Visibility-Aware Framing for 3D Modelers

Abstract

Modelling and editing entire 3D scenes is a fairly complex task. The process generally comprises many individual operations such as selecting a target object, and iterating over changes in the view and changes of the object's properties such as location, shape, or material. To assist the stage of viewing the selected target, 3D modellers propose some automated framing techniques. Most have in common the ability to translate the camera so that the target is framed in the center of the viewport and has a given size on the screen. However, the visibility of the target is never taken into account, thereby leaving the task of selecting an unoccluded view to the user, a process that shows to be time-consuming in cluttered environments. In this paper, we propose to address this issue by first analyzing the requirements for an automated framing technique with a central focus on visibility. We then propose an automated framing technique that relies on particle swarm optimization, and implement it inside Unity 4 Editor. Early evaluations demonstrate the benefits of the technique over the corresponding standard Unity function, and trigger interesting perspectives in improving a simple yet mandatory feature of any 3D modelling tool.