DrawP3D Visualization Subroutine Library

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  • Callable from Fortran or C
  • Writes VRML, OpenInventor, or P3D
  • Interactive display to X or GL
  • Parallel operation via PVM

(Fluid flow model at left by Jim Ferry)

DrawP3D is a subroutine library for doing scientific visualization. It was originally developed in connection with the P3D format for describing 3D models (hence the name), but it has since outgrown P3D to become a very versatile package in its own right. In addition to the P3D format, VRML and Open Inventor formats are now supported. This means that 3D models produced by DrawP3D can be included in Web pages and viewed with standard VRML browsers. Interactive output to X Windows and to Silicon Graphics GL is also provided.

The package can produce isosurfaces, Z surfaces, axes and the like from gridded, irregular, and randomly scattered data, plus basic graphical primitives like polygons, spheres, and cylinders. DrawP3D does not currently support texture mapping, but has a very general notion of color maps. Using this feature, isosurfaces and Z surfaces can be colored based on a secondary field value.

One particularly nice feature of DrawP3D is its ability to run in a distributed fashion using PVM. Given a workstation running Silicon Graphics Open Inventor as a display server, geometry from multiple parallel processes can be merged into a single display. A display tool is also available on request to allow DrawP3D to transmit to a CAVE-type virtual environment using Silicon Graphics Performer. This means that DrawP3D can easily be used to tie ongoing computations into a VR environment. Development of the distributed version of DrawP3D was supported by the Grand Challenge Cosmology Consortium.

DrawP3D was developed at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center with major support from the National Science Foundation.

DrawP3D Documentation

Download the Software

DrawP3D runs on any Unix platform. The software is available by anonymous FTP here.

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