2.

1 Bézier curves review

CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Definition

MNE4005 Finite Element Analysis A Bézier curve is defined by

(Lecture Notes / Dr. W. Ma)
n
p(t )   v i Bi (t )
i 0

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces where

Overview  p(t) is a 3D point on the Bézier curve,

 v i  R 3 for i=0, 1, 2, ..., n are the so called control points,

2.1 Bézier curves review
 Bi ( t ) i=0, 1, 2, ..., n are the Bernstein polynomials, i.e., the
2.2 Definition of Bézier Surfaces
bases functions defining Bézier curves,
2.3 Some Major Properties of Bézier Surfaces
 t is the parameter variable, 0.0  t  1.0,
2.4 Shape Modification
 n is the degree of the Bézier curve, and
2.5 Connecting Two Bézier Surfaces
 k=n+1 is the order of Bézier curve.

(Illustration of a Bézier curve, k=4)

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 23 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 24

The Bernstein polynomials Bi ( t ) are defined as

Bi (t )    t i 1  t 
n n i
i

where

 n  n!
 i  i !(n  i)!

with n!=n·(n-1)·(n-2)· ··· ·2·1 and 0! = 1.

We sometimes write Bi ( t ) as Bi ,n (t )
which implies that Bi ,n (t ) is the i-th Bernstein polynomial of
degree n.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 25 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 26

 Properties of Bernstein Polynomials [Farin91,p38]

Property 1:

Bernstein polynomials satisfy the following recursion

Bi ,n (t )  (1  t ) Bi ,n 1(t )  tBi 1,n 1(t )

with

B0,0 (t )  10
.

and

B j ,n (t )  0.0 for j 0,1,..., n .

Property 2: Partition of unity

n
 Bi ,n (t )  10.
i 0

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 27 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 28

Properties of Bézier curves

Property 3: Endpoint interpolation:

A Bézier curve goes through the two end control points, i.e.

p(t)|t 0.0 = v 0

p(t)|t 1.0 = v n

The curve starts at the first control point v 0 and

end up at the last control point v n .

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 29 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 30

Property 4: Endpoint tangent vectors Property 5: Symmetric property

The curve is tangent to the first and last segments of the curve If a second Bézier curve q(t ) is defined with the same control
polygon, i.e., polygon, but with the inverse order, i.e.,

d n
p(t)|t 0.0 = n( v 1  v 0 ) q(t )   v n i Bi (t )
dt
i 0

d .
p(t)|t 1.0 = n( v n  v n 1 ) The shape of q(t ) is exactly the same as p(t) with
dt
p(t) = q(1-t).
Similarly, the 2nd derivative at the starting point is determined
by the first 3 control points and the 2nd derivative at the end
point is determined by the last 3 control points.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 31 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 32

 Property 6: Convex hull property

A Bézier curve is properly contained in the convex hull of its

polygon.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 33 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 34

 Property 7: Geometric invariant property

A Bézier curve is invariant under afine transformations, i.e.,

transformation and rotation. It implies that

if we want to transform a Bézier curve,

we can simply transform its control polygon.

Property 8: Variation diminishing property

The number of intersection points of a Bézier curve with a

plane can never be more than the number of intersection points
with its polygon.

This implies that a Bézier curve will follow closely the control
polygon.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 35 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 36

 Modification of a Bézier curve

The shape of a Bézier curve can be modified by moving one or

more control points.

When moving any control points, the curve shape will change
globally, i.e., the curve is changed verywhere.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 37 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 38

Connecting Two Bézier Curves Connecting two Bézier curves together

Closed Bézier curve Similarly, one can also connect two Bézier curves with required
continuity.
One can simply define a closed Bézier curve by taking the
same control points for the first one and the last one, i.e. To simply connect two Bézier curves together, one can use the
same control points at the joining ends, i.e.
v0  vn
v 1,n  v 2 ,0
1
To obtain G geometric continuity at the closing point, one may
further set To obtain G 1 geometric continuity at the joining end, one may
further set
v 1  v 0  c( v n  v n 1 )
v 1,n  v 1,n 1  c( v 2 ,1  v 2 ,0 )
1
where, c is a constant. In case c=1.0, the curve becomes C at
the connecting point. n2
where, c is a constant. If we set c= , we obtain C1 at the
n1
joining end.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 39 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 40

 2.2 Definition of Bézier Surfaces

A Bézier surface is defined by

n m
p(u, v )    v ij Bi ,n (u) B j ,m (v )
i 0 j 0

where

 p(u,v) is a 3D point on the Bézier surface,

 v ij  R 3 for i=0, 1, 2, ..., n and j=0, 1, 2, ..., m are the so

called control points - control polyhedron,

 Bi ,n (u) for i=0, 1, 2, ..., n and B j ,m (v) for j=0, 1, 2, ..., m are
the Bernstein polynomials, i.e., the bases functions
defining Bézier surfaces,

 u and v are the parameter variables, 0.0  u, v  10

. ,

 n and m are the degree of the Bézier surface along u and v

direction respectively, and

Sometimes, we simply write a Bézier surface as

n m
p(u, v )    v ij Bij (u, v )
i 0 j 0

where Bij (u, v)  Bi ,n (u) B j ,m (v)

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 41 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 42

 2.3 Some Major Properties of Bézier Surfaces

Property 1: Partition of unity

For all u  0,1 and v [0,1] , we have

n m
  Bi ,n (u) B j ,m (v)  1
i 0 j 0

Property 2: Boundary Curves

The four boundary curves are properly defined by the four set
of boundary control points of the control net as four boundary
Bézier curves.

Property 3: Corner Points

As a result of the previous property, the four corner of the

control net are the four coner points on the Bézier surface.

Property 4: Corner Tangent Vectors

Similarly, the two tangent vectors at each of the four corners

are determined by the corresponding control points at that
corner.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 43 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 44

Property 5: Geometric invariant property 2.4 Shape Modification

A Bézier surface is invariant under afine transformations, i.e., One can modify the shape of a Bézier surface by moving one
translation and rotation. It implies that or more control points.

if we want to transform a Bézier surface, When moving any control point, the surface shape will change
we can simply transform its control polygon. globally, i.e., the surface is changed verywhere.

But the changes to a particular surface area are mostly influced

by the most nearest control points.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 45 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 46

 2.5 Connecting Two Bézier Surfaces

To connect two Bézier surfaces smoothly along two adjacent

edges with G 1 continuity,

 the two surfaces must have the same number of control

points at the connecting edge,

 the two boundary polygons along the edge coincide,

 the two adjacent polygon edges be colinear.

Similar as the case of Bézier curves, one may obtain C1

continuity at the edge if each of the three colinear control points
satisfy similar conditions.

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 47 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 48

2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 49 2. Bézier Curves and Surfaces 50