The Design of Distance Fields

Alyn Rockwood
Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs

        Distance Fields offer an alternative representation of shape to
traditional polygon and parametric methods.  They are emerging as a
fundamental form in computer graphics because of their ability to handle
complexity and easily support operations such as Booleans, offsetting,
collision detection etc.  We will consider some fundamental
classifications and properties of distance field that are beneficial for
developing computer graphics applications.  Examples are given to
illustrate their diversity as well as how they combine to create some
visually engaging results.