Conservative Meshlet Bounds for Robust Culling of Skinned Meshes

Information

• Publication Type: Journal Paper with Conference Talk
• Workgroup(s)/Project(s):
  • Smart Communities and Technologies: 3D Spatialization
• Date: October 2021
• Journal: Computer Graphics Forum
• Volume: 40
• Open Access: yes
• Number: 7
• Location: online
• Lecturer: Johannes Unterguggenberger
• ISSN: 1467-8659
• Event: Pacific Graphics 2021
• DOI: 10.1111/cgf.14401
• Call for Papers: Call for Paper
• Booktitle: Computer Graphics Forum
• Pages: 13
• Publisher: Eurographics Association
• Conference date: 18. October 2021 – 21. October 2021
• Pages: 57 – 69
• Keywords: real-time rendering, meshlet, mesh shader, task shader, view frustum culling, backface culling, Vulkan, vertex skinning, animation, conservative bounds, bounding boxes, Rodrigues' rotation formula, spatio-temporal bounds

Abstract

Following recent advances in GPU hardware development and newly introduced rendering pipeline extensions, the segmentation of input geometry into small geometry clusters-so-called meshlets-has emerged as an important practice for efficient rendering of complex 3D models. Meshlets can be processed efficiently using mesh shaders on modern graphics processing units, in order to achieve streamlined geometry processing in just two tightly coupled shader stages that allow for dynamic workload manipulation in-between. The additional granularity layer between entire models and individual triangles enables new opportunities for fine-grained visibility culling methods. However, in contrast to static models, view frustum and backface culling on a per-meshlet basis for skinned, animated models are difficult to achieve while respecting the conservative spatio-temporal bounds that are required for robust rendering results. In this paper, we describe a solution for computing and exploiting relevant conservative bounds for culling meshlets of models that are animated using linear blend skinning. By enabling visibility culling for animated meshlets, our approach can help to improve rendering performance and alleviate bottlenecks in the notoriously performanceand memory-intensive skeletal animation pipelines of modern real-time graphics applications.

Additional Files and Images

Weblinks

• Entry in reposiTUm (TU Wien Publication Database)
• Entry in the publication database of TU-Wien
• DOI: 10.1111/cgf.14401

BibTeX

@article{unterguggenberger-2021-msh,
  title =      "Conservative Meshlet Bounds for Robust Culling of Skinned
               Meshes",
  author =     "Johannes Unterguggenberger and Bernhard Kerbl and Jakob
               Pernsteiner and Michael Wimmer",
  year =       "2021",
  abstract =   "Following recent advances in GPU hardware development and
               newly introduced rendering pipeline extensions, the
               segmentation of input geometry into small geometry
               clusters-so-called meshlets-has emerged as an important
               practice for efficient rendering of complex 3D models.
               Meshlets can be processed efficiently using mesh shaders on
               modern graphics processing units, in order to achieve
               streamlined geometry processing in just two tightly coupled
               shader stages that allow for dynamic workload manipulation
               in-between. The additional granularity layer between entire
               models and individual triangles enables new opportunities
               for fine-grained visibility culling methods. However, in
               contrast to static models, view frustum and backface culling
               on a per-meshlet basis for skinned, animated models are
               difficult to achieve while respecting the conservative
               spatio-temporal bounds that are required for robust
               rendering results. In this paper, we describe a solution for
               computing and exploiting relevant conservative bounds for
               culling meshlets of models that are animated using linear
               blend skinning. By enabling visibility culling for animated
               meshlets, our approach can help to improve rendering
               performance and alleviate bottlenecks in the notoriously
               performanceand memory-intensive skeletal animation pipelines
               of modern real-time graphics applications.",
  month =      oct,
  journal =    "Computer Graphics Forum",
  volume =     "40",
  number =     "7",
  issn =       "1467-8659",
  doi =        "10.1111/cgf.14401",
  booktitle =  "Computer Graphics Forum",
  pages =      "13",
  publisher =  "Eurographics Association",
  pages =      "57--69",
  keywords =   "real-time rendering, meshlet, mesh shader, task shader, view
               frustum culling, backface culling, Vulkan, vertex skinning,
               animation, conservative bounds, bounding boxes, Rodrigues'
               rotation formula, spatio-temporal bounds",
  URL =        "https://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/research/publications/2021/unterguggenberger-2021-msh/",
}