Polygonal mesh simplification with face color and boundary edge preservation using quadric error metric

Abstract

In applications such as scientific and medical visualization, highly detailed polygonal meshes are needed. Rendering these polygonal meshes usually exceeds the capabilities of graphics hardware. To improve rendering efficiency and maintain proper interactivity, the polygonal mesh simplification technique is commonly used to reduce the number of polygons of the mesh and construct a multiresolution representation. We propose a new and simple constraint scheme based on the quadric error metric proposed by Garland and Heckbert (1997, 1998) to preserve face colors and boundary edges during the simplification process. In addition, our method generates progressive meshes that store the polygonal mesh in a continuous multi-resolution representation. According to our experimental results, this new method is successful in preserving face colors and boundary edges. Moreover, we compare the latency of resolution changes for progressive meshes of various models.