A Sketching Tool for Illustrative Structural Geology

We describe a sketch-based system for constructing an illustrative visualization of the subsurface. An intuitive and rapid modelling tool is defined, which takes as input user’s strokes and creates a 3D layer-cake model of the earth. Our tool enables users to quickly express and communicate their ideas directly using a 3D model. For sketching, we have created geometric operators that capture the domain specific modelling requirements. We have devised sketching operators for expressing folding and faulting processes. This makes it possible to produce a large span of scenarios. Moreover, for communicating layer properties such as rock type and grain size, our system allows for associating user defined texture to each layer which can be deformed with a few sketch strokes.