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[IDV #WNR-458825]: Problem w/volume rendering

Hi Katie-

> Hi Don. Still trying to get my clouds to look pretty. I'm using the Volume 
> Rendering (no texture) and am trying to change the transparency, but it won't 
> stay. I'll open up the Color Table Editor, click "Transparency" and make it 
> 50%. Click 'Apply' and 'Ok'. Nothing changes. I open the Color Table Editor 
> again and the Transparency is back to 0. Any idea why?

When you set the transparency to 50%, you are just changing
the editing mode, not applying it to the color table itself. 
You need to then click on one of the end breakpoints and drag
it to the other end to apply that edit to the table.  See the
workshop docs on using the color table at:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idv/docs/workshop/resources/colortable/index.html

and also the User's Guide section:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idv//docs/userguide/tools/ColorTableEditor.html

You can apply different transparencies to different parts of 
the table.

Alternatively, you can right click on the color preview bar in the
side legend and use the Transparency menu to set the value instantly
to the entire table.

Let me know if that doesn't work for you.

Don

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Unidata IDV Support [mailto:address@hidden]
> Sent: Wed 4/23/2008 5:46 PM
> To: Carbonari, Katie
> Cc: address@hidden
> Subject: [IDV #WNR-458825]: Problem w/volume rendering
> 
> Hi Katie-
> 
> > Thanks so much for your quick response.
> 
> This one took a little longer. ;-)
> 
> > We have been using the 64 bit version of Java, but we get the same problems 
> > when we run the 32 bit version (of course, we have to use a smaller data 
> > set of 250x250x50). If it's not too much trouble, could you try to render 
> > our data set on your setup? We're using a new machine (a Mac) and want to 
> > be sure that the problem is not with the way ours is configured. If you 
> > could do a volume rendering of the data (lwc) and send us a screen shot, 
> > we'd be very much appreciative. If you're successful, please let us know 
> > what you're using (os, graphics card). Enclosed is a screen shot of the 
> > same data in VAPOR. While VAPOR lacks a lot of the functions we need (that 
> > IDV has), it is giving excellent results in the volume rendering. Our goal 
> > is to get our clouds in IDV to look as good as the clouds in VAPOR.
> 
> I'm not sure you'll get as good as VAPOR, but I've attached a screen
> shot of what I was able to produce.  It took a long time because
> we do on the fly what VAPOR does when it transforms your netCDF
> file initially - put the data into display coordinate space.  We
> do it on the fly because you can display the data in any projection
> you want.
> 
> I also ran into the issue with it sometimes producing just a small
> column.  I think that's an issue with the projection changing
> when you display the data.  If you set the projection to the
> data space first (e.g. display a plan view of qc or something),
> then I don't think that will be an issue.  I'll look into
> that more closely when I get a chance.
> 
> My graphics card is an ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 w/ 512 Mb.  I am
> using the Texture3D.  Turning that off made a less pretty display.
> For the attached, I set the data range to be 150 to 247 and
> I set the transparency to be 50%.   The other person who
> had the problem with the Texture3D was also using a Mac.  He
> had a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256 Mb RAM.
> 
> Don
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> > From: Unidata IDV Support [mailto:address@hidden]
> > Sent: Fri 4/18/2008 3:36 PM
> > To: Carbonari, Katie
> > Cc: address@hidden
> > Subject: [IDV #WNR-458825]: Problem w/volume rendering
> >
> > Hi Katie-
> >
> > > Hi Don. I have a few more questions concerning volume rendering I hope 
> > > you can help me with.
> > >
> > > First off, a little background. I'm trying to do volume rendering of lwc 
> > > (liquid water content, clouds) over terrain. Each file is a netCDF file 
> > > (80 meg) that has 1250x1250x50 points of liquid water plus 1250x1250 of 
> > > terrain elevation. There are 60 files total to be visualized (1 
> > > file=1min). There are several problems I've been having:
> > >
> > > 1) Even with 12 gig of memory allocated to IDV, often volume rendering 
> > > runs out of memory, even at much courser resolutions. Are there any 
> > > parameters I can change that will speed up the volume rendering?
> >
> > Does the memory monitor actually show 12 Gb allocated?  Are you running a 
> > 64 bit
> > version of Java?  The 32 bit version will only allocate 2 Gb.
> >
> > > 2) Sometimes IDV does not use the full 12 gigs allocated to it, but still 
> > > takes a very long time to render. Is this just because my data set is so 
> > > large?
> >
> > Volume rendering is very much a hog of memory.  To do the volume rendering
> > we have to retransform the entire dataset.  If these are staggered WRF 
> > grids,
> > that will be even worse because we need to destagger them.
> >
> > > 3) Occasionally, instead of getting the entire volume rendered, only a 
> > > small "chimney" will be visualized. It appears to be the full data set 
> > > but only over 1/20 of the proper area. Any ideas about what causes this? 
> > > (Of course, I can't get it to do it now, so I don't have a screen shot to 
> > > show you)
> >
> > I hate problems like that. ;-)  I can't think of anything off the top of my 
> > head
> > that would cause that.
> >
> > > 4) Once the data is fully loaded, I can't seem to make the clouds look 
> > > like clouds. I want to control the volume to be colored by opacity, not 
> > > color. If the lwc is below a certain threshold value, I want those points 
> > > to be totally transparent (ie, want to be able to see straight to the 
> > > ground). Any advice on how to control the opacity in this way? (see 
> > > attached photo of how our clouds currently look; they are not very 
> > > good-looking clouds)
> >
> > The image didn't come across, but here are a couple of suggestions.  First,
> > use the  Visible Range in the display control to set the range of the
> > values you want to visualize.  Alternatively (or in addition to), edit
> > the color table and set the transparency for the range you don't want
> > to see to 100% and the values you want to see to 90%.  That will make those
> > values you want to see more "cloudy".  Transparency is order dependent, so
> > if you have other displays in the View, you'll want to use the View->Bring 
> > to Front
> > menu on the Volume Control so you can see the other displays.
> >
> > > Thank you so much for your time,
> >
> > Don
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Unidata IDV Support [mailto:address@hidden]
> > > Sent: Thu 4/17/2008 5:34 PM
> > > To: Carbonari, Katie
> > > Cc: address@hidden
> > > Subject: [IDV #WNR-458825]: Problem w/volume rendering
> > >
> > > Hi Katie-
> > >
> > > > Full Name: katie carbonari
> > > > Email Address: address@hidden
> > > > Organization: northrop grumman
> > > > Package Version: 2.5
> > > > Operating System: linux
> > > > Hardware:
> > > > Description of problem: Hello. I've been trying to do some volume 
> > > > rendering of clouds in IDV. Isosurface works fine (as you can see in 
> > > > the attatched picture) but volume rendering gives a gray cube. This 
> > > > gray cube doesn't change when I change various parameters (color range, 
> > > > transparency, etc). Any ideas on why this is happening? The 2 pics are 
> > > > of the same data file, so I don't know why the volume rendering doesn't 
> > > > give clouds.
> > >
> > > This is probably a graphics card issue.  What is the graphics
> > > card you are using?
> > >
> > > Try the following:
> > >
> > > - do the volume rendering
> > > - bring up the properties for the Volume Rendering control
> > > (Edit->Properties menu of the control).
> > > - Uncheck the Use Texture 3D property and click the OK button.
> > >
> > > Does that make your volume rendering appear?
> > >
> > > Don Murray
> > >
> > > Ticket Details
> > > ===================
> > > Ticket ID: WNR-458825
> > > Department: Support IDV
> > > Priority: Normal
> > > Status: Open
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > Ticket Details
> > ===================
> > Ticket ID: WNR-458825
> > Department: Support IDV
> > Priority: Normal
> > Status: Open
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> Ticket Details
> ===================
> Ticket ID: WNR-458825
> Department: Support IDV
> Priority: Normal
> Status: Open
> 
> 
> 


Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: WNR-458825
Department: Support IDV
Priority: Normal
Status: Open