Abstract: A method is provided to progressively load and further process data in a hierarchical lock-free structure. The method includes generally four steps: (a) defining the hierarchical lock-free structure, (b) loading the data into the hierarchical lock-free structure; (c) processing the loaded data, and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) such that progressively more data are loaded and become available for processing. The hierarchical lock-free structure includes a first level of data including data segments, wherein each of the data segments forms a second level of data. The structure is such that each of the data segments in the second level of data becomes available for further processing when the data segment is referenced in the first level of data. Thus, during the loading step (b), a reference is set in the first level of data to each of the data segments in the second level of data as the data segment is loaded.

Abstract: Various methods are provided for organizing multiple geometric parts forming an object in 3D voxel data and/or for permitting a user to detach and/or reattach these parts. In one embodiment, the 3D voxel data are organized in two steps. First, a part voxel set is created for each geometric part. Second, a master XZ table is created, which defines geometric locations within multiple part voxel sets based on references. A method allows a user to detach and/or reattach parts in five steps: (a) receiving a user request to detach a first geometric part; (b) retrieving a first part voxel set defining the first geometric part; (c) rendering the first geometric part; (d) updating the master XZ table by replacing references to the first part voxel set with new references; and (e) rendering the rest of the object based on the updated master XZ table.