COMPUTER GRAPHICS

Curves and Surfaces

INTRODUCTION

• We need smooth curves and surfaces in many applications:

– model real world objects
– Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
– high quality fonts
– data plots
– artists sketches

2
INTRODUCTION
• Most common representation for surfaces:
– polygon mesh
Polygons are used in computer graphics to compose
images that are three-dimensional in appearance
– parametric surfaces
– quadric surfaces
• Solid modeling

3
TYPES OF CURVES / SURFACES
• Explicit:
y = mx + b z = A x + By + C

For each point value X we have a value of y; Simply compute and Plot

• Implicit: By solving an equation

Ax + By + C = 0 (x – x0)2 + (y – y0)2 – r2 = 0

• Parametric: finding X,Y using a parameter. Describe the position on the

curve by a parameter

x = x0 + (x1 – x0)tLecture 5
10/10/2008 x = x0 + rcos 4
 IMPLICIT SURFACES
• Functions in the form of F(x,y,z) = 0
– i.e. Quadric functions

2 2 2
Sphere: f(x,y,z) = x + y + z = 0 molecular modeling

Lecture 5 5
 METABALLS
• Each metaball is defined as a function in n-dimensions (e.g., for three
dimensions, f ( x , y , z ) Three-dimensional metaballs tend to be most
common, with two-dimensional implementations popular as well).

6
 METABALLS
• One type of implicit surface
• Also known as blobby objects
• Negative volume to produce hollows
• Can be used to model smooth surfaces, liquid

Lecture 5 7
QUADRIC SURFACES

• Reasons to use them:

– easy to compute normal
– easy to test point inclusion
– easy to compute z given x and y
– easy to compute intersections of one surface with another

8
 PARAMETRIC CUBIC CURVES

• Parametric representation:
– x = x(t), y = y(t), z = z(t)
• overcomes problems with explicit and implicit forms and
Parametric curves are very flexible.
• Parameter count gives the object’s dimension.
(x(t,v), y(t,v), z(t,v))2 : D surface
• Coord functions independent.
– a curve is approximated by a piecewise polynomial curve

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PARAMETRIC CUBIC
CURVES
• Why cubic?
– lower-degree polynomials give too little flexibility in controlling the
shape of the curve
– higher-degree polynomials can introduce unwanted wiggles and require
more computation
– lowest degree that allows specification of endpoints and their derivatives
– lowest degree that is not planar in 3D

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PARAMETRIC CUBIC CURVES

• General form:
3 2
x (t )  a x t  bx t  c x t  d x
3 2
y (t )  a y t  by t  c y t  d y
3 2
z (t )  a z t  bz t  c z t  d z
3 2
T  [t t t 1] 0< t <1
Transmission
parameter
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PARAMETRIC CUBIC CURVES
3 2
T  [t t t 1]
ax ay az 
b by bz  
C  x

 cx cy cz 
 
d x dy d z 
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 PARAMETRIC CUBIC CURVES

Q(t )  [ x(t ) y (t ) z (t )] 

T C  T  M G
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SPECIFYING CURVES
• Control Points:
– A set of points that influence the curve’s shape.
• Interpolating curve:
– Curve passes through all of control points.
• Approximating Curves:
– Curve can miss some control points.
• Control polygon:
– Control points merely influence shape.

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 14
INTERPOLATION VS. APPROXIMATION

INTERPOLATING APPROXIMATING
PARAMETRIC CUBIC
CURVES
• Kinds of continuity:
– G0: two curve segments join together
– G1: directions of tangents are equal at the joint
– C1: directions and magnitudes of tangents are equal at
the joint
– Cn: directions and magnitudes of n-th derivative are
equal at the joint

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PIECEWISE CURVE SEGMENTS
• We can represent an arbitrary length curve as a series of
curves pieced together.
• But we will want to control how these curves fit together …

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 18
 EXAMPLE
• The curves Q1 Q2 Q3 join at point P
• Q1 and Q2 have equal tangent vectors at P and hence C1 and G1
continuous
• Q1 and Q3 have tangent vectors in the same direction but Q3
has twice magnitude, so they are only G1 continuous at P
PARAMETRIC CUBIC
CURVES
• Major types of curves:
– Hermit
• defined by two endpoints and two tangent vectors
– Bezier
• defined by two endpoints and two other points that control the
endpoint tangent vectors
– Splines
• several kinds, each defined by four points
• uniform B-splines, non-uniform B-splines, ß-splines

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HERMITE CURVES

• A cubic polynomial
• defined by two endpoints and two tangent vectors
• Polynomial can be specified by the position of, and
gradient at, each endpoint of curve.
• The idea is to derive a curve that is smooth enough
. The cubic interpolation spline is obtained by
fitting the input points with a piecewise cubic
polynomial curve that passes every control point.

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 21
 HERMITE CURVES
• A cubic polynomial
• defined by two endpoints and two tangent vectors

• Polynomial can be specified by the position

of, and gradient at, each endpoint of curve.
• Determine: x = X(t) in terms of x0, x0’, x1, x1’
Now:
X(t) = a3t3 + a2t2 + a1t + a0
and X/(t) = 3a3t2 + 2a2t + a1

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 22
HERMITE CURVES
•  

0< t <1

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 23
HERMITE CURVES
•  

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 24
FINDING HERMITE COEFFICIENTS USING CASE1

T  [t 3 t2 t 1]

25

10/10/2008 Lecture 5
FINDING HERMITE COEFFICIENTS
USING CASE1
•  

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 26
FINDING HERMITE COEFFICIENTS
USING CASE1
Substituting for t at each endpoint:
x0 = X(0) = a0 x0’= X/(0) = a1
x1 = X(1) = a3 + a2 + a1 + a0 x1’= X/(1) = 3a3 + 2a2+ a1
Using the inverse matrix the solution for a3, a2, a1 , and a0 is:
a0 = x0 a1 = x0’
a2 = -3x0 – 2x0’+ 3x1 – x1’ a3 = 2x0 + x0’ - 2x1 + x1’

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 27
 HERMITE BASIS (BLENDING) FUNCTIONS
CASE 1

2 1  2 1   x0 
 3  2 3  1  x '

X (t )  t 3 t 2 t 1  
0 1 0
 0 
0   x1 
  
1 0 0 0   x1 ' 
 (2t 3  3t 2  1)x0  (t 3  2t 2  t )x0 '(2t 3  3t 2 )x1  (t 3  t 2 )x1 '
 THE HERMITE MATRIX: M H
CASE 1
The resultant polynomial can be expressed in matrix form:
X(t) = tTMHq ( q is the control vector)

We can now define a parametric polynomial for each coordinate

required independently, ie. X(t), Y(t) and Z(t)

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 29
FINDING HERMITE COEFFICIENTS
USING CASE2

•  

Lecture 5 30
FINDING HERMITE COEFFICIENTS
USING CASE2

•  

Lecture 5 31
 HERMITE BASIS (BLENDING) FUNCTIONS
CASE 2

 2 2 1 1   x0 
 3 3  2  1  x 

X (t )  t 3 t 2 t 1  
0 0 1
 1 
0   x0 '
  
1 0 0 0   x1 ' 
 (2t 3  3t 2  1)x0  (2t 3  3t 2 )x1  (t 3  2t 2  t )x0 ' (t 3  t 2 )x1 '
 THE HERMITE MATRIX: M H
CASE 2
The resultant polynomial can be expressed in matrix form:
X(t) = tTMHq ( q is the control vector)

We can now define a parametric polynomial for each

coordinate required independently, ie. X(t), Y(t) and Z(t)

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 33
HERMITE BASIS (BLENDING) FUNCTIONS

X (t )  (2t 3  3t 2  1)x0  (t 3  2t 2  t )x0 '(2t 3  3t 2 )x1  (t 3  t 2 )x1 '

The hermite blending function in

both cases is the same
x0 x1
The graph shows the shape of the
four basis functions – often called
blending functions.
They are labelled with the elements
of the control vector that they
weight.
x0'
Note that at each end only position
is non-zero, so the curve must touch
the endpoints x1 /
10/10/2008 Lecture 5 34
FAMILY OF HERMITE CURVES.
y(t)
Note :
Start points on left.

x(t)

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 35
DISPLAYING HERMITE CURVES.
• Simple :
– Select step size to suit.
– Plug x values into the geometry matrix.
– Evaluate P(t)  x value for current position.
– Repeat for y & z independently.
– Draw line segment between current and previous point.
• Joining curves:
– Coincident endpoints for C0 continuity
– Align tangent vectors for C1 continuity
.
10/10/2008 Lecture 5 36
BÉZIER CURVES
• Hermite cubic curves are difficult to model –
need to specify point and gradient.
• More intuitive to only specify points.
• Pierre Bézier (an engineer at Renault) specified 2
endpoints and 2 additional control points to
specify the gradient at the endpoints.
• Can be derived from Hermite matrix:
– Two end control points specify tangent

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 37
BÉZIER CURVES P2
Note the Convex Hull has been shown
as a dashed line – used as a bounding P4
extent for intersection purposes.
P1
P3
P3

P4
P1

P2

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 38
BÉZIER MATRIX
• The cubic form is the most popular
X(t) = tTMBq (MB is the Bézier matrix)
• With n=4 and r=0,1,2,3 we get:

• Similarly for Y(t) and Z(t)

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 39
BÉZIER BLENDING FUNCTIONS
This is how they look –
The functions sum to 1 at q0 q3
any point along the curve.
q1 q2
Endpoints have full weight
The weights of each
function is clear and the
labels show the control
points being weighted.

10/10/2008 Lecture 5 40
JOINING BEZIER CURVES
• G1 continuity is provided at the endpoint when
• P2 – P3 = k (Q1 – Q0)
• if k=1, C1 continuity is obtained
EXAMPLE
• The coordinates of four control points relative to a
curve are given by
P1(2,2,0), P2(2,3,0), P3(3,3,0) and P4(3,2,0)
• Write down the equations of Bezier curve
• Also, find the coordinate pixels of the curve for (t =0,
t=0.25, t=0.5, t=0.75, and t= 1) step = 0.25
• Also, plot the Bezier curve?
P= P0(1-t)3 + 3P1t(1-t)2 + 3P2t2(1-t) + P3t3

• Generating Bezier curve requires for control

points (each point represents (x,y,z)
• P1(2,2,0)  X1 = 2, Y1=2, Z1=0
• P2(2,3,0)  X2 = 2, Y2=3, Z2=0
• P3(3,3,0)  X3= 3, Y3=3, Z3=0
• P4(3,2,0)  X4 = 3, Y4=2, Z4=0
 P= P4t3 + 3P3t2(1-t) + 3P2t(1-t)2 + P1(1-t)3

• Parametric equations of Bezier curve are

• P=P4t3 + 3P3t2(1-t) + 3P2t(1-t)2 + P1(1-t)3
 X=X4t3 + 3X3t2(1-t) + 3X2t(1-t)2 + X1(1-t)3
 Y=Y4t3 + 3Y3t2(1-t) + 3Y2t(1-t)2 + Y1(1-t)3
 Z=Z4t3 + 3Z3t2(1-t) + 3Z2t(1-t)2 + Z1(1-t)3

• X=X4t3 + 3X3t2(1-t) + 3X2t(1-t)2 + X1(1-t)3

 X=3t3 + (3)(3)t2(1-t) + (3)(2)t(1-t)2 + 2(1-t)3
• Y=Y4t3 + 3Y3t2(1-t) + 3Y2t(1-t)2 + Y1(1-t)3
 Y=(2)t3 +(3)(3)t2(1-t) + (3)(3)t(1-t)2 +2(1-t)3
 Y=2t3 + 9t2(1-t) + 9t(1-t)2 + 2(1-t)3

• Z=X4t3 + 3Z3t2(1-t) + 3Z2t(1-t)2 + Z1(1-t)3

 Z=0
• X=3t3 + 9t2(1-t) + 6t(1-t)2 + 2(1-t)3
• Y=2t3 + 9t2(1-t) + 9t(1-t)2 + 2(1-t)3
• Z= 0
1 0.75 0.5 0.25 0 t
3 2.84 2.5 2.156 2 X
2 2.56 2.75 2.56 2 Y
0 0 0 0 0 Z

• Note the step size is 0.25; where 0≤t≤1

• for (t =0, t=0.25, t=0.5, t=0.75, and t= 1)
TESSELLATION
• We need to compute the triangles on the surface
• The simplest way is do uniform tessellation, which samples
points uniformly in the parameter space
• Adaptive tessellation – adapt the size of triangles to the
shape of the surface;i.e., more triangles where the surface bends
more
– On the other hand, for flat areas we do not need many triangles

14/10/2008 Lecture 6 47