Non-uniform non-tensor product local interpolatory subdivision surfaces

Abstract

In this paper we exploit a class of univariate, C1 interpolating four-point subdivision schemes featured by a piecewise uniform parameterization, to define non-tensor product subdivision schemes interpolating regular grids of control points and generating C1 limit surfaces with a better behavior than the well-established tensor product subdivision and spline surfaces. As a result, it is emphasized that subdivision methods can be more effective than splines, not only, as widely acknowledged, for the representation of surfaces of arbitrary topology, but also for the generation of smooth interpolants of regular grids of points.To our aim, the piecewise uniform parameterization of the univariate case is generalized to an augmented parameterization, where the knot intervals of the kth level grid of points are computed from the initial ones by an updating relation that keeps the subdivision algorithm linear. The particular parameters configuration, together with the structure of the subdivision rules, turn out to be crucial to prove the continuity and smoothness of the limit surface.