Modelling Sinewy Structures using Growth Control Patterns

Tobias Gleissenberger [BSE Honours 2006]
Supervisor: Alan Dorin

The manual modelling intricate computer models of sinewy structures is a very complex and time consuming task. Computer graphics models of these structures are frequently required for advertisement, computer animation and special effects in movies.
Therefore, there exists a need to develop techniques to automatically generate these complex structures.

My project, Modelling Sinewy Structures using Growth Control Patterns, had two aims:

  • Develop a technique to automatically generate intricate sinewy structures over existing polygonal models
  • Implement this technique in an interactive modelling tool
I achieved this by voxelising the polygonal model and generating a pattern over these voxels using both Reaction-Diffusion systems and volume textures. This growth control pattern then influences the growth direction of the tendrils over the surface of the model. I implemented this technique in an interactive modelling tool to give the user full control over the pattern generation as well as over all parameters influencing tendril growth.

Using the developed technique, it is possible to generate natural looking, complex sinewy structures that would be impossible to model by hand in less than a minute. As the modelling tool can export the data in a Pov-Ray compatible format, the tendrils can directly be rendered and used in computer generated animations or movies.