VizWorld.com

Another SIGGRAPH2010 Course has published their materials online, this time it’s Magnus Wrenninge’s “Volumetric Methods in Visual Effects”.

The course begins with a quick introduction to generating and rendering volumes. We then present a production usable volumetrics toolkit, focusing on the feature set and why those features are desirable. Finally we present the specific tools developed at Double Negative, DreamWorks, Sony Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues, and Side Effects Software. The production system presentations will delve into development history, how the tools are used by artists, and the strengths and weaknesses of the software.

You can download the course materials as a 65M, 273 Page PDF at his site.

via Volumetric Methods in Visual Effects (SIGGRAPH 2010 course) — Magnus Wrenninge.

Graphics, Science education, siggraph, volume rendering

A new press release from Intelerad talks about their inclusion of Fovia’s “High Definition Volume Rendering” (HDVR) technology for their IntelePACS and InteleOne software systems, used in diagnosis and surgical planning.

“Intelerad focuses on streamlining radiology workflow and providing the best integrated user experience for radiologists,” says Ken Fineman, Chief Executive Officer of Fovia. “With native integration of HDVR, Intelerad’s customers will be able to master how they use their reading and reporting software through a single interface, including the world’s most advanced visualization tools.”

No doubt this is a great thing, but they are surprisingly big on the fact that it can render “extremely large datasets” in 3D using “off-the-shelf CPUs”.  One has to wonder why they didn’t integrate GPU’s for this which could probably offer even better performance at a lower-price point (compared to the CPU’s they would have to add).

via Intelerad Expands its 3D Advanced Visualization Offering with Native Integration of Fovia’s High Definition Volume Rendering | Business Wire.

Science biomed, volume rendering

Darin McKinnis has updated the Viz Worth Watching blog with some under-the-hood details on the upcoming EnSight 9.1 Volume Rendering feature, and what you’ll need to make it work.  No surprises, you’ll need alot of memory and a new video card:

Regardless, you are going to need a graphics card produced in the last 2 years. Volume rendering requires a DirectX 10 compatible nVidia or ATI graphics card, not that EnSight uses DirectX but this is an indicator for the correct generation of graphics cards.

Volume rendering will use significantly more memory on the client, both for storing the volume cell data as well as rendering objects to be passed to the graphics card. These rendering objects also consume memory on the graphics card. An estimate for graphics memory required for running EnSight 9.1 includes:

• 40MB EnSight with opaque surfaces
• 64MB EnSight with semi-transparent surfaces (depth peeling)
• 110MB EnSight with volume rendering

Due to OpenGL limitations on Mac OS X, these numbers are 67MB, 91MB, and 137MB when running the EnSight client on a Mac.

This includes the screen itself, our rendering buffers, depth peeling buffers, and volume peeling buffers. This is assuming a graphics window size of 1024×720 and the default of 6 peels. Memory requirements will increase for larger displays or more peels. This is just an entry level point before any geometry is rendered.

Interesting to hear that it’s working via Depth Peeling, presumably for Solid-Geometry/Volume interaction (like shown in the image above).  I also find the statement of a “DirectX10″ compatible card a bit unsettling, and many people run EnSight on *Nix platforms.  Something more defined like the number of shaders or particular GL extensions would have been more useful.

I personally *love* volume rendering, but it takes quite a long time to process typically. Can’t wait to get my hands on it in EnSight and see if they’ve implemented any GPU acceleration strategies that put it beyond ParaView and VisIt.

via Viz Worth Watching: EnSight 9.1 Volume Rendering – how to prepare.

Hardware, Science cei, ensight, volume rendering

Kitware has just announced the availability of VolView 3.2, the fantastic volume visualization suite designed for medical and scientific datasets.

VolView 3.2 is a major upgrade that provides many new features including support for loading of multiple datasets simultaneously, support for creating and applying 2D and 3D display presets, and the ability to make image measurements within a user defined contour. A simpler and easier to use interface allows for rapid navigation of the user interface.

One great thing about this release is now they offer a free 30-day trial version.  Simply fill out a quick questionnaire (the usual email address & contact info), and get a free 30-day trial to try before you buy.

If you’ve never seen VolView in action before, check out their demo video after the break.

via Kitware Inc. – leading edge, high-quality software.

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Science biomed, kitware, software, volume rendering, volview

The “Viz Worth Watching” Blog, run by the guys behind EnSight, have just posted information on the newly released 9.0.3c.  But that’s not all, they also announce that EnSight 9.1 should be out sometime in January, and will feature Volume Rendering, a popular feature that’s been in ParaView and VisIt for some time and frequently used as a deficiency in arguments against EnSight.

The results looks promising, and the combination of solid geometry and volume rendering looks great.

Viz Worth Watching: EnSight 9.0.3c faster, better, and reads more data.

Science cei, ensight, software, volume rendering