Efficient visualization of a large voxelized volume
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                Alejandro Piad
            
        on Game Development
        
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        Published on 2012-07-10T13:57:10Z
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            2012/07/10
            15:26 UTC
        
        
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Lets consider a large voxelized volume stored in an oct-tree or any other convenient structure. This volume represents, for instance, a landscape, where each block is either empty (air), or it has an specific material that will be later used to apply a texture. Voxels that are next to each other represent connected sections of the surface.
What I need is an algorithm to generate a mesh from this voxels that represents the volume, with the following caracteristics:
- All the "holes" in the voxelized volume are correct.
 - All the connections are correct, i.e. seamless.
 - The surface appears smooth.
 
In a broad sense, I want to somehow preserve the surface topology, meaning that connected sections remain connected in the resulting mesh and that the surface has a curvature that responds to the voxels topology. Imagine trying to render the Minecraft world but getting the mountain ladders to be smooth instead of blocky.
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