Procedural modeling is an umbrella term for a number of techniques in
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
to create
3D models and
textures from sets of rules.
L-System
An L-system or Lindenmayer system is a parallel rewriting system and a type of formal grammar. An L-system consists of an alphabet of symbols that can be used to make strings, a collection of production rules that expand each symbol into some ...
s,
fractal
In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illu ...
s, and
generative modeling are procedural modeling techniques since they apply
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specificat ...
s for producing scenes.
The set of rules may either be embedded into the algorithm, configurable by parameters, or the set of rules is separate from the evaluation engine. The output is called procedural content, which can be used in
computer games
A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...
, films, be uploaded to the internet, or the user may edit the content manually. Procedural models often exhibit database amplification, meaning that large scenes can be generated from a much smaller number of rules. If the employed algorithm produces the same output every time, the output need not be stored. Often, it suffices to start the algorithm with the same random seed to achieve this.
Although all modeling techniques on a computer require algorithms to manage and
store data at some point, procedural modeling focuses on creating a model from a rule set, rather than editing the model via user input. Procedural modeling is often applied when it would be too cumbersome to create a
3D model
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, an ...
using generic
3D modeler
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, an ...
s, or when more specialized tools are required. This is often the case for plants, architecture or landscapes.
Procedural modeling suites
This is a list of Wikipedia articles about specific procedural modeling software products.
See also
*
Parametric models in statistics
*
Parametric design
Parametric design is a design method where features (such as building elements and engineering components) are shaped according to algorithmic processes, in contrast to being designed directly. In this method, parameters and rules determine the r ...
in Computer-Aided Design
*
Procedural generation
In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated assets and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In ...
in video games
References
{{Reflist
External links
"Texturing and Modeling: A Procedural Approach" Ebert, D., Musgrave, K., Peachey, P., Perlin, K., and Worley, S
Procedural Inc.CityEngine*
"Procedural Modeling of Cities" Yoav I H Parish, Pascal Müller
*
"Procedural Modeling of Buildings" Pascal Müller, Peter Wonka, Simon Haegler, Andreas Ulmer and Luc Van Gool
"King Kong – The Building of 1933 New York City" Chris White, Weta Digital. Siggraph 2006.
* Tree Editors Compared:
Usage of the "program" entity type for algorithmic modelling with
JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...
3D computer graphics
Procedural generation