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Show ABSTRACTI This report presents a method for producing computer shaded pictures of curved surfaces. Three-dimensional curved patches are used, as contrasted with conventional methods using polygons. The method subdivides a patch into successively smaller subpatches until a subpatch is as small as a raster-element, at which time it can be displayed. In general this method could be very time consuming because of the great number of subdivisions that must take place; however, there is at least one very useful class of patches -- the bicubic patch -- that can be subdivided very quickly. Pictures produced with the method accurately portray the shading and silhouette of curved surfaces. In addition, photographs can be "mapped" onto patches thus providing a means tor putting texture on computer-generated pictures. 1. This report reproduces a dissertation of the same title submitted to the Department of Computer Science, University of Utah, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. iii |
