fctreorder

Fctreorder is a computational geometry algorithm used in 3D computer graphics and other fields to reorder the vertices of a triangle mesh to improve its performance. The algorithm was developed by Matthias Müller and Mark Lever-Jones in 1995.

The main goal of fctreorder is to reduce the number of primitives (triangles) that need to be processed by the graphics processing unit (GPU). By reordering the vertices of a mesh in an optimal way, the number of triangles can be reduced, which in turn reduces the computational overhead.

The algorithm works by calculating the spatial coherence of the triangles in the mesh, which is a measure of how closely a triangle's vertices are clustered in 3D space. The algorithm then uses this information to determine the optimal order in which to render the triangles. This can lead to significant improvements in performance, especially in applications where the mesh is static or slowly changing.

Fctreorder is particularly useful in applications where the mesh is not being updated in real-time, such as in video games, movies, and architectural visualization. It can also be used to improve the performance of meshes with large numbers of triangles. However, it is not suitable for applications where the mesh is being updated rapidly, as the overhead of reordering the vertices can become significant.

Fctreorder is widely used in the computer graphics industry and has been implemented in many different software packages. It is a simple and effective algorithm for improving the performance of triangle meshes, and is an important tool for anyone working with 3D graphics.