Discontinuous free form deformations

Abstract

Contemporary deformation tools let designers modify the geometry of deformed models. This approach can be restrictive if the designer wants to incorporate holes or gaps into a model while deforming it into a different shape. This work presents a variant of FFD that would let the designer incorporate isoparametric discontinuities into the deformation function. The input model is automatically split at these discontinuities, allowing the deformed model to reflect topological discontinuity changes. We demonstrate the deformation algorithm using two different applications. The first application wraps a moving model around obstacles in a scene, splitting and then reforming it. The second application works locally, enabling the end-user to insert arbitrarily shaped cuts into the surface of the model.