3D mesh compression

Abstract

3D meshes have been widely used in graphics and simulation applications for representing 3D objects. They generally require a huge amount of data for storage and/or transmission in the raw data format. Since most applications demand compact storage, fast transmission and efficient processing of 3D meshes, many algorithms have been proposed in the literature to compress 3D meshes efficiently since the early 1990s [1]. Because most of the 3D models in use are polygonal meshes, most of the published papers focus on coding that type of data, which is composed of two main components: connectivity data and geometry data. This chapter discusses 3D mesh compression technologies that have been developed over the last decade, with the main focus on triangle mesh compression technologies.