Volume-based three-dimensional metamorphosis using sphere-guided region correspondence

The metamorphosis of one image into another has frequently been used to cre ate impressive visual effects. Three-dimensional surface metamorphosis exte nds this paradigm sur by interpolating between discrete volume representati ons of the surfaces. The insensitivity of the established techniques to the surface topology enables morphing between completely different surfaces: h owever it can also lead to intermediate surfaces which have different topol ogy from the originals. We present a method which improves on this situatio n by ensuring that no part of each surface remains disconnected during the morph. The morph is guided by region correspondence, derived automatically from a sphere representation of each surface: this can be combined with man ual correspondence to retain user control over the morph. What emerges is a fast and flexible method for morphing surfaces, as demonstrated on several examples.