Features from a Single Vector Pressure Stroke

Freehand sketching in a real-time 3D styling system presents a different way to create a 3D model from the traditional CAD system. Strokes are the most common and useful objects in the expression of a stylist’s intention by using the gesture commands and in the construction of geometries. Not only are they sketched freely as drawing on a paper with a pen, but also they can be converted automatically into spline curves and then can be used to form a surface. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the features of stroke, the extraction and identification of these features, and the applications. Here, the features from a single vector pressure stroke have been discussed in detail according to their applications in an automotive freehand styling system in the early stage of conceptual design. The features have been divided into three parts: the input features, the calculable feature, and the added features. Over a hundred features have been defined and classified with the geometry or performance attributes. The features proposed have been applied in the identification of gesture commands, the expression of art vector stroke by pseudoantialiasing method, and a novel method to generate a spatial curve directly by the pressure of stroke in AutoSketch system.