Unconstrained isosurface extraction on arbitrary octrees

Abstract: This paper presents a novel algorithm for generating a watertight level-set from an octree. We show that the level-set can be efficiently extracted regardless of the topology of the octree or the values assigned to the vertices. The key idea behind our approach is the definition of a set of binary edge-trees derived from the octree's topology. We show that the edge-trees can be used define the positions of the isovalue-crossings in a consistent fashion and to resolve inconsistencies that may arise when a single edge has multiple isovalue-crossings. Using the edge-trees, we show that a provably watertight mesh can be extracted from the octree without necessitating the refinement of nodes or modification of their values.