SCULPTING OBJECTS USING DETAIL-DIRECTED HIERARCHICAL DISTANCE FIELDS

A method sculpts an object expressed as a model. A hierarchical distance field is generated from the model according to generation parameters. The hierarchical distance field is edited according to editing parameters, and the hierarchical distance field is rendered while editing. To generate the hierarchical distance field, the object distance field is enclosed with an object bounding box. The enclosed object distance field is partitioned into a plurality of cells. Each cell has a size corresponding to detail of the object distance field and a location with respect to the object bounding box. A set of values of the enclosed object distance field is sampled for each cell. A method for reconstructing the portion of the distance field enclosed by the cell is specified for each cell. The size, the location, the set of values, and the method for reconstructing for each cell are stored in a memory to enable reconstruction of the object distance field by applying the reconstruction methods of the cells to the values. The hierarchical distance field adapts to detail introduced while editing.