QuadMixer is a novel technique to compose quad meshes. Its modelling principles take inspiration from the classical Boolean operations defined on triangle meshes, but with operators redesigned to work on quadrilateral meshes. QuadMixer mimics all the conventional Boolean operations that are available for triangle meshes such as union, intersection, and difference.
With the proposed blending technique we can assemble pieces of different animals respecting the original quad meshing. In less than ten minutes we detached and combined these body pieces to automatically obtain the pure quad mesh shown on the right.
Technology
The creation of high-quality 3D assets is a significant part of the production pipeline in the entertainment industry. Coarse quad layouts are often manually created by professional designers, who employ their semantic knowledge and experience to adjust the design in the context of the particular application needs. Typical modelling systems used in the industry (such as Mudbox,3DCoat, ZBrush) allow the user to draw vertices and edges on a surface manually. Since this manual procedure is time-consuming and error-prone, a series of sketch-based retopology have been proposed to assist the user, automating a large part of the process while allowing the user to efficiently modify the topology of the layouts without having to start from scratch. While automatic quadrangulation techniques can generate excellent results, the manual design of the quad flow over the meshes is still considered by many content creators as part of the artistic process. Which is why the preservation of the original quad meshes during the composition process is crucial to allow the effective use of modelling-by-composition in the field of quad meshes. Our technology allows for re-use of assets created by artists to produce new ones. The resulting 3D asset will be free of artifact and ready to be used in the real applicative context.
View the demonstration video on QUADMIXER
Benefits
- Enables the user to perform modelling-by-composition in the field of quadrilateral and quad-dominant meshes
- Allows modellers to re-use, and compose multiple times, their assets to create new ones. Modelling complex shapes from scratch require highly skilled artists with extensive professional training at a considerable cost. These efforts are, in many cases, not exploitable multiple times.
- Save considerable for the user and the possibility of modelling by composition also performed by non-skilled users.
- Quadmixer poses the base for novel application, like transplanting of more complex properties that are essential for character design in games or entertainment production, in particular skinning and the underlying animation.
Applications
- Games: The animation and entertainment industry make extensive use of quadrilateral base meshes as control grids for subdivision surfaces. This task usually requires extensive manual work from skilled artists. The possibility of reusing portions of assets might considerably simplify the entire process.
- CAD and Design: Fit-for-purpose manual meshing is fundamental in industrial design where shapes are interactively modelled by using NURBS or subdivision surfaces which are often based on quadrilateral base meshes
- Architecture: The high standardization of the essential elements in Architecture makes Quadmixer particularly useful in this application domain. The architect can reuse portions of generated geometry and mix with others
- 3D Map applications: Many 3D mapping applications include 3D assets in the scene. Those assets are usually manually modelled from 3D acquired data. Also, they are usually low-resolution quad mesh which includes textures. Quad mixer can make those assets composable and re-usable.
Status and IP Position
A patent application for this technology has been filed and UTS is seeking a partner to license this technology.
Contact us
If you are interested in working with our researchers to develop any of our technologies, please contact the UTS Commercialisation Team (email: tech@uts.edu.au).