Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

Skip to main content
Log in

Volume rendering by adaptive refinement

  • Published:
The Visual Computer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Volume rendering is a technique for visualizing sampled scalar functions of three spatial dimensions by computing 2D projections of a colored semi-transparent gel. This paper presents a volume-rendering algorithm, in which image quality is adaptively refined over time. An initial image is generated by casting a small number of rays into the data, less than one ray per pixel, and interpolating between the resulting colors. Subsequent images are generated by alternately casting more rays and interpolating. The usefulness of these rays is maximized by distributing them according to measures of local image complexity. Examples from two applications are given: molecular graphics and medical imaging.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Bergman, L, Fuchs H, Grant E, Spach S (1986) Image rendering by adaptive refinement. Computer Graphics 20(4):29–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook RL (1986) Stochastic sampling in computer graphics. ACM Trans Graph 5(1):51–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Dippe MAZ, Wold EH (1985) Antialiasing through stochastic sampling. Computer Graphics 19(3):69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Drebin RA, Carpenter I, Hanrahan P (1988) Volume rendering. Computer Graphics 22(4):65–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Glusker PJ, Trueblood KN (1985) Crystal structure analysis. Oxford Univ Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman GT (1980) Image reconstruction from projections. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kajiya JT (1986) The rendering equation. Computer Graphics 20(4):143–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee ME, Redner RA, Uselton SP (1985) Statistically optimized sampling for distributed ray tracing. Computer Graphics 19(3):61–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Levoy M (1988a) Display of surfaces from volume data. IEEE Comput Graph Appl 8(3):29–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Levoy M (1990) Efficient ray tracing of volume data. ACM Transactions on Graphics (in press)

  • Reynolds A (1989) Letter to the editor. IEEE. Computer Graph Appl, vol 9, no 2

  • Sabella P (1988) A rendering algorithm for visualizing 3D scalar fields. Computer Graphics 22(4):51–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Upson C (1986) The visual simulation of amorphous phenomena. The Visual Computer 2:321–326

    Google Scholar 

  • Upson C, Keeler M (1988) VBUFFER: Visible volume rendering. Computer Graphics 22(4):59–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitted T (1980) an improved illumination model for shaded display. Commun ACM 23(6):343–349

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Levoy, M. Volume rendering by adaptive refinement. The Visual Computer 6, 2–7 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01902624

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01902624

Key words

Navigation