LGM 2019 – Non-destructive procedural 2D-vector modelling
Channel: Libre Graphics Meeting
Date: 2019-07-17

Pascal Bies
Non-destructive procedural 2D-vector modelling

Traditional vector graphic applications such as inkscape and illustrator are great to create artistic vector art. However, it is very hard to enrich the document with semantic meaning. This becomes a problem if one wants to modify a complex document afterwards. E.g., imagine a fence with ten copies of a slat. If you like to modify each slat in the same way and slightly enlarge the spacing in between, you’d have to modify and translate each copy individually.

Procedural modelling solves this problem by encouraging the user to _model_ a document rather than just drawing it. Consequently, the user is rewarded with vital relationships, dependencies and constraints between objects. These inter-object-relations make it easy to modify even complex scenes with only few clicks. E.g., imagine a slat-template which was cloned nine times; you can change the template and each slat will update its appearance. The spacing and many more options can be adjusted with a single click, too.

In this talk, I will introduce the ideas of procedural modelling and propose a concept on how to implement them in an 2d-vector graphics application. Finally, I will talk about the use-cases, advantages and drawbacks of such an implementation compared to traditional vector graphics applications.

Pascal Bies – During high school I discovered my penchant for computer graphics. Since my artistic talent was very limited, I decided to study computer science to understand how to build computer graphics applications. After internships at a locksmith’s shop and a toolmaker, where I got in touch with CAD and CNC, I completed a B.Sc. at KIT under supervision of the founder of darktable with a thesis about color conversions. The focus during my M.Sc.-studies at UdS was on applied mathematics, machine learning and computer vision. Currently I work at K|Lens in Saarbrücken as a software engineer, mainly on topics like 3D-reconstruction, camera calibration, ray-tracing and back-end-design. I have professional coding experience from working at Max Planck Institute for Informatics (C++, Python, LaTeX, TikZ), Dialogika (Powershell, Java, C++), Fraunhofer IZFP (C++), Daimler R&D (C++, Python, TikZ) and Villeroy und Boch (AD, Powershell), and of course years of leisure-coding.

https://github.com/pasbi/ommpfritt

This presentation was recorded on Friday, 31st May 2019 as part of Libre Graphics Meeting 2019, at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar in Saarbruecken, Germany. To learn more, see https://libregraphicsmeeting.org/2019/.