Marching intersections : an efficient resampling algorithm for surface management

The paper presents a simple and eficient algorithm for the removal of small topological inconsistencies and high frequency details from surface models. The method, called Marching Intersections (MI), adopts a volumetric approach and acts as a resampling filter: all the intersection points between the input model and the lines of a user selected 30 reference grid are located and then, beginning from these intersections, an output surface is reconstructed. MI, which presents good characteristics in terms of eficiency, com- pactness, and quality of the output models, can be also used: for the conversion between different representation schemes; to pe~orm logical operations on geometric mod- els; for the topological simplijcation of surfaces; and for the simplification of huge meshes, i.e. meshes too large to be allocated in main memory during the simplijcation pro- cess. All these aspects are discussed in the paper and timing and graphic results are presented.