2.5D Clip-Surfaces for Technical Visualization

The concept of clipping planes is well known in computer graphics and can be
used to create cut-away views. But clipping against just analytical defined
planes is not always suitable for communicating every aspect of such visualization. For example, in hand-drawn technical illustrations, artists tend to communicate the difference between a cut and a model feature by using non-regular, sketchy cut lines instead of straight ones. To enable this functionality in computer graphics, this paper presents a technique for applying 2.5D clip-surfaces in real-time. Therefore, the clip plane equation is extended with an additional offset map, which can be represented by a texture map that contains height values. Clipping is then performed by varying the clip plane equation with respect to such an offset map. Further, a capping technique is proposed that enables the rendering of caps onto the clipped area to convey the impression of solid material. It avoids a re-meshing of a solid polygonal mesh after clipping is performed. Our approach is pixel precise, applicable in real-time, and takes fully advantage of graphics accelerators.