PARAMETRIC MODELING OF TRUNK-ROOT JUNCTIONS
USING ASTROIDAL EXPANSION GEOMETRY
Karthik Mahesh Varadarajan
ACIN, Technical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Keywords: Geometric modeling, Rendering foliage, Trunk-root junctions, L-systems, Astroid, 3D parametric modeling.
Abstract: In the field of foliage or vegetation modeling for computer graphics, algorithms for parametric modeling of
trees have largely focused on branching mechanisms with little emphasis on modeling the base of the trunk,
especially the trunk-root junctions. Roots and trunk-root junctions that appear prominently above the ground
in the case of many species of trees such as the Ficus macrophylla and the Picea sitchensis as a result of age
and soil erosion are usually completely neglected by traditional trunk modeling methods. In this paper, we
introduce a novel parametric modeling scheme to build such trunk-root junctions, while providing for an
elegant framework to construct the bases of trunks and branches in order to provide better characterization
for a variety of flora species. The paper also describes novel schemes for generating branch junctions and
for rendering tree barks.
1 INTRODUCTION
There have been significant developments in the
area of foliage or vegetation modeling in recent
years (Federl and Prusinkiewicz’ 04, Lefebvre and
Neyret ’02). The availability of multi-core GPU
systems has widened the possibilities for realistic
rendering of foliage. While template or model multi-
resolution rendering systems enable fast
visualization of a variety of plant and tree species,
they are nevertheless restricted due to the lack of
uniqueness of each rendered entity. Parametric
models on the other hand, can create a variety of
shapes and unique entities within a single tree sub-
species or across a broad range of possible species.
Parametric L-systems have long been used for
modeling tree branches and trunks. However, little
attention has been dedicated to the parametric
modeling of roots of trees and more importantly
trunk-root junctions that are visible above the
ground.
Algorithms for parametric modeling of trees
have largely focused on branching mechanisms with
little emphasis on modeling the base of the trunk,
especially the trunk-root junctions. Roots and trunk-
root junctions that appear prominently above the
ground in the case of many species of trees such as
the Ficus macrophylla and the Picea sitchensis as a
result of age and soil erosion are usually completely
neglected by traditional trunk modeling methods.
Figures 1 and 2 depict sample images of trunk-root
junctions that are visible above the ground. In this
paper, we introduce a novel parametric modeling
scheme to build such trunk-root junctions, while
providing for an elegant framework to construct the
bases of trunks and branches in order to provide
better characterization for a variety of flora species.
This work is largely focused on modeling
structural components of a generic tree-like
structure, with particular emphasis on root-trunk
junctions. The algorithm is based on a number of
user-modifiable parameters that can be used to
generate a variety of plant species. Fundamentally,
the structural components, angular limitations, and
branching mechanisms may be varied to more
accurately model different kinds of tree growth, soil
and environmental effects.
Modeling of branches and root-trunk junctions,
together with a bio-inspired algorithm for rendering
barks and branches form specific contributions of
this effort.
94
Varadarajan K..
PARAMETRIC MODELING OF TRUNK-ROOT JUNCTIONS USING ASTROIDAL EXPANSION GEOMETRY.
DOI: 10.5220/0003324900940099
In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (GRAPP-2011), pages 94-99
ISBN: 978-989-8425-45-4
Copyright
c
2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
Figure 1: A Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla) tree in
Australia [Src: DO'Neil, Wikimedia].
Figure 2: A Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) tree in Canada
[Src: Cowichan Bay Journal].
2 RELATED WORK
Extensive work has been carried out on rendering
algorithms for foliage, originating from ground
breaking work by Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz. The
majority of these algorithms can be classified into
(a) Mono-scale representation – with branching
structure based on (i) cylinders (Prusinkiewicz and
Lindenmayer ‘90) (ii) cone-spheres (iii) generalized
cylinders (Bloomenthal ’95) (iv) implicit surfaces
(Hart and Baker ’96) (iv) sub-division surfaces, bark
modeling based on (i) bump mapping (ii)
displacement mapping (iii) volumetric textures
(Neyret ’98) (Lefebvre and Neyret ’02) (iv)
polygons (iv) texture mapping, (b) Global
representations such as billboards, slices (c)
Structure based and Spatial based multi-scale
representation systems using hierarchical billboards,
volumetric texture slices (Federl and Prusinkiewicz
’04), particle systems, volumetric point
representation systems etc.
While the focus of the method presented in this
paper caters to mono-scale representation, it
specifically focuses on modeling of trunk-root
junctions, which has hardly been modeled
parametrically in the past. The only work similar to
the one in this paper can be attributed to Jijoon Kim
2006. The method presented in this paper for
modeling of barks is similar to methods such as that
of volumetric textures and polygons. L-Systems
based foliage rendering software L-Studio and Xfrog
can use algorithms developed in this paper as
plugins for realistic geometric modeling.
3 COMPONENT MODELING
The structural components of plants that are dealt
with in this paper include stems (trunks, branches),
barks and root-trunk junctions. The generative
modeling presented in this paper is primarily
focused at achieving realistic stems, as this poses
sufficient unsolved challenges for modeling. This
paper bases its algorithms for geometrically
designing a tree by delving into the natural growth
of foliage. Two main natural phenomena or courses
of events in the growth of a tree, namely concentric
trunk growth and root-trunk junction growth have
been incorporated into the local geometry modeling.
These are explained in sections 3.1.1 and 3.2.1.
3.1 Trunk-Root Junction Modeling
Trunk-Root junctions refer to the base of the tree
where the trunk segment extends through the ground
to form the roots of the tree. In the case of several
common species of trees and plants such as the date
palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and the bamboo
(Bambuseae), the diameter of the trunk remains
more or less uniform from the base to the top. More
importantly, the trunk does not exhibit an expansion
at the trunk-root junction. Traditional parametric
branch and trunk modeling algorithms are successful
in modeling such systems. However, in the case of
trees such as in Figures 1 and 2, this is not true. The
trunk expands into several diverging branches at the
trunk-root junction, which cannot be modeled using
a cylindrical geometric framework.
3.1.1 Phenomenon
The expansive trunk-root junction forms the first
growth phenomenon considered in this paper. In the
case of several species of trees, the roots rise up as
they grow old. Since the trunk is cylindrical and the
PARAMETRIC MODELING OF TRUNK-ROOT JUNCTIONS USING ASTROIDAL EXPANSION GEOMETRY
95
roots exhibit semi-random cylindrical explosion
geometry, the base of the tree can be modeled with
hypocycloids such as the deltoid, astroid etc. with
random perturbations (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Family of hypocycloids – the three and four
pronged geometries are called deltoid and astroid
respectively.
3.1.2 Algorithm
Hypocycloids are very convenient to model trunk-
root junctions. The number of limbs in the
hypocycloid can be varied to produce a variety of
branching systems at the trunk-root junction. This,
when combined with the random perturbation of the
surface contour can yield realistic trunk rendering.
Since the trunk of the tree is best modeled as a
cylindrical structure, it is necessary to model the
continuity between the hypocycloidal trunk-root
junction and the cylindrical trunk. This can be done
by modeling the intermediate region as a folium
with multiple limbs. For the case of the astroidal
trunk-root junction, a quadrifolium is best suited for
the transition to the cylindrical trunk. The
quadrifolium is a rose or rhodonea, generated as a
pedal of the astroid. Pedals can be obtained as the
locus of arbitrary points, one each on the tangents of
a curve, such that the line from a given vertex to the
point and the tangent are perpendicular. An
interpolation scheme such as the spline or bi-cubic
method can be used to define intermediate points.
While the above scheme is well suited for the
generation of a wide variety of trunk-root junctions,
we emphasize the use of the astroid for modeling the
trunk-root junction in this paper. This choice of
hypocycloid for the modeling is the result of the
unique property of the astroid, namely its status as
the envelope of co-axial ellipses whose sum of
major and minor axes is constant (Xahlee, Special
Curves). Astroids are also the evolutes of ellipses.
Astroids belong to a class of curves called the
hypocycloids with cusps pointing away from the
vertex. Hypocycloids are a special case of the
Roulette family, the curves that roll upon other
curves to give the locus of circles. While the
fundamental method to create an astroid is as the
trace of a point on a circle of radius ‘r’ rolling inside
a fixed circle of radius 4 ‘r’ or 4/3 ‘r’ (using single
or double generation mechanisms respectively), the
ellipse method enables one to construct an astroid
analytically by locus generation. A simpler way to
construct the astroid based on ellipses makes use of
the Trammel of Archimedes - a mechanical devise
where a fixed bar with endings sliding on two
perpendicular tracks. The envelope of the moving
bar is then the astroid. A fixed point on the bar
traces out an ellipse. The axes of the astroid are
defined to be the two perpendicular lines passing its
cusps. The length of the tangent cut by the axes is
constant. Thus the astroid can be constructed as the
envelope of co-axial ellipses.
By reducing the difference between the lengths
of the semi-major and semi-minor axes of the
ellipse, characterized by the eccentricity, the ellipse
can be made to converge to a circle when the
eccentricity approaches one or the difference
becomes zero. This gives a natural mechanism for
defining and extrapolating the astroid to a circle,
thus rendering a smooth transition from the astroidal
trunk-root junction to the cylindrical trunk (with a
roughly circular cross-section). The algorithm makes
use of this approach to build the trunk of the tree. It
creates an envelope of ellipses of equal semi-major
and semi-minor axes length sums at every z level,
with this sum varying with the level, thus producing
a natural transition from astroid to ellipse (Stand
Curves).
The algorithm also implements a semi-
randomized transition to produce more organic
irregularity in the trunk and branches. The family of
asteroids and quadrifoliums are shown in Figure 4.
The mathematical formulation of these geometric
entities is depicted in Table 1.
Figure 4: (A) Family of astroids; (B) Astroid as envelope
of ellipses; (C) Quadrifolium.
GRAPP 2011 - International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications
96
Table 1: Mathematical modeling of the ellipse, astroid and
the quadrifolium.
Ellipse
Parametric: {a*cos(t), b*sin(t)} 0< t 2 π
Cartesian: x
2
/a + y
2
/b = 1 b=a*(1-e
2
)
1/2
Astroid
Parametric: {cos(t)
3
, sin(t)
3
}, 0 < t 2 * π
Cartesian: (x
2
+y
2
-1)
3
+ 27 * x
2
* y
2
= 0
Equivalent equation: x
2/3
+ y
2/3
= 1
Rose
(Rhodonea)
Polar equation: r=cos(p/q*θ); p, q are
integers (typical range: 1 to 11)
Quadrifolium: p/q =2
Cartesian Equation for a 4-pedaled rose
r=cos(2*θ) rotated by 2*π/8 is
(x
2
+y
2
)
3
==4*x
2
*y
2
3.2 Trunk Bark Modeling
Traditional methods for modeling the trunk bark
involve the use of bump maps. In this paper, an
alternate scheme of geometry based parametric
modeling of the bark using concentric layers is
presented.
3.2.1 Phenomenon
Plants generally grow as cylindrical structures above
the ground once their roots have developed. The
local geometry of the trunk can be formulated as
cylinders. As they grow, the bark expands in
concentric circles. The most actively growing part of
the trunk is the innermost ring, which gets pushes
out the outer rings. The cylindrical rings at the outer
layer are the oldest and this phenomenon is used in
the dating of trees. Because the outer layers are the
oldest, the bark eventually loses flexibility and
becomes taut. The pressure from the inner cylinders
causes the external bark to crack up. Crevice-like
structures are formed. Since pressure is directed
radially outward from an equidistant center, the
cracks in the bark appear at points almost equidistant
on the circumference of the bark. The radial pressure
also causes the vertical cleavage lines. Furthermore,
the effects of weathering create random fissures on
the bark.
3.2.2 Algorithm
Incorporating this understanding into our algorithm,
we generate the fissured geometry of the bark: a
superimposition of two cylindrically varying
structures. The face or planes of the tessellated
polygons on the outer structure are shrunk to smaller
triangles to simulate the cracking up of the bark.
This is done by reducing the dimensions of the
triangles along the vertical direction (simulating a
radial bark expansion along the cross-section of the
trunk) in a pseudo-random fashion. A randomized
polygon removal scheme has been employed to
produce the effect of weathered fissures. In other
words, some polygonal along the vertical dimension
of the trunk are arbitrarily removed. These effects
result in the fissured bark geometry demonstrated in
Figure 5. Application of different texture maps to the
two cylinders yields the effect of a chiseled outer
bark on a younger inner bark.
3.3 Branch Modeling
Branches are modeled as cylinders with diameters
constrained by parameters of radii and tilt. Three
specific issues were considered in the generation of
the branches. Combining cylinders at junctions is a
cumbersome process and involves a lot of projection
geometry. In nature, branch junctions can be
geometrically categorized as: T-junctions, Y-
junctions and I-junctions.
T-junctions occur when a branch grows out of
another, which extends much further. Such junctions
are modeled as composing of cylindrical branches
with semi-randomly varying radii and sinusoidally
varying base, embedded at a certain distance into the
parent branch, thereby producing smooth transition
geometry.
For the I-sections or continuation branches,
which chiefly occur when the branches have low
radii of curvature or a high degree of curvature,
smoothing effects are produced by extrapolating the
parent cylinder and semi-randomly varying the
gradient of inclination weighted by the parent
cylinder radius to yield the child cylinder top radius,
rather than create two separate cylinders.
For the Y-sections, the joint is more complex, as
the top radius of the parent cylinder and the bottom
radius of the child are different. Mounting the child
cylinders on the parent would produce huge areas of
discontinuity. This issue has been solved by using a
sinusoidally varying base for the child cylinder, as in
the case of the T-junction, and creating a spherical
geometry atop the parent cylinder.
4 IMPLEMENTATION
ISSUES –GEOMETRY
AND TRIANGULATION
Parameterization and generalization of various
aspects of the double-barked geometric tree model
enables creation of different types of trees. Limits of
feasible space and time complexity involved in the
PARAMETRIC MODELING OF TRUNK-ROOT JUNCTIONS USING ASTROIDAL EXPANSION GEOMETRY
97
execution of the program required the development
of optimization parameters. These include the
Triangle Reduction Factor, the factor by which the
number of triangles is reduced for rendering (by
absolute or relative levels), the Curve Speed-up
Factor that controls the number of points for the
ellipse generator, the Generator Ellipse Count, that
controls the number of ellipses that form the Astroid
or Circle and the Base Randomizer Factor that
determines the number of triangles in the complex
astroidal base.
Various tree type characterizing parameters
include the Base Spread Factor which determines
the ratio of the base to the trunk of the tree, the
Height of Trunk parameter, the Chisel mode that
allows one to specify if the outer bark is to be
shrunk, randomly chiseled out or both, two Chisel
factors to control the chiseling in the two modes, the
Base and the Top Radii, the Bark Depth Parameter,
that determines the depth of the inner bark from the
outer one and the Tilt spread to create a tilted tree.
After the generation of the inner and outer bark
geometrical models as envelope of ellipses with
varying major and minor axes and necessary tilting
of both the inner and outer bark cylinders, the
resulting geometry is Delaunay triangulated and
converted to patches. The Delaunay triangulation of
a point set is a collection of edges satisfying an
"Empty Circle" property (i.e., for each edge we can
find a circle containing the edge's endpoints but not
containing any other points (UCI – Delaunay)). The
outer bark triangles, after performing necessary
limiting by count, are scaled, and some triangles are
eliminated based on chisel ratios, thus rendering the
natural bark effect.
Normals for the triangles are generated by simple
cross-product of the edges. In order to produce an
elegant look with Phong shading, the normal values
at each vertex are calculated as the average of the
normals of the different triangles that share the
vertex.
Figure 5: Trunk-Root Modeling.
Implementation of the local geometric modeling of
the branches was done similar to that of the trunk,
but with a single bark structure and the addition of
functionality to solve the problem of the varying
junctions. Additional parameters include junction
type, previous radii, initial and final center
coordinates.
Figure 6: Double-Bark Modeling.
Figure 7: Branch Modeling.
Figure 8: Branch Modeling with Color Mapping.
5 RESULTS
Figures 5 and 6 demonstrate the modeling of trunk
using the trunk-root junction algorithm and the
double bark algorithm for a variety of parameters.
While the generated visualizations presented in this
paper for the trunk-root geometry largely consists of
convex boundaries, the system can also be used to
generate junctions with concave boundaries. The
concave boundaries can be obtained by reducing the
bounds on the extreme values used for the ellipse
axes lengths in the envelope generation process.
This is shown in Figure 4B. Alternatively,
quadrifoliums (Figure 4C) can be used, depending
upon the tree species to be rendered. Figure 7 shows
the modeling of branches using the randomized
cylinder approach and Figure 8 after color mapping.
Figure 9 demonstrates the final rendering of the
entire tree structures using a basic tree rendering
program taking input from the modeled trunk-root
junctions and branches as templates for the
rendering. It can be seen that the final rendering,
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98
though limited in terms of visual quality due to
simplicity of the tree renderer, provides realistic
visualization of the geometry of trees similar to fig
and spruce, that posses trunk-root junctions above
the ground.
Figure 9: Complete Tree Rendering.
6 FUTURE WORK
The next step involves the optimization of the code
for real-time rendering of forests and other foliage
using GPU systems. Development of plugins for
usage with Xfrog, Maya and L-Studio will enable
practical testing of the developed algorithms on a
larger scale. The developed algorithms can also be
extended to help render other types of trees with
unique geometry characterization requirements for
modeling.
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Jijoon Kim, A Growth Model for Root Systems of Virtual
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P. Prusinkiewicz and A. Lindenmayer. The algorithmic
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J. Bloomenthal. Skeletal Design of Natural Forms. PhD
thesis, University of Calgary, 1995.
J. C. Hart and B. Baker. Implicit modeling of tree
surfaces. In Implicit Surfaces, 1996.
P. Federl and P. Prusinkiewicz. Finite element model of
fracture formation on growing surfaces, ICCS 2004.
S. Lefebvre and F. Neyret. Synthesizing bark.
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F. Neyret. Modeling, animating, and rendering complex
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Xahlee, Special Curves http://www.xahlee.org/
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Stand Curves, http://www-groups.dcs.st-
and.ac.uk/~history/Curves/Curves.html
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