Two-Part Texture Mappings

Most published techniques for mapping two-dimensional texture patterns onto three-dimensional curved surfaces assume that either the texture pattern has been predistorted to compensate for the distortion of the mapping or the curved surfaces are represented parametrically. We address the problem of mapping undistorted planar textures onto arbitrarily represented surfaces. Our mapping technique is done in two parts. First the texture pattern is embedded in 3-space on an intermediate surface. Then the pattern is projected onto the target surface in a way that depends only on the geometry of the target object (not on its parameterization). Both steps have relatively low distortion, so the original texture need not be predistorted. We also discuss interactive techniques that make two-part mapping practical.