Elastically deformable models
Demetri TerzopoulosJohn PlattAlan BarrKurt Fleischer
Simulating realistic cloth and deformable materials is a fundamental challenge in computer graphics, digital animation, and interactive software design. The article compiles a foundational reference list tracing key milestones in computational cloth modeling, spanning from 1987 through 2010. Its objective is to document the progression of research addressing how digital fabric moves, drapes, collides, and responds to real-world physical forces.
The article outlines this technical evolution by curating landmark literature across several decades. The documented approaches range from early physical formulations of elastic models and particle-based systems to advanced numerical techniques that allow large time steps, robust collision and friction handling, interactive clothing manipulation, parameter estimation from real-world video, and modern reduced-space models for real-time performance.
Together, these citations reflect the critical trajectory of digital cloth simulation: moving from basic physical realism to numerical stability, user interactivity, and ultimately real-time execution. While the article functions strictly as a bibliographic record rather than an analytical study, it serves as a roadmap for technical teams seeking standard methods in deformable surface animation. Organizations seeking to implement cloth physics should consult the primary sources listed to evaluate specific algorithms against their own performance and fidelity requirements.
- Paper: Animating rotation with quaternion curves, Ken Shoemake (1985). Reading this foundational quaternion animation paper first provides the critical mathematical prerequisites for representing spatial orientations and rotations in deformable computer graphics models.
- Paper: Free-form deformation of solid geometric models, T. Sederberg et al. (1986). Reviewing this early free-form deformation technique builds essential background on how flexible geometric lattices and trivariate polynomials shape solid models prior to physical simulation.
- Paper: OBBTree: a hierarchical structure for rapid interference detection, Stefan Gottschalk et al. (1996). This paper extends the foundational principles of deformable models by introducing rapid hierarchical collision detection algorithms necessary for complex physical interactions.
- Paper: Surface simplification using quadric error metrics, Michael Garland et al. (1997). Building directly upon basic elasticity frameworks, this study demonstrates how quadric error metrics efficiently simplify complex deformable surfaces.