Circle Drawing Algorithms

Circle generating algorithms

Direct
Polar coordinate based
Bresenhams Algorithm
Mid point - Pitteway

Direct circle algorithm

Cartesian coordinates
Circle equation:
( x - xc )2 + ( y - yc )2 = r2

Step along x axis from xc - r to xc + r and calculate

y = yc r2 - ( x - xc )2

y0 202 02 20

y1 202 12 20
y2 202 22 20

y19 202 192 6

y20 202 202 0

 Firstly, the resulting circle has large gaps

where the slope approaches the vertical
Secondly, the calculations are not very
efficient
The square (multiply) operations
The square root operation try really hard to
avoid these!

We need a more efficient, more accurate

solution

Polar coordinates
Polar coordinate equation
x = xc + r cos
y = yc + r sin

step through values of from 0 to 2

Optimisation and speed-up

Symmetry of a
circle can be used

(-x,y)

(x,y)

Calculations of
(-y,x)
point coordinates
only for a first
(-y,-x)
one-eighth of a
circle

(y,x)
(y,-x)
(-x,-y)

(x,-y)

Eight-Way Symmetry
The first thing we can notice to make our
circle drawing algorithm more efficient is that
circles centred at (0, 0) have eight-way
(-x, y)
(x, y)
symmetry
(-y, x)

(y, x)
R
2

(-y, -x)
(-x, -y)

(x, -y)

(y, -x)

Bresenhams circle algorithm

1. Input radius r
2. Plot a point at (0, r)
3. Calculate the initial value of the decision
parameter as p0 = 5/4 r 1 r

4. At each position xk, starting at k = 0, perform the

following test:
if pk < 0
plot point at (xk +1, yk)
compute new pk+1 = pk + 2xk+1 + 1
else
plot point at (xk + 1, yk 1)
compute new pk+1 = pk + 2xk+1 + 1 2yk+1
where xk+1 = xk + 1 and yk+1 = yk - 1

5. Determine symmetry points in the other

seven octants and plot points
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until x y

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm

Similarly to the case with lines,
there is an incremental
algorithm for drawing circles
the mid-point circle algorithm
In the mid-point circle algorithm
we use eight-way symmetry so
only ever calculate the points for
the top right eighth of a circle,
and then use symmetry to get
the rest of the points

The mid-point circl e

algorithm was
d ev e l o p e d b y J a c k
Bresenham, who we
heard ab out earl ier.
Bresenhams patent for
the algorithm can be
viewed h ere.

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm (cont)

(xk, yk) (xk+1, yk)
Assume that we have
just plotted point (xk, yk)
The next point is a
(xk+1, yk-1)
choice between (xk+1, yk)
and (xk+1, yk-1)
We would like to choose
the point that is nearest to
the actual circle
So how do we make this choice?

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm (cont)

Lets re-jig the equation of the circle slightly to
give us:

fcirc ( x, y) x2 y 2 r 2

The equation evaluates as follows:

0, if ( x, y) is inside the circle boundary

f circ ( x, y) 0, if ( x, y) is on thecircle boundary

0, if ( x, y) is outside the circle boundary

By evaluating
this function at the midpoint
between the candidate pixels we can make our
decision

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm (cont)

Assuming we have just plotted the pixel at
(xk,yk) so we need to choose between
(xk+1,yk) and (xk+1,yk-1)
Our decision variable can be defined as:
pk f circ ( xk 1, yk 12)
( xk 1) 2 ( yk 12) 2 r 2

If pk < 0 the midpoint is inside the circle and

and the pixel at yk is closer to the circle
Otherwise the midpoint is outside and yk-1 is
closer

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm (cont)

To ensure things are as efficient as possible we
can do all of our calculations incrementally
First consider:

or:

pk 1 f circ xk 1 1, yk 1 12

2
1
[(xk 1) 1] yk 1 2 r
2

where yk+1 is either yk or yk-1 depending on the

sign of pk
pk 1 pk 2( xk 1) ( yk21 yk2 ) ( yk 1 yk ) 1

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm (cont)

The first decision variable is given as:
p0 f circ (1, r 1 2)

1 ( r 1 2) 2 r 2
54 r

Then if pk < 0 then the next decision variable

is given as:
pk 1 pk 2xk 1 1

If pk > 0 then the decision variable is:

pk 1 pk 2xk 1 1 2 yk 1

The Mid-Point Circle Algorithm

MID-POINT CIRCLE ALGORITHM

Input radius r and circle centre (xc, yc), then set the
coordinates for the first point on the circumference of a
circle centred on the origin as:

( x0 , y0 ) (0, r )

Calculate the initial value of the decision parameter as:

p0 5 4 r

Starting with k = 0 at each position xk, perform the

following test. If pk < 0, the next point along the circle
centred on (0, 0) is (xk+1, yk) and:

pk 1 pk 2xk 1 1

The Mid-Point Circle Algorithm (cont)

Otherwise the next point along the circle is (xk+1, yk-1)

and:

pk 1 pk 2xk 1 1 2 yk 1
4.
5.

6.

Determine symmetry points in the other seven octants

Move each calculated pixel position (x, y) onto the circular
path centred at (xc, yc) to plot the coordinate values:

x x xc

y y yc

Repeat steps 3 to 5 until x >= y

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm Example

To see the mid-point circle algorithm in action
lets use it to draw a circle centred at (0,0) with
radius 10

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm Example (cont)

10

9
8

6
5

3
2

0
0

9 10

pk

(xk+1,yk+1)

2xk+1

2yk+1

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm Exercise

Use the mid-point circle algorithm to draw the
circle centred at (0,0) with radius 15

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm Example (cont)

16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

k
0
1
2

3
4

5
6
7
8
9
10
11

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

12

pk

(xk+1,yk+1)

2xk+1

2yk+1

Mid-Point Circle Algorithm Summary

The key insights in the mid-point circle
algorithm are:
Eight-way symmetry can hugely reduce the work
in drawing a circle
Moving in unit steps along the x axis at each point
along the circles edge we need to choose
between two possible y coordinates