A cellular texture basis function

Abstract

Solid texturing is a powerful way to add detail to the surface of rendered objects. Perlin's "noise" is a 3D basis function used in some of the most dramatic and useful surface texture algorithms. We present a new basis function which complements Perlin noise, based on a partitioning of space into a random array of cells. We have used this new basis function to produce textured surfaces resembling flagstone-like tiled areas, organic crusty skin, crumpled paper, ice, rock, mountain ranges, and craters. The new basis function can be computed efficiently without the need for precalculation or table storage.