A Data Flow Approach to Procedural Modeling

Computer graphics tasks generally involve either modelling or viewing. Modelling combines primitive building blocks (polygons, patches, etc.) into data structures that represent entire objects and scenes. To visualize a modeled object, its data structure is input to appropriate viewing routines. While a great deal has been done on modelling and viewing with geometric primitives, little has been published on the use of procedural primitives. A procedural model is a step-by-step guide for constructing a representation of an object or process, i.e., a program. It is also a function, a'black box'with a set of inputs and outputs. Two questions are especially pertinent to the work presented in this article