A novel graphics
system that can infer complex 3D shapes from single professional sketches was
unveiled by UBC computer scientists. The solution has the potential to
dramatically simplify how designers and artists develop new product ideas. Converting
an idea into a 3D model using current commercial tools is a complicated and
painstaking process. So UBC researchers developed True2Form, a software
algorithm inspired by the work of professional designers, who effectively
communicate ideas through simple drawings.
In
line-drawings, designers and artists use descriptive curves and informative
viewpoints to help viewers infer the complete shape of an object. The system
mimics the results of human 3D shape inference to turn a sketch curve network
into 3D, while preserving fidelity to the original sketch. True2Form uses mathematics
to interpret the strokes that artists use in these drawings, automatically
lifting drawings off the page. It produces convincing, complex 3D shapes
computed from individual sketches, automatically corrected to account for
inherent drawing inaccuracy.
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