Autocomplete Element Fields.

Abstract

Aggregate elements are ubiquitous in natural and man-made objects. Interactively authoring these elements with varying anisotropy and deformability can require high artistic skills and manual labor. To reduce input workload and enhance output quality, we present an autocomplete system that can help users distribute and align such elements over different domains. Through a brushing interface, users can place and mix a few elements, and let our system automatically populate more elements for the remaining output. Furthermore, aggregate elements often require proper direction/scalar fields for proper arrangements, but fully specifying such fields across entire domains can be difficult or inconvenient for ordinary users. To address this usability challenge, we formulate element fields that can smoothly orient all the elements based on partial user specifications without requiring full input fields in any step. We validate our prototype system with a pilot user study and show applications in design, collage, and modeling.