Patent ID: 7443393

Claim:
A method for quadrilateral re-meshing of a three-dimensional (3D) input model using progressive implicit approximating levels, comprising: providing a quadrilateral mesh for the 3D input model; building an implicit approximating field for a first approximating level (L) of the 3D input model using an implicit surface modeling technique; extracting an iso-contour of the implicit approximating field; fitting the quadrilateral mesh to the first approximating level (L); estimating a fit between the quadrilateral mesh and the first approximating level (L); determining whether the fit meets a predetermined quality criterion; iteratively repeating the building, extracting, fitting, estimating, and determining for subsequent approximation levels until a predetermined stopping criterion is reached; and refining the initial quadrilateral mesh using at least one of a sequence of topological operations to achieve an improved fit after the determining step if the fit fails to meet the predetermined quality criterion; wherein the quadrilateral mesh is an initial quadrilateral mesh, and wherein the sequence of topological operations comprises snapping vertices, splitting edges, extruding faces, and bridging faces of the quadrilateral mesh.