SEGONDS, DAVID¹, CHAKIB BENNIS¹, and JEAN-LAURENT MALLET^2
1Institut Francais du Petrole, Rueil Malmaison, France
²Ecole Nationale Superieure de Geologie, Nancy, France

Abstract: A New Way To Interactively Modify Complex Interfaces Modeled Using Triangulated Meshes

3-D structural modeling requires to build a consistent model with the integration of many different data types (picked horizons, well data, etc.). It also usually involves interactively manipulating and modifying horizon or fault surfaces.

Two kinds of surface representations are often used in the oil industry: triangulated and parametric patches. Triangulated surfaces are suitable for modeling complex geometries but cannot easily be modified interactively whereas parametric patches cannot be used in very complex cases but are easier to manipulate.

We present a new method that conciliates these two representations and enables easier interactive manipulations of triangulated surfaces through the use of parametric patches.

The user has to select an area of interest on the triangulated surface that he wants to interactively modify. This triangulated area is linked to a parametric patch which in turn is mapped onto the selected area.

Then, the user can intuitively manipulate the parametric patch through 3D handles. Every time he modifies the patch, the initially selected area is updated automatically to take into account the modifications.

This original interactive manipulation method considerably eases the interpretation of complex structural models.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90928©1999 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas