Quadratic Bezier triangles as drawing primitives

Abstract

We propose to use quadratic Bezier triangles as additional drawing primitives: quadratic Bezier triangles require much less model data for faithful representation of curved surfaces than planar triangles. Therefore, they require less storage and/or transmission capacity. Furthermore, they allow automatic level-of-detail. Finally, they result in considerable savings in model-view transformations and lighting calculations. We present two algorithms for rendering these triangles, each of which can be easily incorporated in hardware render systems currently used for planar triangles.