AHEAD: Adaptive Hierarchical Edge Detection for Real-Time Artistic Stylization

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This preprint studies non-photorealistic rendering in gaming by proposing a unified, real-time post-processing shader architecture for adaptive hierarchical edge detection, using adaptive sensitivity and a three-layer hierarchy. It reports that a Max-pooling fusion approach preserves edge integrity and helps recover details in low-light areas while reducing manual tuning efforts, with minimal performance overhead across multiple game engines. The paper is a research preprint (not peer reviewed) and provides limited detail in the excerpt about study design specifics beyond reported experimental outcomes. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Abstract There has been a notable increase in the usage of Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR) ingames, like the Borderland series and The Walking Dead, which depicts a stylized, artistic expression instead of hyperrealism. Consequently, modern game development has seen an increaseddemand for the creation of ‘ink style’ or ‘comic-book look’ assets characterized specifically by theirbold and clear silhouettes, and shading effect on the surface texture. This has primarily beenachieved by basic edge detection algorithms which result in a noisy image, discontinuous edgesand loss of structural detail. Therefore, the assets are individually edited to get the desired results,leading to increased development time. This paper proposes a unified, real-time post-processingshader architecture that makes use of adaptive sensitivity and a three-layer hierarchy in orderto overcome these constraints. The suggested framework uses a Max-pooling fusion technique tointegrate the scene after breaking it down into separate Silhouette, Structure and Texture layers.This method preserves edge integrity better than conventional linear averaging of the single-passfilters, while also recovering details in low-light areas. The resulting visualization offers the possibility of shorter asset development times by accurately reproducing a hand-drawn artistic style.The full source code and shader files are available online.
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Adaptive Hierarchical Edge Detection: Enhancing Real-Time Artistic Stylization in Computer Graphics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Adaptive Hierarchical Edge Detection: Enhancing Real-Time Artistic Stylization in Computer Graphics Lino Roshaan M.K. This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8849147/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR) has gained prominence in gaming, offering stylized, artistic expressions over hyperrealism. This paper introduces a unified, real-time post-processing shader architecture that leverages adaptive sensitivity and a three-layer hierarchy to overcome limitations in traditional edge detection algorithms. By employing a Max-pooling fusion technique, our method preserves edge integrity and recovers details in low-light areas, facilitating shorter asset development times. Experimental results demonstrate a significant reduction in manual tuning efforts, achieving high-fidelity artistic stylization with minimal performance overhead across diverse game engines. The complete source code and usage guidelines necessary to reproduce these results are publicly accessible at https://github.com/Chronos-Asteri/AHEAD-AdaptiveEdgeDetection (DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18765546 ). Non-Photorealistic Rendering Edge Detection Real-time Shaders Max-pooling Fusion Game Development Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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