# Sketch2Arti: Sketch-based Articulation Modeling of CAD Objects

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25781 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.25781/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 22 of its 54 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Apr 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [DreamFusion: Text-to-3D using 2D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14988/) (2022)
- [Datasheets for Datasets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.09010/) (2018)
- [A Point Set Generation Network for 3D Object Reconstruction from a Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.00603/) (2016)
- [Objaverse-XL: A Universe of 10M+ 3D Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.05663/) (2023)
- [SAPIEN: A SimulAted Part-based Interactive ENvironment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.08515/) (2020)
- [CLAY: A Controllable Large-scale Generative Model for Creating High-quality 3D Assets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.13897/) (2024)
- [One-2-3-45++: Fast Single Image to 3D Objects with Consistent Multi-View Generation and 3D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.07885/) (2023)
- [Data Cards: Purposeful and Transparent Dataset Documentation for Responsible AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.01075/) (2022)
- [Flexible Isosurface Extraction for Gradient-Based Mesh Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.05371/) (2023)
- [Shape2Motion: Joint Analysis of Motion Parts and Attributes from 3D Shapes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.03911/) (2019)
- [PARIS: Part-level Reconstruction and Motion Analysis for Articulated Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07391/) (2023)
- [Articulate-Anything: Automatic Modeling of Articulated Objects via a Vision-Language Foundation Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.13882/) (2024)
- [SINGAPO: Single Image Controlled Generation of Articulated Parts in Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.16499/) (2024)
- [Self-supervised Neural Articulated Shape and Appearance Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.08525/) (2022)
- [REACTO: Reconstructing Articulated Objects from a Single Video](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.11151/) (2024)
- [DragAPart: Learning a Part-Level Motion Prior for Articulated Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.15382/) (2024)
- [P-Cloth: Interactive Complex Cloth Simulation on Multi-GPU Systems using Dynamic Matrix Assembly and Pipelined Implicit Integrators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.00409/) (2020)
- [FreeArt3D: Training-Free Articulated Object Generation using 3D Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.25765/) (2025)
- [GEOPARD: Geometric Pretraining for Articulation Prediction in 3D Shapes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.02747/) (2025)
- [LARM: A Large Articulated-Object Reconstruction Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.11563/) (2025)
- [Deep Sketch-Based 3D Modeling: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.03287/) (2026)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [AnchorGen: Anchored Optimization for Customizable Generative 3D Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.06135/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Articulation modeling aims to infer movable parts and their motion parameters for a 3D object, enabling interactive animation, simulation, and shape editing. In this paper, we present Sketch2Arti, the first sketch-based articulation modeling system for CAD objects. Our key observation is that designers naturally communicate articulation intent through lightweight sketches (e.g., arrows and strokes) that indicate how parts should move, yet translating such sketches into articulated 3D models remains largely manual. Sketch2Arti bridges this gap by enabling users to specify articulation through simple 2D sketches drawn from a chosen viewpoint. Given a CAD model and user sketches, our approach automatically discovers the corresponding movable parts and predicts their motion parameters, allowing iterative modeling of multiple articulations on complex objects with fine-grained control. Importantly, Sketch2Arti is trained in a category-agnostic manner without requiring object category information, leading to strong generalization to diverse objects beyond existing articulation datasets. Moreover, for shell models lacking interior structures, Sketch2Arti supports controllable internal completion guided by user sketches, generating plausible internal components consistent with the existing geometry and predicted motion constraints. Comprehensive experiments and user evaluations demonstrate the effectiveness, controllability, and generalization of Sketch2Arti. The code, dataset, and the prototype system are at https://arlo-yang.github.io/Sketch2Arti.