Hidden Surface Removal Algorithm Research Articles

Polygon shadow generation

A general purpose method for generating shadows using a polygonal coordinate data base is presented. The method is based on an object space polygon clipping hidden surface removal algorithm. Output from the program is in the same three-dimensional polygon format as the input. Thus, a shadowed data environment may be easily created and viewed from any observer position with no additional depth sorting time required for the hidden surface removal process. Shadows can also be cast by more than one light source. Since the shadows are generated in object space, the results can be used for both visual display and numerical analysis.

An efficient scan conversion and hidden surface removal algorithm

A scan conversion and hidden surface algorithm is discussed in detail. The algorithm is of the Watkins class but differs markedly in implementation. It is running on an 8K Varian 620 computer, and is used to produce shaded color renderings of three-dimensional objects. Details of the data structure used and of the internal sortings is given. Together with a video disk subsystem, the minicomputer system is capable of producing studio quality T.V. images in 8–70 s, depending on image complexity.