Procedural modeling in theory and practice

Abstract

Procedural modeling is a technique to describe 3D objects by a constructive, generative description. In order to tap the full potential of this technique the content creator needs to be familiar with two worlds – procedural modeling techniques and computer graphics on the one hand as well as domain-specific expertise and specialized knowledge on the other hand. This article presents a JavaScript-based approach to combine both worlds. It describes a modeling tool for generative modeling whose target audience consists of beginners and intermediate learners of procedural modeling techniques. Our approach will be beneficial in various contexts. JavaScript is a wide-spread, easy-to-use language. With our tool procedural models can be translated from JavaScript to various generative modeling and rendering systems.