Decimation of visible surfaces

This paper describes an algorithm for deriving minimal 3D triangulated models from dense 3D range data. It also addresses an important problem in 3D real time rendering: how to minimize the number of triangles in the model while retaining the quality of the rendered images. In a typical rendering engine, the hidden surfaces are removed at run time. In our approach. We assert that hidden surfaces should be removed if possible prior to run time. Consequently, there would be fewer triangles to render at run time. We accomplish this goal by integrating into the vertex removal criterion a weight associated with each vertex, which reflects the probability of the vertex being visible. This weight is used to bias the vertex removal decision towards removing hidden surfaces before frequently visible surfaces. We tested our algorithm on face models derived from a laser range finder, and a complex business office model. Our results include a function of decimation rate with respect to distortion