# DualSDF: Semantic Shape Manipulation using a Two-Level Representation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.02869 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.02869/

## Key facts

- Cited by 82 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 6 Apr 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 82)

- [Neural Fields in Visual Computing and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.11426/) (2021)
- [Deep Marching Tetrahedra: a Hybrid Representation for High-Resolution 3D Shape Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.04276/) (2021)
- [Neural Geometric Level of Detail: Real-time Rendering with Implicit 3D Shapes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10994/) (2021)
- [Modulated Periodic Activations for Generalizable Local Functional Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.03960/) (2021)
- [Neural Wavelet-domain Diffusion for 3D Shape Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.08725/) (2022)
- [Neural Parts: Learning Expressive 3D Shape Abstractions with Invertible Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.10429/) (2021)
- [MeshUDF: Fast and Differentiable Meshing of Unsigned Distance Field Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.14549/) (2021)
- [Towards Implicit Text-Guided 3D Shape Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.14622/) (2022)
- [3D-LDM: Neural Implicit 3D Shape Generation with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.00842/) (2022)
- [SALAD: Part-Level Latent Diffusion for 3D Shape Generation and Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.12236/) (2023)
- [Compressive Neural Representations of Volumetric Scalar Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.04523/) (2021)
- [Geometry-Consistent Neural Shape Representation with Implicit Displacement Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.05187/) (2021)
- [SAPE: Spatially-Adaptive Progressive Encoding for Neural Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.09125/) (2021)
- [KeypointDeformer: Unsupervised 3D Keypoint Discovery for Shape Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.11224/) (2021)
- [CSG-Stump: A Learning Friendly CSG-Like Representation for Interpretable Shape Parsing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.11305/) (2021)
- [Learning Deep Implicit Functions for 3D Shapes with Dynamic Code Clouds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.14048/) (2022)
- [Topology-Preserving Shape Reconstruction and Registration via Neural Diffeomorphic Flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.08652/) (2022)
- [ExtrudeNet: Unsupervised Inverse Sketch-and-Extrude for Shape Parsing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.15632/) (2022)
- [PartNeRF: Generating Part-Aware Editable 3D Shapes without 3D Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.09554/) (2023)
- [Neural Template: Topology-aware Reconstruction and Disentangled Generation of 3D Meshes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.04942/) (2022)
- [DiffFacto: Controllable Part-Based 3D Point Cloud Generation with Cross Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.01921/) (2023)
- [SPAGHETTI: Editing Implicit Shapes Through Part Aware Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.13168/) (2022)
- [Cross-Modal 3D Shape Generation and Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.11795/) (2022)
- [Neural Shape Deformation Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.05616/) (2022)
- [Neural Wavelet-domain Diffusion for 3D Shape Generation, Inversion, and Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.00190/) (2023)
- [SurfGen: Adversarial 3D Shape Synthesis with Explicit Surface Discriminators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.00112/) (2022)
- [AI-Generated Content (AIGC) for Various Data Modalities: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.14177/) (2023)
- [Generative Category-Level Shape and Pose Estimation with Semantic Primitives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.01112/) (2022)
- [Marching-Primitives: Shape Abstraction from Signed Distance Function](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13190/) (2023)
- [NeuForm: Adaptive Overfitting for Neural Shape Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.08890/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We are seeing a Cambrian explosion of 3D shape representations for use in machine learning. Some representations seek high expressive power in capturing high-resolution detail. Other approaches seek to represent shapes as compositions of simple parts, which are intuitive for people to understand and easy to edit and manipulate. However, it is difficult to achieve both fidelity and interpretability in the same representation. We propose DualSDF, a representation expressing shapes at two levels of granularity, one capturing fine details and the other representing an abstracted proxy shape using simple and semantically consistent shape primitives. To achieve a tight coupling between the two representations, we use a variational objective over a shared latent space. Our two-level model gives rise to a new shape manipulation technique in which a user can interactively manipulate the coarse proxy shape and see the changes instantly mirrored in the high-resolution shape. Moreover, our model actively augments and guides the manipulation towards producing semantically meaningful shapes, making complex manipulations possible with minimal user input.