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Metaballs

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are commonly used. In certain instances, however, metaballs are superior. A metaball's "blobby" appearance makes them versatile tools, often used to model organic objects and also to create base meshes for
830:. A function with finite support goes to zero at a maximum radius. When evaluating the metaball field, any points beyond their maximum radius from the sample point can be ignored. 814: 391:; three-dimensional metaballs tend to be most common, with two-dimensional implementations popular as well). A thresholding value is also chosen, to define a solid volume. Then, 853:
potential constrained to a finite radius or a mixture of polynomials to achieve smoothness. The Soft Object model by the Wyvill brothers provides higher degree of smoothness.
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A more Informal definition could be, That if you take 2 circles in 2D, and at point P, circle 1's influence(1/distance) is X and circle 2's influence is Y.
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Various other falloff functions have historically been used for reasons of computational efficiency. Desirable properties of the function include:
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If X+Y>threshold. point P is part of Metaball.. And then you calculate it for all Points, obviously there are Graphing techniques to do that.
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There are a number of ways to render the metaballs to the screen. In the case of three dimensional metaballs, the two most common are
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2: The influence of a negative metaball on a positive metaball by creating an indentation in the positive metaball's surface.
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A simple generalization of metaballs is to apply the falloff curve to distance-from-lines or distance-from-surfaces.
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is the result of adding the fields together, its smoothness is dependent on the smoothness of the falloff curves.
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can ensure only adjacent metaballs need to be evaluated regardless of the total number in the field.
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in cell biology, where chromosomes generate identical copies of themselves through cell division.
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determines whether the volume enclosed by the surface defined by the metaballs is filled at
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The interaction between two differently coloured 3D positive metaballs, created in
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elements such as navigations and buttons. Metaball behavior corresponds to
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Note that the two smaller metaballs combine to create one larger object.
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provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject
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1: The influence of 2 positive metaballs on each other.
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The effect is also available as an 16:N-dimensional isosurfaces which can meld together 967:"Art of Joe Daniels: Digital Sculpting Tutorial" 1024:"A Generalization of Algebraic Surface Drawing" 595:A typical function chosen for metaballs is the 8: 820:technique may be used in this calculation. 53:Learn how and when to remove these messages 1091:Exploring Metaballs and Isosurfaces in 2D 943:"An Overview of Metaballs/Blobby Objects" 797: 784: 771: 762: 736: 726: 704: 694: 672: 662: 647: 642: 610: 472: 448: 418: 411: 404: 398: 355: 230:Learn how and when to remove this message 165:Learn how and when to remove this message 110:Learn how and when to remove this message 350:dimensions (e.g., for three dimensions, 248: 207:of all important aspects of the article. 73:This article includes a list of general 904: 516:Interactive Metaball with Neat Function 203:Please consider expanding the lead to 147:providing more context for the reader 7: 816:is the center of the metaball. The 809:{\displaystyle (x_{0},y_{0},z_{0})} 79:it lacks sufficient corresponding 14: 930:– via www.encyclopedia.com. 324:community, commonly appearing in 34:This article has multiple issues. 870:2D metaballs were a very common 602:For the three-dimensional case, 532: 181: 126: 64: 23: 947:Worcester Polytechnic Institute 195:may be too short to adequately 42:or discuss these issues on the 849:More complicated models use a 803: 764: 733: 713: 701: 681: 669: 649: 633: 615: 547:format but may read better as 492: 474: 442: 424: 378: 360: 340:Each metaball is defined as a 205:provide an accessible overview 1: 1029:ACM Transactions on Graphics 981:"CG Notes: Metaballs Intro" 1128: 1022:Blinn, J. F. (July 1982). 302:metaballs was invented by 241: 1064:Implicit Surfaces article 917:A Dictionary of Computing 818:fast inverse square root 384:{\displaystyle f(x,y,z)} 242:Not to be confused with 921:Oxford University Press 832:Nearest neighbor search 556:converting this section 498:{\displaystyle (x,y,z)} 94:more precise citations. 861:brute force raycasting 810: 748: 592: 499: 459: 385: 271:, are organic-looking 256: 1042:10.1145/357306.357310 811: 749: 582: 500: 460: 386: 252: 1107:3D computer graphics 1070:Meta Objects article 761: 609: 471: 397: 354: 143:improve the article 806: 744: 597:inverse-square law 593: 558:, if appropriate. 495: 455: 453: 416: 409: 381: 310:'s 1980 TV series 298:The technique for 257: 1080:Metaballs article 969:. 8 October 2007. 742: 577: 576: 452: 415: 400: 261:computer graphics 240: 239: 232: 222: 221: 175: 174: 167: 120: 119: 112: 57: 1119: 1053: 1009: 1008: 1006: 1005: 991: 985: 984: 977: 971: 970: 963: 957: 956: 954: 953: 938: 932: 931: 929: 928: 909: 815: 813: 812: 807: 802: 801: 789: 788: 776: 775: 753: 751: 750: 745: 743: 741: 740: 731: 730: 709: 708: 699: 698: 677: 676: 667: 666: 648: 646: 572: 569: 563: 554:You can help by 536: 535: 528: 504: 502: 501: 496: 464: 462: 461: 456: 454: 450: 423: 422: 417: 413: 408: 390: 388: 387: 382: 267:, also known as 235: 228: 217: 214: 208: 185: 177: 170: 163: 159: 156: 150: 130: 129: 122: 115: 108: 104: 101: 95: 90:this article by 81:inline citations 68: 67: 60: 49: 27: 26: 19: 1127: 1126: 1122: 1121: 1120: 1118: 1117: 1116: 1097: 1096: 1060: 1021: 1018: 1016:Further reading 1013: 1012: 1003: 1001: 993: 992: 988: 979: 978: 974: 965: 964: 960: 951: 949: 941:Ward, Matthew. 940: 939: 935: 926: 924: 911: 910: 906: 901: 884: 848: 840:. Because the 793: 780: 767: 759: 758: 732: 722: 700: 690: 668: 658: 607: 606: 588: 573: 567: 564: 553: 537: 533: 526: 520: 508: 469: 468: 410: 395: 394: 352: 351: 338: 284:solid modelling 254: 247: 236: 225: 224: 223: 218: 212: 209: 202: 190:This article's 186: 171: 160: 154: 151: 140: 131: 127: 116: 105: 99: 96: 86:Please help to 85: 69: 65: 28: 24: 17: 12: 11: 5: 1125: 1123: 1115: 1114: 1109: 1099: 1098: 1095: 1094: 1087: 1077: 1067: 1066:by Paul Bourke 1059: 1058:External links 1056: 1055: 1054: 1036:(3): 235–256. 1017: 1014: 1011: 1010: 986: 972: 958: 933: 913:"blobby model" 903: 902: 900: 897: 896: 895: 893:Bézier surface 890: 883: 880: 865:marching cubes 846: 845: 835: 828:Finite support 805: 800: 796: 792: 787: 783: 779: 774: 770: 766: 755: 754: 739: 735: 729: 725: 721: 718: 715: 712: 707: 703: 697: 693: 689: 686: 683: 680: 675: 671: 665: 661: 657: 654: 651: 645: 641: 638: 635: 632: 629: 626: 623: 620: 617: 614: 575: 574: 540: 538: 531: 525: 524:Implementation 522: 494: 491: 488: 485: 482: 479: 476: 447: 444: 441: 438: 435: 432: 429: 426: 421: 407: 403: 380: 377: 374: 371: 368: 365: 362: 359: 337: 334: 288:polygon meshes 269:blobby objects 238: 237: 220: 219: 199:the key points 189: 187: 180: 173: 172: 134: 132: 125: 118: 117: 72: 70: 63: 58: 32: 31: 29: 22: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1124: 1113: 1110: 1108: 1105: 1104: 1102: 1092: 1088: 1085: 1081: 1078: 1075: 1071: 1068: 1065: 1062: 1061: 1057: 1051: 1047: 1043: 1039: 1035: 1031: 1030: 1025: 1020: 1019: 1015: 1000: 996: 990: 987: 982: 976: 973: 968: 962: 959: 948: 944: 937: 934: 922: 918: 914: 908: 905: 898: 894: 891: 889: 886: 885: 881: 879: 877: 873: 868: 866: 862: 857: 854: 852: 843: 839: 836: 833: 829: 826: 825: 824: 821: 819: 798: 794: 790: 785: 781: 777: 772: 768: 737: 727: 723: 719: 716: 710: 705: 695: 691: 687: 684: 678: 673: 663: 659: 655: 652: 643: 639: 636: 630: 627: 624: 621: 618: 612: 605: 604: 603: 600: 598: 591: 586: 581: 571: 562:is available. 561: 557: 551: 550: 546: 541:This section 539: 530: 529: 523: 521: 518: 517: 512: 509: 506: 489: 486: 483: 480: 477: 465: 445: 439: 436: 433: 430: 427: 419: 405: 401: 392: 375: 372: 369: 366: 363: 357: 349: 348: 343: 335: 333: 331: 327: 323: 319: 315: 314: 309: 305: 301: 296: 294: 289: 285: 280: 278: 275:-dimensional 274: 270: 266: 262: 251: 245: 234: 231: 216: 206: 200: 198: 193: 188: 184: 179: 178: 169: 166: 158: 155:November 2016 148: 144: 138: 135:This article 133: 124: 123: 114: 111: 103: 93: 89: 83: 82: 76: 71: 62: 61: 56: 54: 47: 46: 41: 40: 35: 30: 21: 20: 1112:Demo effects 1033: 1027: 1002:. 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Retrieved 916: 907: 876:XScreensaver 869: 858: 855: 847: 822: 756: 601: 594: 589: 565: 560:Editing help 542: 519: 513: 510: 507: 466: 393: 345: 339: 311: 297: 281: 272: 268: 264: 258: 226: 210: 194: 192:lead section 161: 152: 141:Please help 136: 106: 97: 78: 50: 43: 37: 36:Please help 33: 872:demo effect 867:algorithm. 277:isosurfaces 100:August 2014 92:introducing 1101:Categories 1004:2020-08-11 952:2023-10-27 927:2023-10-27 899:References 842:isosurface 838:Smoothness 336:Definition 308:Carl Sagan 75:references 39:improve it 999:Pinterest 720:− 688:− 656:− 568:June 2019 451:threshold 446:≤ 402:∑ 322:UX design 304:Jim Blinn 300:rendering 293:sculpting 265:metaballs 244:Meatballs 213:June 2019 197:summarize 45:talk page 1084:SIGGRAPH 1050:24838292 882:See also 878:module. 863:and the 851:Gaussian 505:or not. 414:metaball 342:function 1086:website 1074:Blender 330:mitosis 88:improve 1048:  923:. 2019 757:where 543:is in 318:motion 313:Cosmos 77:, but 1082:from 1072:from 1046:S2CID 888:NURBS 585:Bryce 549:prose 1076:wiki 545:list 320:and 1038:doi 344:in 282:In 259:In 145:by 1103:: 1044:. 1032:. 1026:. 997:. 945:. 919:. 915:. 326:UI 295:. 286:, 263:, 48:. 1089:" 1052:. 1040:: 1034:1 1007:. 983:. 955:. 804:) 799:0 795:z 791:, 786:0 782:y 778:, 773:0 769:x 765:( 738:2 734:) 728:0 724:z 717:z 714:( 711:+ 706:2 702:) 696:0 692:y 685:y 682:( 679:+ 674:2 670:) 664:0 660:x 653:x 650:( 644:/ 640:1 637:= 634:) 631:z 628:, 625:y 622:, 619:x 616:( 613:f 587:. 570:) 566:( 552:. 493:) 490:z 487:, 484:y 481:, 478:x 475:( 443:) 440:z 437:, 434:y 431:, 428:x 425:( 420:i 406:i 379:) 376:z 373:, 370:y 367:, 364:x 361:( 358:f 347:n 273:n 246:. 233:) 227:( 215:) 211:( 201:. 168:) 162:( 157:) 153:( 149:. 139:. 113:) 107:( 102:) 98:( 84:. 55:) 51:(

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Meatballs

computer graphics
isosurfaces
solid modelling
polygon meshes
sculpting
rendering
Jim Blinn
Carl Sagan
Cosmos
motion
UX design
UI

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