Output details

A framework for digital sunken relief generation based on 3D geometric models

Originality - Sunken relief is a form of sculpture where the shapes are sunken into a given surface. We formulate a novel and unified theoretical framework to guide the design and production of such digital reliefs. We demonstrate the efficacy of our framework by deriving three useful techniques for producing sunken reliefs, including inventive incorporation of fine feature details with line drawings.

Rigour - The development has been supported by a thorough review of existing literature on digital relief generation. The rigorous mathematical formulation of the modelling process has ensured the coherence and precision of the proposed techniques. To compare with existing work, we developed numerical experiments with a selection of sculpture examples. Our method compares favourably against the state-of-the-art, demonstrating the effectiveness of both the proposed framework and the derived techniques.

Significance - Our work has been specially formulated to capture the fine line features widely present in real sunken reliefs, while ensuring the generation of a smooth surface shape, thereby dealing with the deficiencies of previous approaches to the problem. In addition to the theoretic contribution, this technique has provided a practical method and powerful tool for artists and designers to produce digital sunk reliefs easily. The importance of this technique is magnified by the rising popularity of 3D printing technologies, allowing users to produce physical replicas of the geometric data our method produces. This work forms part of our recent patent application of “saliency based digital relief generation”.