Abstract: Automatic generation of digital bas-relief which is based on topological and geometric information is a new field. According to characteristics of relief artistic, an algorithm of relief generation from a 3D model is proposed. The problem can be considered as depth compression of 3D model depended on geometry information in a projection direction. The elevated height of generated bas-relief can be controlled by users. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm maintains the consistency of the topology. Meanwhile, original feature of the object is largely preserved. The algorithm can generate vivid relief art from the various existing 3D object, which would broaden application prospects.

Key words: bas-relief, z-buffer, surface curvature, feature