In
mathematics,
physics, and theoretical
computer graphics,
tapering is a kind of shape deformation. Just as an affine transformation, such as scaling or shearing, is a first-order model of shape deformation, there also exist higher-order deformations such as tapering, twisting, and bending. Tapering can be thought of as non-constant
scaling by a given tapering function. The resultant deformations can be linear or nonlinear.