A trigonal prism-based method for hair image generation

Abstract

The difficulties involved in modeling and rendering hair in computer graphics are described. An efficient method using a trigonal prism model to render individual human hairs is presented. A wisp model easily controls hair shape with a few parameters. The method also proves effective for rendering eyebrows, eyelashes, beards, moustaches, clothes and personal ornaments such as earrings and hair accessories. A double z-buffer generates the backlighting effect. A simple parabola approximates wisp loci for hair animation. The method makes it possible to draw an enormous number of hairs within a reasonably short time.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>