Seamless Fracture Rendering via Volumetric Voxelization

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional methods for rendering fractures in objects often result in visible gaps and non-uniform surface characteristics between adjacent fragments, requiring time-consuming workarounds like motion blurring or manual adjustments to hide or smooth out these issues.

Innovation Solution

The process involves converting a surface representation of an object into a volumetric representation, using voxelization and dual contouring to generate seamless surface representations of fragments, and employing ghost cells to eliminate discontinuities between adjacent fragments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If conventional fracture rendering methods are used to divide objects into fragments, then fracture effects can be achieved, but visible gaps and fracture lines appear between adjacent fragments

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefracture rendering qualityVSAvoidvisible gaps and fracture lines
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transitions from surface-based fragment generation to volume-based voxel representation. By converting the object into a volumetric grid of voxels and then generating surface representations from this volume, the method ensures that adjacent fragments share common boundary voxels, eliminating gaps and fracture lines that appear in conventional surface-based approaches.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Object-generated harmful factors

If motion blurring or specific viewing angles are used to hide fracture lines, then visible gaps are reduced, but animation flexibility and viewing angle options are limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevisible fracture linesVSAvoidviewing angle flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-generated harmful factorsVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The volumetric approach makes the fracture rendering self-service by automatically ensuring seamless edges through shared boundary voxels. The method inherently produces gap-free fractures without requiring post-processing techniques like motion blurring or manual adjustments, thereby maintaining full animation flexibility and viewing angle options.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Manufacturing precision

If manual adjustments are made to smooth surface transitions between fragments, then surface discontinuities are reduced, but production time and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesurface continuityVSAvoidmanual adjustment time
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The volumetric voxel-based approach makes surface smoothing self-service by naturally producing continuous surface characteristics across fragment boundaries. Since adjacent fragments share common boundary voxels, the surface representations automatically align and smooth transitions occur without requiring manual adjustment, significantly reducing production time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

4Productivity

If conventional surface-based fragment generation is used, then processing speed is maintained, but surface discontinuities and non-uniform characteristics appear between fragments

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocessing speedVSAvoidsurface uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent achieves both speed and precision by working in the volumetric dimension rather than surface dimension. The voxel-based volume representation allows for efficient computational processing while simultaneously ensuring uniform surface characteristics, as the volumetric foundation guarantees consistent boundary definitions across all fragments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentEP3379495B1Seamless fracture in an animation production pipeline
Publication Date: 2019.11.20 DREAMWORKS ANIMATION LLC
  • EP3379495B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3379495B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2D
  • EP3379495B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Methods of rendering a first fragment of a reconstructed object are provided. In one arrangement, the reconstructed object comprises a plurality of fragments. The reconstructed object is for animating an object to be fractured into the plurality of fragments. At least one characteristic of a surface representation of the first fragment is evaluated using data associated with a second fragment of the plurality of fragments. The evaluation of the at least one characteristic of the surface representation of the first fragment includes smoothing the surface representation by averaging values associated with a plurality of surface tiles of the first fragment with values associated with a plurality of surface tiles of the second fragment. Display of surface representation of the first fragment is caused using the evaluated at least one characteristic.