Wavelets for Computer Graphics: Theory and Applications (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) [Hardcover]

Eric J. Stollnitz (Author), Anthony D. DeRose (Author), David H. Salesin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1558603751 | ISBN-13: 978-1558603752 | Publication Date: August 15, 1996 | Edition: 1

This distinctly accessible introduction to wavelets provides computer graphics professionals and researchers with the mathematical foundations for understanding and applying this powerful tool.

Wavelets are rapidly becoming a core technique in computer graphics, with applications for

* Image editing and compression
* Automatic level-of-detail control for editing and rendering curves and surfaces
* Surface reconstruction from contours
* Physical simulation for global illumination and animation

Stressing intuition and clarity, this book offers a solid understanding of the theory of wavelets and their proven applications in computer graphics.

Although previous introductions to wavelets have presented an elegant mathematical framework, that framework is too restrictive to apply to many problems in graphics. In contrast, this book focuses on a generalized theory that naturally accommodates the kinds of objects that commonly arise in computer graphics, including images, open curves, and surfaces of arbitrary topology.

This book also contains a foreword by Ingrid Daubechies and an appendix covering the necessary background material in linear algebra.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The term wavelet was coined in 1940 by a scientist observing the disturbances emanating from seismic events and explosive charges. Today, the term denotes the actual mathematical function that was originally used to model these disturbances, and many scientists working in signal processing, physics, and other areas use wavelets to represent and analyze large amounts of data. Wavelets for Computer Graphics: Theory and Applications is a well-written, thoroughly researched book that provides a solid introduction to wavelet theory and the burgeoning field of its applications in computer graphics. The authors target computer-graphics professionals and researchers, particularly those who know the rudiments of linear algebra and are relatively new to wavelet theory. The authors explain the algebraic formulae for, and methodology behind, using wavelets to enhance and edit images. They discuss different types of wavelets-- such as Haar wavelets and biorthogonal wavelets for surfaces--and explain how to apply wavelets to image compression, editing, and querying; curves and tiling; surface-area editing and compression; and the physical simulation methods of variational modeling and global illumination. Each section of the book combines theory, mathematics, and real-world examples showing how to apply wavelets to specific graphics. Appendices review the basics of linear algebra and B-spline wavelet matrices.

From the Back Cover

This distinctly accessible introduction to wavelets provides computer graphics professionals and researchers with the mathematical foundations for understanding and applying this powerful tool.

Wavelets are rapidly becoming a core technique in computer graphics, with applications for

• Image editing and compression


• Automatic level-of-detail control for editing and rendering curves and surfaces


• Surface reconstruction from contours


• Physical simulation for global illumination and animation

Stressing intuition and clarity, this book offers a solid understanding of the theory of wavelets and their proven applications in computer graphics.

Although previous introductions to wavelets have presented an elegant mathematical framework, that framework is too restrictive to apply to many problems in graphics. In contrast, this book focuses on a generalized theory that naturally accommodates the kinds of objects that commonly arise in computer graphics, including images, open curves, and surfaces of arbitrary topology.

This book also contains a foreword by Ingrid Daubechies and an appendix covering the necessary background material in linear algebra.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 245 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1 edition (August 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558603751
• ISBN-13: 978-1558603752
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,909,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Overview of Wavelets for Computer Graphics, December 15, 2001

By 

Ian Kaplan (Livermore, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wavelets for Computer Graphics: Theory and Applications (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Hardcover)

I noticed that Tony DeRose, one of the authors of this book,
was a project lead in Pixar's wonderful film "Monsters".
Computer graphics, especially at the cutting edge practiced
by Pixar is deeply mathematical. This is certainly reflected
in this book.

This book covers a number of areas that are not covered outside
of journal articles. For example, there are chapters on
interpolating wavelets (e.g., wavelets built via splines or
polynomials). The coverage of interpolation and splines to
construct wavelet is good, but the authors quickly gloss over
the other critical half of the problem: how to construct a
scaling function for a given interpolating wavelet. I have
read over this material several times and I have not found the
answer. I have come to doubt that the answer is there, at
least in a complete form.

This characterizes much of the book. The authors cover
important material, but if you are not already deeply
familiar wavelet mathematics, it may be difficult or
impossible to implement an algorith from the coverage
provided in this book. Many practical issues are missing.
For example, many wavelets calculated on a finite data set
like an image can have edge effects. There is little
in this book on minimizing edge effects.

If you are already familiar with wavelet algorithms and their
implementation, this book may be a great reference for wavelet
applications in computer graphics. But it is by no means
an introduction for the novice.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro, November 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wavelets for Computer Graphics: Theory and Applications (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Hardcover)

This is a fine introduction to wavelets for computer scientists, with many fun applications in computer graphics. Easier than other introductions I've seen, in part because it avoids the frequency domain. I'm using it in a graduate course, but it would be easy to use by yourself or in a special seminar for undergraduates in CS or math.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sample chapter is misleading, September 21, 2006

By 

orangekay (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wavelets for Computer Graphics: Theory and Applications (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Hardcover)

I'll start out by saying that I am a complete idiot who does not know the first thing about calculus, but I do have 10 years worth of software engineering experience and have no trouble following complicated data processing concepts when they are explained in terms of procedures rather than terse, obfuscated, squiggly equations. The introduction in this book looked promising in that it seemed to be taking a step-by-step "this is how you need to juggle the pixel values around" approach to the concept of wavelet transforms, but as luck would have it, the very next page AFTER the freely available sample is chock full of everything I can't read and didn't want. Of course, my own ignorance is neither the book nor the author's fault, but a better description and/or lengthier excerpt from the publisher could have saved me a lot of trouble ordering and returning this item since it's not something a lot of brick and mortar stores carry on their shelves. The price tag is also more than a little steep for its size, but I suppose the book's target audience is college kids who are used to throwing away hundreds of dollars on whatever their professors tell them to.

I've no doubt that mathematicians will find humor in (and possibly be enraged by) my folly, but maybe this will save a fellow stupid code monkey a little time and money.