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Hierarchical Back-Face Computation

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Rendering Techniques ’96 (EGSR 1996)

Part of the book series: Eurographics ((EUROGRAPH))

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Abstract

We present a sub-linear algorithm to compute the set of back-facing polygons in a polyhedral model. The algorithm partitions the model into hierarchical clusters based on the orientations and positions of the polygons. As a pre-processing step, the algorithm constructs spatial decompositions with respect to each cluster. For a sequence of back-face computations, the algorithm exploits the coherence in view-point movement to efficiently determine if it is in front of or behind a cluster. Due to coherence, the algorithm’s performance is linear in the number of clusters on average. We have applied this algorithm to speed up the rendering of polyhedral models. On average, we are able to cull almost half the polygons. The algorithm accounts for 5 – 10% of the total CPU time per frame on an SGI Indigo2 Extreme. The overall frame rate is improved by 40 – 75% as compared to the standard back-face culling implemented in hardware.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Subodh Kumar, Dinesh Manocha, William Garrett & Ming Lin

Authors
  1. Subodh Kumar
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  2. Dinesh Manocha
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  3. William Garrett
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  4. Ming Lin
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics and Applied Mathematics, University of Girona, Spain

    Xavier Pueyo

  2. Department of Computer Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA

    Peter Schröder

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag/Wien

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Kumar, S., Manocha, D., Garrett, W., Lin, M. (1996). Hierarchical Back-Face Computation. In: Pueyo, X., Schröder, P. (eds) Rendering Techniques ’96. EGSR 1996. Eurographics. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-7484-5_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-7484-5_24

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-211-82883-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-7484-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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