Computer Graphics Assignments

CS 425 Computer Graphics · Assignment 2

Triangle meshes and transformations

A 3D terrain mesh reconstructed from grayscale elevation maps, rendered and explored in WebGL.

Each pixel of the digital elevation model becomes a vertex. On top of the mesh I implemented the model-view transformations for rotating, zooming and panning, height scaling, switching between projections, and a wireframe mode.

What I implemented

DEM-to-mesh conversion with one vertex per pixel and triangle connectivity
Perspective and orthographic projections
Interactive rotation, zoom and panning
Height scaling and a wireframe toggle

Results

Grayscale elevation map of Mount Rainier. — Input: an elevation map of Mount Rainier.

The terrain mesh rendered in WebGL. — The reconstructed terrain.

The terrain rendered as a wireframe. — Wireframe mode.

Close-up of the wireframe terrain showing individual triangles. — Close-up of the triangle connectivity.

Live demo

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Choose a dataset from the dropdown inside the demo, or None to reset.