Why Parametric Curves?

• Parametric curves are intended to provide the generality of

polygon meshes but with fewer parameters for smooth
surfaces
– Polygon meshes have as many parameters as there are vertices (at
least)
• Fewer parameters makes it faster to create a curve, and
easier to edit an existing curve
• Normal fields can be properly defined everywhere
• Parametric curves are easier to animate than polygon
meshes
 Parametric Curves
• We have seen the parametric form for a line:
x  x0t  (1  t ) x1
y  y0t  (1  t ) y1
z  z0t  (1  t ) z1
• Note that x, y and z are each given by an equation that
involves:
– The parameter t
– Some user specified control points, x0 and x1
• This is an example of a parametric curve
 Hermite Spline
• A spline is a parametric curve defined by control points
– The term spline dates from engineering drawing, where a spline was
a piece of flexible wood used to draw smooth curves
– The control points are adjusted by the user to control the shape of
the curve
• A Hermite spline is a curve for which the user provides:
– The endpoints of the curve
– The parametric derivatives of the curve at the endpoints (tangents
with length)
• The parametric derivatives are dx/dt, dy/dt, dz/dt
– That is enough to define a cubic Hermite spline, more derivatives
are required for higher order curves
 Hermite Spline (2)
• Say the user provides x0 , x1 , x0 , x1
• A cubic spline has degree 3, and is of the form:
x  at 3  bt 2  ct  d
– For some constants a, b, c and d derived from the control points, but
how?
• We have constraints:
– The curve must pass through x0 when t=0
– The derivative must be x’0 when t=0
– The curve must pass through x1 when t=1
– The derivative must be x’1 when t=1
 Hermite Spline (3)
• Solving for the unknowns gives: a  2 x1  2 x0  x1  x0
b  3x1  3x0  x1  2 x0
c  x0
d  x0
• Rearranging gives:
x  x1 ( 2t  3t )
3 2  2 3 0 0 t 3 
 2 3 0  
 x0 ( 2t 3  3t 2  1) 1  t 2 
or x  x1 x0 x1 x0  
 x1 (t 3  t 2 )  1 1 0 0  t 
 x0 (t 3  2t 2  t )   
 1 2 1 0  1 
 Basis Functions
• A point on a Hermite curve is obtained by multiplying each control
point by some function and summing
• The functions are called basis functions
1. 2

0. 8

0. 6
x1
0. 4
x0
x'1
0. 2
x'0
0

-0. 2

-0. 4
 Bezier Curves (1)
• Different choices of basis functions give different curves
– Choice of basis determines how the control points influence the
curve
– In Hermite case, two control points define endpoints, and two more
define parametric derivatives
• For Bezier curves, two control points define endpoints, and
two control the tangents at the endpoints in a geometric way
 Bezier Curves (2)
• The user supplies d control points, pi
• Write the curve as:
d
d  i
xt    p i B t 
i
d
B t    t 1  t 
i
d d i

i 0 i
• The functions Bid are the Bernstein polynomials of degree d
– Where else have you seen them?
• This equation can be written as a matrix equation also
– There is a matrix to take Hermite control points to Bezier control
points
Bezier Basis Functions for d=3
1.2

0.8 B0
B1
0.6
B2
0.4 B3

0.2

0
Some Bezier Curves
 Bezier Curve Properties
• The first and last control points are interpolated
• The tangent to the curve at the first control point is along the
line joining the first and second control points
• The tangent at the last control point is along the line joining
the second last and last control points
• The curve lies entirely within the convex hull of its control
points
– The Bernstein polynomials (the basis functions) sum to 1 and are
everywhere positive
• They can be rendered in many ways
– E.g.: Convert to line segments with a subdivision algorithm
 Rendering Bezier Curves (1)
• Evaluate the curve at a fixed set of parameter
values and join the points with straight lines
• Advantage: Very simple
• Disadvantages:
– Expensive to evaluate the curve at many points
– No easy way of knowing how fine to sample
points, and maybe sampling rate must be different
along curve
– No easy way to adapt. In particular, it is hard to
measure the deviation of a line segment from the
exact curve