Multi-layer Illustrative Dense Flow Visualization

Abstract

We present a dense visualization of vector fields on multi-layered surfaces. The method is based on the illustration buffer, which provides a screen space representation of the surface, where each pixel stores a list of all surface layers. This representation is implemented on the GPU using shaders and leads to a fast, output sensitive technique. In our approach, we first use procedural noise to create an initial spot pattern on the surface that has both an almost constant screen space frequency and is view independent. Then, we perform anisotropic diffusion simultaneously on all surface layers using a discretization scheme that maintains second order convergence while only accessing the four neighboring pixels. Finally, we enhance this result with illustrative techniques and composite the final image. Our method works with time-evolving surfaces, time-dependent vector fields, and moving cameras. We apply our method to CFD data sets from engineering and astronomy as well as synthetic velocity fields.