Flattening 3D objects using silhouettes

An important research area in non-photorealistic rendering is the obtention of silhouettes. There are many methods to do this using 3D models and raster structures, but these are limited in their ability to create stylised silhouettes while maintaining complete flexibility. These limitations do not exist in illustration, as each element is plane and the interaction between them can be eliminated by locating each one in a different layer. This is the approach presented in this paper: a 3D model is flattened into plane elements ordered in space, which allows the silhouettes to be drawn with total flexibility. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Line and Curve Generation