Compression of 3D Objects with Multistage Color-Depth Panoramic Maps

We propose a new representation method, the multistage color-depth panoramic map (or panomap), for compressing 3D graphic objects. The idea of the proposed method is to transform a 3D graphic object, including both the shape and color information, into a single image. With a pseudo cylinder (or sphere), the color/depth information of a 3D graphic object can be recorded completely via a main panomap combined with a set of residual panomaps. Then, an index sequence is constructed to index non-redundant blocks in the residual panomaps. A rectangular image, the compact multistage panomap (CMP), is formed based on the panomaps and index sequence. Existing image compression techniques can be applied for compressing the CMP structure, which can achieve a highly efficient representation due to its regularity.