Implicit Visualization and Inverse Modeling of Growing Trees

A method is proposed for photo-realistic modeling and visualization of a growing tree. Recent visualization methods have focused on producing smoothly blending branching structures, however, these methods fail to account for the inclusion of non-smooth features such as branch bark ridges and bud scale scars. These features constitute an important visual aspect of a living tree, and are also observed to vary over time. The proposed method incorporates these features by using an hierarchical implicit modeling system, which provides a variety of tools for combining surface components in both smooth and non smooth configurations. A procedural interface to this system supports the use of inverse modeling, which is a global-to-local methodology, where the local properties of plant organs are described in terms of their global position within the tree architecture. Inverse modeling is used to define both the tree structure at any time, and a continuous developmental sequence for the tree fro...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2004
• Where: CGF
• Authors: Callum Galbraith, Lars Mündermann, Brian Wyvill
• Keywords: CGF 2004, Hierarchical Implicit Modeling, Inverse Modeling, Tree