This distinctly accessible introduction to wavelets provides computer graphics professionals and researchers with the mathematical foundations for understanding and applying this powerful tool. Wavelets are rapidly becoming a core technique in computer graphics, with applications for * Image editing and compression * Automatic level-of-detail control for editing and rendering curves and surfaces * Surface reconstruction from contours * Physical simulation for global illumination and animation Stressing intuition and clarity, this book offers a solid understanding of the theory of wavelets and their proven applications in computer graphics. Although previous introductions to wavelets have presented an elegant mathematical framework, that framework is too restrictive to apply to many problems in graphics. In contrast, this book focuses on a generalized theory that naturally accommodates the kinds of objects that commonly arise in computer graphics, including images, open curves, and surfaces of arbitrary topology. This book also contains a foreword by Ingrid Daubechies and an appendix covering the necessary background material in linear algebra.