Parallel subdivision surface rendering and animation on the Cell BE processor

Abstract

Subdivision Surfaces provide a compact way to describe a smooth surface using a mesh model. They are widely used in 3D animation and nearly all modern modeling programs support them. In this work we describe a complete parallel pipeline for real-time interactive editing, processing and rendering of smooth surface primitives on the Cell BE. Our approach makes it possible to edit and render these high-order graphics primitives passing them directly to a parallel pipeline which tessellates them just before rendering. We describe a combination of algorithmic, architectural and back-end optimizations that enable us to render smooth subdivision surfaces in real time and to dynamically deform 3D models represented by subdivision surfaces.