Last Time

• Many, many modeling techniques

– Polygon meshes
– Parametric instancing
– Hierarchical modeling
– Constructive Solid Geometry
– Sweep Objects
– Octrees
– Blobs and Metaballs and other such things
– Production rules

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Today
• Parametric curves
– Hermite curves
– Bezier curves
• Homework 5 Due
• Project 3 Available

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Shortcomings So Far
• The representations we have looked at so far have various
failings:
– Meshes are large, difficult to edit, require normal approximations,
…
– Parametric instancing has a limited domain of shapes
– CSG is difficult to render and limited in range of shapes
– Implicit models are difficult to control and render
– Production rules work in highly limited domains
• Parametric curves and surfaces address many of these issues
– More general than parametric instancing
– Easier to control than meshes and implicit models

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 What is it?
• Define a parameter space
– 1D for curves
– 2D for surfaces
• Define a mapping from parameter space to 3D points
– A function that takes parameter values and gives back 3D points
• The result is a parametric curve or surface
Mapping:F:t→(x,y)
0 1 t

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Why Parametric Curves?
• Parametric curves are intended to provide the generality of
polygon meshes but with fewer parameters for smooth
surfaces
– Polygon meshes have as many parameters as there are vertices (at
least)
• Fewer parameters makes it faster to create a curve, and
easier to edit an existing curve
• Normal fields can be properly defined everywhere
• Parametric curves are easier to animate than polygon
meshes

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Parametric Curves
• We have seen the parametric form for a line:
x  x0t  (1  t ) x1
y  y0t  (1  t ) y1
z  z0t  (1  t ) z1
• Note that x, y and z are each given by an equation that
involves:
– The parameter t
– Some user specified control points, x0 and x1
• This is an example of a parametric curve

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Hermite Spline
• A spline is a parametric curve defined by control points
– The term spline dates from engineering drawing, where a spline was
a piece of flexible wood used to draw smooth curves
– The control points are adjusted by the user to control the shape of
the curve
• A Hermite spline is a curve for which the user provides:
– The endpoints of the curve
– The parametric derivatives of the curve at the endpoints (tangents
with length)
• The parametric derivatives are dx/dt, dy/dt, dz/dt
– That is enough to define a cubic Hermite spline, more derivatives
are required for higher order curves

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Hermite Spline (2)
• Say the user provides x0 , x1 , x0 , x1
• A cubic spline has degree 3, and is of the form:
x  at 3  bt 2  ct  d
– For some constants a, b, c and d derived from the control points, but
how?
• We have constraints:
– The curve must pass through x0 when t=0
– The derivative must be x’0 when t=0
– The curve must pass through x1 when t=1
– The derivative must be x’1 when t=1

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Hermite Spline (3)
• Solving for the unknowns gives: a  2 x1  2 x0  x1  x0
b  3x1  3x0  x1  2 x0
c  x0
d  x0
• Rearranging gives:
3
x  x1 ( 2t  3t ) 2  2 3 0 0  t 3 
 2 3 0  
 x0 ( 2t 3  3t 2  1) 1  t 2 
or x  x1 x0 x1 x0  
 x1 (t 3  t 2 )  1 1 0 0  t 
 x0 (t 3  2t 2  t )   
 1 2 1 0  1 

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Basis Functions
• A point on a Hermite curve is obtained by multiplying each control
point by some function and summing
• The functions are called basis functions
1.2

0.8

0.6
x1
0.4
x0
x'1
0.2
x'0
0

-0.2

-0.4

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Splines in 2D and 3D
• We have defined only 1D splines: x=f(t:x0,x1,x’0,x’1)
• For higher dimensions, define the control points in higher
dimensions (that is, as vectors)

 2 3 0 0  t 3 
 x   x1 x0 x1 x0     2
 y   y   2 3 0 1 t 
   1 y0 y1 y0 
 1 1 0 0  t 
 z   z1 z0 z1 z0    
 1 2 1 0  1 

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Bezier Curves (1)
• Different choices of basis functions give different curves
– Choice of basis determines how the control points influence the
curve
– In Hermite case, two control points define endpoints, and two more
define parametric derivatives
• For Bezier curves, two control points define endpoints, and
two control the tangents at the endpoints in a geometric way

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Bezier Curves (2)
• The user supplies d control points, pi
• Write the curve as:
d
d  i
xt    p i B t 
i
d
B t    t 1  t 
i
d d i

i 0 i
• The functions Bid are the Bernstein polynomials of degree d
– Where else have you seen them?
• This equation can be written as a matrix equation also
– There is a matrix to take Hermite control points to Bezier control
points

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Bezier Basis Functions for d=3
1.2

0.8 B0
B1
0.6
B2
0.4 B3

0.2

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Some Bezier Curves

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Bezier Curve Properties
• The first and last control points are interpolated
• The tangent to the curve at the first control point is along
the line joining the first and second control points
• The tangent at the last control point is along the line joining
the second last and last control points
• The curve lies entirely within the convex hull of its control
points
– The Bernstein polynomials (the basis functions) sum to 1 and are
everywhere positive
• They can be rendered in many ways
– E.g.: Convert to line segments with a subdivision algorithm

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Rendering Bezier Curves (1)
• Evaluate the curve at a fixed set of parameter
values and join the points with straight lines
• Advantage: Very simple
• Disadvantages:
– Expensive to evaluate the curve at many points
– No easy way of knowing how fine to sample
points, and maybe sampling rate must be different
along curve
– No easy way to adapt. In particular, it is hard to
measure the deviation of a line segment from the
exact curve

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Rendering Bezier Curves (2)
• Recall that a Bezier curve lies entirely within the convex hull
of its control vertices
• If the control vertices are nearly collinear, then the convex
hull is a good approximation to the curve
• Also, a cubic Bezier curve can be broken into two shorter
cubic Bezier curves that exactly cover the original curve
• This suggests a rendering algorithm:
– Keep breaking the curve into sub-curves
– Stop when the control points of each sub-curve are nearly collinear
– Draw the control polygon - the polygon formed by the control points

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Sub-Dividing Bezier Curves
• Step 1: Find the midpoints of the lines joining the original
control vertices. Call them M01, M12, M23
• Step 2: Find the midpoints of the lines joining M01, M12 and
M12, M23. Call them M012, M123
• Step 3: Find the midpoint of the line joining M012, M123. Call it
M0123
• The curve with control points P0, M01, M012 and M0123 exactly
follows the original curve from the point with t=0 to the point
with t=0.5
• The curve with control points M0123 , M123 , M23 and P3 exactly
follows the original curve from the point with t=0.5 to the
point with t=1

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Sub-Dividing Bezier Curves
M12
P1 P2
M012 M0123
M123

M01
M23

P0
P3

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 Sub-Dividing Bezier Curves
P1 P2

P0
P3

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559

 de Casteljau’s Algorithm
• You can find the point on a Bezier curve for any parameter value t with
a similar algorithm
• Say you want t=0.25, instead of taking midpoints take points 0.25 of the
way
M12
P1 P2

M23
t=0.25

M01

P0
P3
11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559
 Invariance
• Translational invariance means that translating the control points and
then evaluating the curve is the same as evaluating and then translating
the curve
• Rotational invariance means that rotating the control points and then
evaluating the curve is the same as evaluating and then rotating the
curve
• These properties are essential for parametric curves used in graphics
• It is easy to prove that Bezier curves, Hermite curves and everything
else we will study are translation and rotation invariant
• Some forms of curves, rational splines, are also perspective invariant
– Can do perspective transform of control points and then evaluate the curve

11/19/02 (c) 2002, University of Wisconsin, CS 559