Idaho National Laboratory
Illustrative Visualization Techniques for Simulation Datasets
Alexander Rattner, Georgia Institute of Technology
Practicum Year: 2012
Practicum Supervisor: Donna Post Guillen, Modeling Group Lead, Advanced Process and Decision Systems Department, Idaho National Laboratory
Conventional visualization techniques are often insufficient for clear presentation of increasingly complex and large scale simulation datasets, especially for 3-dimensional and time-varying studies. Illustrative visualization techniques have been proposed as a solution to this challenge. In this approach, techniques from the scientific illustration literature are adapted for clear and compact visualization of computational data. In this project I developed MarmotViz, an illustrative visualization plug-in for the general-purpose ParaView visualization software. MarmotViz is a framework for enhanced visualization of simulation data using diverse techniques found in the scientific illustration literature as well as novel algorithms developed in this effort. The plug-in is implemented in a flexible fashion, so new algorithms and techniques can quickly be developed and incorporated. Additionally, MarmotViz is slated to be released as an open-source software tool, and will provide widespread access to illustrative visualization capabilities and serve as a springboard for future research in the field.