“3D modeling of trees from freehand sketches” by Okabe and Igarashi

We will present a user interface for quickly and easily modeling three-dimensional (3D) botanical trees from freehand sketches. The system generates 3D geometry from a two-dimensional (2D) sketch based on the assumption that trees spread their branches uniformly. Several editing operations are implemented, such as adding, cutting, and erasing branches. Our system also predicts, and generates, branches automatically. The user can continue editing a 3D tree by selecting the predicted branches. The interface of our system allows novices to design reasonably natural-looking trees quickly and interactively as compared with the interfaces of rule-based systems designed for expert users (e.g., L-systems).

1. IGARASHI, T., MATSUOKA, S., KAWACHIYA S., AND TANAKA, H. 1997. Interactive Beautification: A Technique for Rapid Geometric Design. In Proceedings of UIST ’97, 105–114.
2. WEBER, J. AND PENN, J. 1995. Creation and Rendering of Realistic Trees. In Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 95, 119–128.