A Multilevel Terrain Rendering Method Based on Dynamic Stitching Strips

Abstract

High-quality terrain rendering has been the focus of many visualization applications over recent decades. Many terrain rendering methods use the strategy of Level of Detail (LOD) to create adaptive terrain models, but the transition between different levels is usually not handled well, which may cause popping artefacts that seriously affect the reality of the terrain model. In recent years, many researchers have tried using modern Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to complete heavy rendering tasks. By leveraging the great power of GPU, high quality terrain models with rich details can be rendered in real time, although the problem of popping artefacts still persists. In this study, we propose a real-time terrain rendering method with GPU tessellation that can effectively reduce the popping artefacts. Coupled with a view-dependent updating scheme, a multilevel terrain representation based on the flexible Dynamic Stitching Strip (DSS) is developed. During rendering, the main part of the terrain model is tessellated into appropriate levels using GPU tessellation. DSSs, generated in parallel, can seamlessly make the terrain transitions between different levels much smoother. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can meet the requirements of real-time rendering and achieve a better visual quality compared with other methods.

Conversion Between Cubic Bezier Curves and Catmull–Rom Splines

“…As the field of Computer Graphics (CG) develops, techniques for modeling complex curves and surfaces are being increasingly important. An example may be the rendering of highly detailed landscapes which need to be subdivided (tessellated) depending on the viewing distance to reduce the processing time for a geometry that is barely visible from the current camera viewpoint [12,30]. One of the major techniques to realize such dynamic tessellation algorithms is the use of parametric splines in which a curve is defined by piecing together a succession of curve segments, and especially, surfaces defined by stitching together a mosaic of surface patches [1].…”

A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis

“…This method needs to pass additional adjacency information to GPU. Zhang et al put forward dynamic stitching strips [30]; this is relatively complex for adding extra strips. Kang et al obtain a crack-free terrain by restricting patch LODs to 2 , i.e., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 [19].…”

Terrain Generation with Continuous Level of Detail

“…This issue is tackled in various souces, in manners pretty much dependent on the chosen terrain representiation model. For example, the authors of [10] describe a solution based on Dynamic Stitching Strips (DSS) used in conjunction with terrain tesselation to achieve smooth transitions between levels. This solution, the authors argue, is well suited for real-time rendering.…”