A time-independent deformer for elastic contacts

Abstract

We present a purely geometric, time-independent deformer resolving local contacts between elastic objects, including self-collisions between adjacent parts of the same object that often occur in character skinning animation. Starting from multiple meshes in intersection, our deformer first computes the parts of the surfaces remaining in contact, and then applies a procedural displacement with volume preservation. Although our deformer processes each frame independently, it achieves temporally continuous deformations with artistic control of the bulge through few pseudo-stiffness parameters. The plausibility of the deformation is further enhanced by anisotropically spreading the volume-preserving bulge. The result is a robust, real-time deformer that can handle complex geometric configurations such as a ball squashed by a hand, colliding lips, bending fingers, etc.