Method and apparatus for transforming polygon data to voxel data for general purpose applications

A method of transforming surface-based 3D data to voxel data, comprising the steps of:

• (a) acquiring surface-based 3D data;
• (b) acquiring a texture map associated with the surface-based 3D data;
• (c) mapping each surface unit in the surface-based 3D data to a voxel grid;
• (d) for each voxel in the voxel grid mapped from the surface unit, obtaining a color value by interpolating the surface unit's texture coordinates and then performing a lookup of the interpolated coordinate in the texture map;
• and
• (e) storing the obtained color value for each voxel, wherein the color value represents and replaces the texture map.

A method of transforming surface-based 3D data to voxel data, comprising the steps of:

• (a) acquiring surface-based 3D data;
• (b) acquiring an attribute map associated with the surface-based 3D data;
• (c) mapping each surface unit in the surface-based 3D data to a voxel grid;
• (d) for each voxel in the voxel grid mapped from the surface unit, obtaining an attribute value by interpolating the surface unit's attribute coordinates and then performing a lookup of the interpolated attribute coordinate in the attribute map;
• and
• (e) storing the obtained attribute value for each voxel, wherein the attribute value represents and replaces the attribute map.

A method of transforming surface-based 3D data to voxel data for the purpose of complexity decimation, comprising the steps of:

• acquiring surface-based 3D data;
• obtaining the resolution of an intended display;
• and
• mapping each surface unit in the surface-based 3D data to a voxel grid having a resolution corresponding to the resolution of the intended display.

A method of generating a normal for a voxel in voxel graphics, comprising:

• (a) projecting a scan plane intersecting the voxel, wherein the scan plane is perpendicular to a first axis;
• (b) using the scan plane, scanning for voxels in the direction perpendicular to the scan plane;
• (c) recording the traversed distance before a voxel was found for each voxel space in the scan plane;
• and
• (d) obtaining a normal (N1, N2, N3), wherein N1is the first component of the normal along the first axis, N2 is the second component of the normal along the second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and N3 is the third component of the normal perpendicular to both the first and second axes, by:
• (i) setting N1 as 1;
• (ii) obtaining N2 by adding incremental changes between the traversed distances recorded in each adjacent voxel spaces along the second axis and dividing the total incremental changes by the number of voxel spaces;
• and
• (iii) obtaining N3 by adding incremental changes between the traversed distances recorded in each adjacent voxel spaces along the third axis and dividing the total incremental changes by the number of voxel spaces.