Parallel View-Dependent Out-of-Core Progressive Meshes

Abstract

The complexity of polygonal models is growing faster than the ability of graphics hardware to render them in real-time. If a scene contains many models and textures, it is often also not possible to store the entire geometry in the graphics memory. A common way to deal with such models is to use multiple levels of detail (LODs), which represent a model at different complexity levels. With view-dependent progressive meshes it is possible to render complex models in real time, but the whole progressive model must fit into graphics memory. To solve this problem out-of-core algorithms have to be used to load mesh data from external data devices. Hierarchical level of detail (HLOD) algorithms are a common solution for this problem, but they have numerous disadvantages. In this paper, we combine the advantages of view-dependent progressive meshes and HLODs by proposing a new algorithm for real-time view-dependent rendering of huge models. Using a spatial hierarchy we extend parallel view-dependent progressive meshes to support out-of-core rendering. In addition we present a compact data structure for progressive meshes, optimized for parallel GPU-processing and out-of-core memory management.