3D paper-cut modeling and animation

Paper-cut is one of the most characteristic Chinese folk arts, often used during festivals and celebrations. Chinese artists have used paper-cut to make animations. Typical paper-cut artwork is made with 2D illustrations on paper, and making many frames necessary for an entire animation can be tedious and expensive. We present a system that allows a designer to directly annotate a 3D model with paper-cut patterns, while still allowing for adding an artistic touch to the design. We have designed special motifs coupled with templates, resulting in a parameterized set of decorative paper-cut patterns which give the artist flexible control and allow editing of the pattern size, orientation, and shape. The artist chooses a pattern, and places the pattern on the model in the desired position. The system determine