Directable weathering of concave rock using curvature estimation

Area of Science:

• Computer Graphics
• Geomorphology
• Computational Science

Background:

• Existing weathering models struggle with concave surfaces, being computationally expensive and hard to control.
• Natural weathering processes like spheroidal and cavernous weathering are influenced by surface curvature and rock durability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a directable weathering model for concave rock surfaces suitable for computer-generated animation and games.
• To improve computational efficiency and user control over weathering simulations.

Main Methods:

• Simulated spheroidal and cavernous weathering using voxel grid approximation of mean curvature.
• Incorporated user-defined rock durability via a graph editing interface.
• Added simulations for rockfall and colluvium deposition to enhance realism.

Main Results:

• The model accurately simulates weathering based on surface curvature, with rates influenced by user-defined rock durability.
• Achieved realistic weathering, transforming cubes into spheres and corners into caverns.
• The final rock profile reflects the durability graph, demonstrating directability and visual plausibility.

Conclusions:

• The developed weathering model offers efficient, controllable, and visually plausible results for digital content creation.
• This approach effectively bridges geomorphological principles with computer graphics applications.