Connectivity Editing for Quad‐Dominant Meshes

Abstract

Figure 1: In our framework, the user can edit irregular vertices (with more or fewer than four neighbors) and irregular faces (non-quads) of a quad-dominant mesh. Each type of irregularity has different advantages and disadvantages in design and construction. Irregular vertices are necessary to maintain sharp features (corners and edges), but they create higher angle deviations in mesh lines in smooth regions (left). Irregular faces lead to smoother mesh lines, but they cannot maintain sharp features (right). The ability to model with a mixture of irregular vertices and faces gives more flexibility to the user, e.g. creating a design with sharp features and smooth mesh lines (middle). We render each model in a style that highlights the sharp features. AbstractWe propose a connectivity editing framework for quad-dominant meshes. In our framework, the user can edit the mesh connectivity to control the location, type, and number of irregular vertices (with more or fewer than four neighbors) and irregular faces (non-quads). We provide a theoretical analysis of the problem, discuss what edits are possible and impossible, and describe how to implement an editing framework that realizes all possible editing operations. In the results, we show example edits and illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies for quad-dominant mesh design.