ABSTRACT
Implicit modeling in computer graphics covers many different methods for defining models. These include skeletal implicit modeling, offset surfaces, level sets, variational surfaces, and algebraic surfaces. This chapter focuses on these methods and describes how to build skeletal implicit models in more detail. It explores the implications of deriving the data from a modeling process rather than from a scanner. It describes the original space partitioning algorithm and leaves it to the reader to explore the more advanced methods. This algorithm together with postprocessing for mesh refinement and caching provide a method for interactive viewing of implicit models on modern workstations. A key advantage to employing a discrete data structure is its ability to act as a unifying approach for all of the various volume models defined by potential fields. To be interactive, a discrete system must restrict the size of the grid relative to the available computing power.
