Visualizing 3D velocity fields near contour surfaces
Nelson Max, Roger Crawfis, Charles W. Grant · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · 1994
Vector field rendering is difficult in 3D because the vector icons overlap and hide each other. We propose four different techniques for visualizing vector fields only near surfaces. The first uses motion blurred particles in a thickened region around the surface. The second uses a voxel grid to contain integral curves of the vector field. The third uses many antialiased lines through the surface, and the fourth uses hairs sprouting from the surface and then bending in the direction of the vector field. All the methods use the graphics pipeline, allowing real time rotation and interaction, and the first two methods can animate the texture to move in the flow determined by the velocity field. Introduction There are many representations of velocity fields: streamlines, stream surfaces, particle traces, simulated smoke, ..., etc. One of the simplest is to scatter vector icons, for example, small line segments, throughout the volume. There are two fundamental problems with such an approa...