COMPARISON OF SPHERICAL CUBE MAP PROJECTIONS USED IN PLANET-SIZED TERRAIN RENDERING

Abstract

A wide variety of projections from a planet surface to a two-dimensional map are known, and the correct choice of a particular projection for a given application area depends on many factors. In the computer graphics domain, in particular in the field of planet rendering systems, the importance of that choice has been neglected so far, and inadequate criteria have been used to select a projection. In this paper, we derive evaluation criteria, based on texture distortion, suitable for this application domain, and apply them to a comprehensive list of spherical cube map projections to demonstrate their properties.