The Beta Mesh: a New Approach for Temporally Coherent Particle Skinning

We present a novel surface reconstruction approach for generating surfaces from animated particle data, targeting temporally coherent surface reconstruction that can also approximate smooth surfaces and capture fine details. Our beta mesh algorithm uses the union of balls as a building block to reach temporal coherence. First we construct mesh vertices from sphere intersection points, and declare faces on the spheres surface guided by connectivity intelligence derived from the alpha mesh. Then we smooth the beta vertices positions to reflect smooth surfaces, and subdivide the mesh using weighted centroids. We also highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the related alpha mesh for animation purposes, and discuss ways of leveraging its qualities. Open issues are discussed to outline what is still lacking in order to make our algorithm a ready-to-use surfacing technique. Nevertheless, we advocate using the beta mesh approach in future surface reconstruction research to benefit from its unique properties.