1. GRADUATE STUDENT OVERCOMES "HIDDEN LINE" PROBLEMS lN COMPUTER GRAPHICS.
- Subjects
COMPUTER graphics ,GRADUATE students ,COMPUTERS ,COMPUTER systems ,DIGITAL image processing ,COMPUTER programming - Abstract
The article focuses on the complicated "hidden line problem" in computer graphics which has been solved by Phillipe Loutrel, a graduate student in electrical engineering at the New York University School of Engineering and Science. The problem involved programming a computer to generate perspective drawings of three-dimensional objects and then identify and, if desired, eliminate any edges not visible from a specified vantage point. The solution involves a procedure that enables a computer, in seconds, to generate line drawings of any polyhedron with the "hidden lines" either deleted or shown by dashes. Loutrel cut the calculation time from minutes to seconds by devising techniques that classify and immediately eliminate most of the totally invisible edges and then minimize the testing necessary to identify the remaining hidden edges. Loutrel also extended his technique to handle complex illumination problems. The technique enables computers to calculate what lighted faces of the object would be visible to the observer.
- Published
- 1968