System and method for subdividing large polygon mesh datasets into hierarchical subsets for level-of-detail use

A computing device, comprising:

• a graphic display;
• and
• a processor connected to the graphic display, wherein the processor is configured with processor executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
• grouping triangles in a triangle mesh dataset by material use to create at least two different material groups;
• determining and storing a hierarchy of tiles within each material group;
• generating and storing a hierarchical level-of-detail (HLOD) structure indicating the tiles and all the material groups, wherein:
• each of the at least two different material groups comprises the triangles in the triangle mesh dataset associated with any functionally identical materials unique to that respective group;
• and
• each of the at least two different material groups preserves any triangle groups associated with the functionally identical materials unique to that respective group indicated in the triangle mesh dataset;
• and
• controlling a separate processor for each of the at least two different material groups to, in parallel, perform operations to:
• generate placeholder tiles for any tiles exceeding a combined processing budget comprising a vertex count per tile of below 216 and a material expense below a threshold, wherein each placeholder tile has a lower level of detail than the respective tile exceeding the combined processing budget for which that placeholder tile was generated;
• and
• generate children tiles for at least one placeholder tile based on the respective tile exceeding the combined processing budget for which that placeholder tile was generated, wherein the children tiles have a same resolution as the respective tile exceeding the processing budget for which that placeholder tile was generated.

A non-transitory processor readable medium having stored thereon processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor of a computing device to perform operations comprising:

• grouping triangles in a triangle mesh dataset by material use to create at least two different material groups;
• determining and storing a hierarchy of tiles within each material group;
• generating and storing a hierarchical level-of-detail (HLOD) structure indicating the tiles and all the material groups, wherein:
• each of the at least two different material groups comprises the triangles in the triangle mesh dataset associated with any functionally identical materials unique to that respective group;
• and
• each of the at least two different material groups preserves any triangle groups associated with the functionally identical materials unique to that respective group indicated in the triangle mesh dataset;
• and
• controlling a separate processor for each of the at least two different material groups to, in parallel, perform operations to:
• generate placeholder tiles for any tiles exceeding a combined processing budget comprising a vertex count per tile of below 216 and a material expense below a threshold, wherein each placeholder tile has a lower level of detail than the respective tile exceeding the combined processing budget for which that placeholder tile was generated;
• and
• generate children tiles for at least one placeholder tile based on the respective tile exceeding the combined processing budget for which that placeholder tile was generated, wherein the children tiles have a same resolution as the respective tile exceeding the processing budget for which that placeholder tile was generated.