling framework based on three separate stages (shape modeling, multiresolution encoding, and resolution modeling), and propose a new approach to the last stage,resolution modeling, which is highly general, user-driven, and not strictly tied to a particular simplification method. The approach proposed is based on a multiresolution representation scheme for triangulated, 2-manifold meshes, the Hypertriangulation Model (HyT). This scheme allows selective "walks" along the multiresolution surface, moving between adjacent faces efficiently. A prototypalresolution modelingsystem,Zeta, has been implemented to allow interactive modeling of surface details and has been evaluated on several practical models. It supports the efficient extraction of fixed resolution representations; unified management of selective refinements and selective simplifications; easy composition of the selective refinement/simplification actions, with no cracks in the variable resolution mesh produced; multiresolution editing; and interactive response tim