Visualization Concepts
Preface
File Naming Conventions 1-9
1 Introduction
1.1 Why visualization? 1-2
1.2 Visualization techniques 1-4
Slicing air flow data 1-4
Extruding loan data by geographical region 1-4
Texture mapping 1-5
Other techniques 1-6
AVS/Express Examples library 1-6
1.3 From data to picture - how it works in AVS/Express 1-7
Reading data 1-7
Processing the data 1-7
Applying visualization technique(s) and viewing results 1-8
1.4 The next step - where to go from here 1-10
2 The Field:
The AVS/Express Data Model
2.1 The AVS/Express Field data structure 2-2
The importance of fields 2-2
2.2 Field basics 2-3
Field components 2-3
Grid and node data 2-3
Connectivity information 2-5
Cell data 2-8
2.3 Meshes 2-10
Mesh types 2-10
Mesh types summary 2-10
Understanding Unstructured vs. Structured meshes 2-11
Mesh Type: uniform 2-12
Mesh type: rectilinear 2-13
Mesh type: structured 2-14
Unstructured mesh - cell sets required 2-14
Why mesh types matter 2-16
2.4 Mesh characteristics - ndim and nspace 2-18
Examples 2-19
2.5 Support for Second Order Cells 2-21
Using 2nd order cells 2-22
2.6 Time Dependent (Multistep) Data 2-24
Time-dependent data structure group objects 2-25
3
Example scenarios
3.1 Unstructured data 3-2
Point data 3-2
Multivariate data 3-4
Line data 3-5
A better way... 3-5
3.2 2D data 3-8
No coordinates 3-9
Multivariate 3-9
Common image file formats 3-10
3.3 3D data 3-11
Uniform meshes 3-11
Rectilinear meshes 3-13
Unstructured meshes 3-14
Multi-variable 3-16
3.4 Managing your data 3-18
4 Importing Data
4.1 Why Import Data? 4-2
4.2 Mapping Data Into Fields 4-3
Field Mappers 4-3
Table Mappers 4-9
4.3 Overview of Techniques for Importing Data 4-10
4.4 Using the AVS/Express Readers 4-11
netCDF reader and writer 4-11
4.5 Using Read_Column_File 4-12
Mapping the Data into a Field 4-12
Example 4-13
4.6 Data in AVS Field File Format (Read Field) 4-15
Reading in a Field File 4-16
Examples 4-16
4.7 Querying a Database 4-17
Using the Table Mapper Modules 4-19
Examples 4-21
4.8 Creating File Access Objects Using the Add File Import Module Tool 4-23
Using the Add File Import Module Tool 4-23
Example 4-24
4.9 Live Data Sources 4-27
Reading the Data In 4-27
4.10 Troubleshooting Tips 4-28
Verify Results One Step at a Time. 4-28
Start with Simple Data 4-29
Using the Correct Field Mapper 4-29
For Problems with Reader Code, Divide and Conquer 4-29
5 Catalog of Visualization Techniques
5.1 The Data Visualization Libraries 5-2
Macros 5-2
DV prefix base modules 5-3
Mid-level and DV_Param macros 5-4
5.2 Overview of the Data Visualization Techniques 5-5
5.3 Visualization techniques 5-7
Exteriors and edges 5-7
edges 5-8
Contours, isolines, and isosurfaces 5-8
Slices and cross-sections 5-9
Colors, Lookup Tables (LUTs), and colormaps 5-10
Glyphs 5-11
Vector fields 5-12
City scapes, ribbon plots, and surface plots 5-12
Probes and interactions 5-14
5.4 Geometries 5-15
Example network 5-15
Network Editor locations 5-17
V locations 5-18
5.5 Data
preprocessing 5-19
Combiners and extractors 5-19
Data filters 5-20
Interpolation 5-20
Cropping and cutting 5-21
Data sampling and regridding 5-22
Coordinate transformations 5-22
Conclusion 5-23
5.6 Image Processing 5-24
The Image Processing Libraries 5-25
Using the Image Processing objects 5-25
Viewing images in a renderer 5-26
5.7 Adding your own image readers and writers 5-27
Implementing an image reader 5-27
Implementing an image writer 5-30
XIL on SUNOS5 5-32
5.8 Geographic Information System (GIS) Components 5-34
5.9 Accessing Data on the World Wide Web 5-36
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) Output 5-37
6 Using the Animator and
Image Capture Modules
6.1 Keyframe Animation in AVS/Express 6-2
Understanding Keyframe Animation 6-2
6.2 Defining a Keyframe Animation 6-4
Instancing the animator Module 6-4
Creating the Animation Keyframes 6-6
Before adding keyframes 6-7
Adding the first keyframe 6-8
Adding additional keyframes 6-8
Modifying the Keyframes 6-9
6.3 Controlling what is Animated 6-11
The animate property 6-11
Rescanning the application for changes in the animatable parameters 6-12
Understanding the interpolation 6-12
6.4 Generating and Viewing the Animation 6-14
6.5 Capturing Viewer Images 6-16
Using the Capture Controls 6-17
Capturing images 6-18
Controlling how the images are saved 6-19
Using the Playback Controls 6-19
Creating a Movie 6-20
7
Using the Data Viewers
7.1 Using the View Editor 7-2
Specifying the View Renderer, Size, and Color 7-3
Specifying Display Output 7-8
Creating a New View 7-9
7.2 Using the Transform Editor 7-12
Specifying the Interactor Behavior 7-13
Setting a Transformation 7-16
7.3 Using the Light Editor 7-19
Setting the General Light Attributes 7-19
Specifying Spot Light Attributes 7-24
Manipulating Ambient Light 7-25
7.4 Using the View Object Editor 7-27
Specifying an Object's General Attributes 7-28
Specifying Field Conversion Methods 7-30
Set Image Data Conversions 7-33
Setting Texture Conversions 7-36
Selecting Rendering Modes 7-37
Specifying View Object Properties 7-40
Specifying a Texture Mapping 7-50
7.5 Using the Camera Editor 7-53
Setting the Camera General Attributes 7-55
Setting the Camera Lens 7-57
Setting the Camera Tripod 7-61
Setting the Camera Clipping Planes 7-62
Setting the Camera Depth Cueing 7-63
7.6 Using The Datamap Editor 7-66
Understanding Datamaps 7-68
Specify a Data Range 7-69
Defining the Color Mapping 7-73
Defining the Current Alpha Map 7-75
Reading Datamap Files 7-76
7.7 Using the Graph Editor 7-79
Setting the Graph Title 7-80
Setting the Graph Properties 7-82
Setting the Graph Style 7-85
Specifying Axes 7-86
Specifying Ticklines 7-88
Specifying the Appearance of the Legend 7-91
Specifying Contour Graph Characteristics 7-92
Specifying Colors In The Graph Editor 7-93
