Surface codec using reprojection onto depth maps

A surface reprojection codec and method for surface compression using non- redundant surface projection onto depth maps. A multiple depth map encoder takes a two- dimensional (2D) surface that is a representation of a three-dimensional (3D) object and divides it into a plurality of surface patches. Each of these surface patches is projected onto a depth map from a set of depth maps. This generates a set of converted depth maps. This set of converted depth maps then are encoded using standard encoding techniques. The encoded version of the 3D object may be stored, transmitted over a network, or both. A multiple depth map decoder decodes the set of converted depth maps to obtain the surface patches. These surface patches and connectivity information can be used to regenerate the 2D surface. The 2D surface in turn can be used to reconstruct the 3D object.