Patent ID: 7948489

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for tessellating a surface, the method comprising: performing by a computer: initiating a recursive subdivision of the surface into a plurality of sub-surfaces, wherein each sub-surface comprises a respective plurality of edges; determining that each edge of the plurality of edges is either an inside edge or an outside edge relative to a plurality of boundaries of the surface, wherein each sub-surface of a first portion of the plurality of sub-surfaces comprises at least one of the outside edges, and wherein each sub-surface of a second portion of the plurality of sub-surfaces comprises a plurality of the inside edges and no outside edges; terminating the recursive subdivision for each sub-surface of the first portion of the plurality of sub-surfaces when a first flatness tolerance is met for each outside edge of the sub-surface; and terminating the recursive subdivision for each sub-surface of the second portion of the plurality of sub-surfaces when a second flatness tolerance is met for each inside edge of the sub-surface, wherein the first flatness tolerance is smaller than the second flatness tolerance.