GPU-generated "parameterized" trees

Incorporating different-looking trees in a single graphics application involves either loading numerous polygonal/point models, or generating them algorithmically. In any case, this increases the demand of rendering resources both in terms of computing power and memory to hold all models simultaneously. This paper presents a novel method that produces different-looking trees from a common domain starting from the same polygonal model. Since the shape of the canopy decides the appearance of large trees, we focus on generating canopies automatically from the same polygonal model and some parameters. Thus the generated canopies can be thought of as functions of a parameterized domain. A branch structure created separately then completes the tree model. Using this method, a program can maintain a single copy of the polygonal model, and create different tree models from it by merely changing these parameters. Our method can be efficiently implemented on a GPU, thereby allowing us to store only a few models directly in GPU memory and creating different-looking tree models from them at runtime.