Extended octtree representation of free form surfaces (Q580875)

The octtree encoding for the representation of threedimensional surfaces was given by \textit{D. Meagher} [Geometric modelling using octree encoding, Comput. Graphics Image Process. 19, 129-147 (1982)]. The octtree representation is effective for Boolean operations and volume computations, it is ineffective for applying similarity transformations and memory requirements can become very large. The last defect, and connected with it an easier smooth representation of slanted faces, is removed by the authors by adding data to the octtree scheme that allow a unique representation of the surface by biquadratic Bézier-Bernstein patches. They give examples that show that for an increase in memory space of between 10 and 15 percent one obtains a scheme combining the advantages of octtree and Bézier spline representations.