Patent ID: 8031957

Claim:
A method comprising: performing, by a computer: obtaining a digital representation of an object, the digital representation comprising a data structure, wherein the data structure comprises definitions for a plurality of faces of the object, wherein each face is defined in terms of a three-dimensional surface for the face and a plurality of edges of the face that form a closed boundary of the face on the respective surface, wherein each edge of the face is defined in terms of two vertices at respective ends of the edge and a definition of a curve on the respective surface; analyzing each of two or more of the plurality of faces to determine if the face forms a geometric shape that at least approximately matches one of one or more specified geometric shapes; for each of at least one of the two or more faces that forms a geometric shape that at least approximately matches one of the one or more specified geometric shapes, generating a compressed definition of the face that represents the face in terms of a compressed representation of the at least approximately matching geometric shape; for each of one or more others of the two or more faces that forms a geometric shape that does not at least approximately match one of the one or more specified geometric shapes, generating a compressed definition of the face that represents each edge of the face as a curve that at least approximately matches the edge as defined in the data structure; and wherein at least one of the curves is a non-straight-line curve; for each of the two or more faces, replacing the definition of the face in the data structure with the generated compressed definition of the respective face.