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Project - Progressive 3D Model

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The 3D models usually have one or more attributed data such as normals, colors, or textures.  If one really wants the 3D models to look authentic, texture maps are required. In this project, we seek to address the flaws of conventional 3D format such as VRML and propose a joint geometry/texture codec for the 3D models rendered with textures, resulting in  progressive bitstreams.  In our codec, the most important bits to represent the 3D models are sent before the less important bits, allowing the users to stop the download at any time they want. We are also engaged in view-dependant progressive coding, animation coding and error resilient coding of 3D models.

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With the rapid growth of computer and information technology, 3D modeling capabilities are becoming an increasingly important part of many fields, including CAD/CAM, medical imaging, game design, and so on.  Computer graphics often requires complex, highly detailed models to maintain a convincing level of realism with VRML having become the de facto standard for high-quality 3D graphics representation. With the proliferation of many excellent VRML viewers (such as CosmoGL by SGI), there has also been a surge in VRML content that is freely available. However some major drawbacks to the VRML standard have begun to emerge, such as the fact that VRML files are bulky and time-consuming to download. This is because, in an effort to keep the format compatible across the various computer platforms, they have kept to the verbose ASCII format. In addition, VRML browsers require the complete file to display the models even when viewers are interested only in a part of or a low-resolution version of the models. Since the computers used to view the file range from low-end PCs to top-of-the-line supercomputers, and since the files are sent over slow telephone line as well as faster ISDN, the level of detail actually necessary may vary considerably. Thus the progressive coding and transmission satisfy the variety of demands.

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The algorithm is based on vertex decimation and texture re-mapping. The encoder combines a progressive geometry scheme and progressive texturing and send more important bits before less important bits.

We created a  browser which decodes the progressive bitstreams and displays the models progressively. Here is what a model might look like as it is being loaded. The first, fifth, and last layers were obtained by decoding 15%, 22% and 100% of the total bitstream respectively.

- Download Progressive 3D browser now!

- For setup instruction, please see FAQ.

- Example files 

Try out progressive streaming (short text files that contain a URL):

[3D Model without Texture]

Filename	Description
beethoven.gtl	Bust of Beethoven
opt-eight.gtl	Figure of Eight
opt-femur.gtl	Femur
opt-horse.gtl	Horse (no tail)
opt-pieta.gtl	Famous statue
opt-shape.gtl	Star-shaped object
opt-skull.gtl	Skull
triceratops.gtl	Triceratops
cow.gtl	Cow
croco.gtl	Crocodile

  [3D Model with Texture]

Filename	Description
duck.gtl	Duck
vase1.gtl	Vase 1
vase2.gtl	Vase 2
totem.gtl	Totem Pole

 

The following files are the actual files, if you want to view them offline

[ 3D Model without Texture]

Filename	Description
beethoven.jgt	Bust of Beethoven (75KB)
opt-eight.jgt	Figure of Eight (22KB)
opt-femur.jgt	Femur (108KB)
opt-horse.jgt	Horse (no tail) (309KB)
opt-pieta.jgt	Famous statue (97KB)
opt-shape.jgt	Star-shaped object (71KB)
opt-skull.jgt	Skull (306KB)
triceratops.jgt	Triceratops (79KB)
cow.jgt	Cow (86KB)
croco.jgt	Crocodile (300KB)

 

  [ 3D Model with Texture]

Filename	Description	Original File*
duck.jgt	Duck (453kB)	605kB
vase1.jgt	Vase 1 (433kB)	651kB
vase2.jgt	Vase 2 (462kB)	651kB
totem.jgt	Totem Pole (465kB)	683kB

                   * The original VRML files and texture files are compressed by gzip and jpeg, respectively

The original VRML files with textures can be found in http://www.vit.iit.nrc.ca/3D/Pages_HTML/3D_Models.htmll

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• School of Architecture, CMU http://www.arc.cmu.edu/

• Sony http://www.sony.com/

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• M. Okuda and T. Chen, "Joint Geometry/Texture Progressive Coding of 3D Models", IEEE Intl. Conf. on Image Processing, Vancouver, Sep 2000
• B. Koh and T. Chen, "Progressive Browsing of 3D models", IEEE Signal Processing Society Workshop on Multimedia Signal Processing, Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept 1999

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Any suggestions or comments are welcome. Please send them to Masahiro Okuda 

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