Attributed Collage Grammars: A Rule-Based Modeling Framework

Abstract

The strength of procedural modeling methods in general and grammar-based modeling in particular lies in their ability to generate visually complex objects and scenes from a comparatively small and simple description. This paper presents attributed collage grammars, a general and versatile modeling method for the generation of scenes. Tree grammars are employed to generate a syntactical description of objects in the form of trees, which are then assigned an actual geometric meaning by an algebra. Complex scenes and objects with a level of detail that would be tedious or impossible to reproduce manually can be constructed from a number of user-defined components which are replicated or transformed by manipulating their attributes through the iterative application of rules.