<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Ah yes,</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> This is the sort of approach
I was initially hoping to get implemented. However I am still really
stuck on how to implement some of those details.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">A couple questions I am still trying
to hammer out specifically:</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> - You say "create a RequestData
function"; by this do you mean the 'RequestInformation Script' field
inside of a ParaView ProgrammableFilter?</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> - I have searched for longer
than probably is justified for this already....where does Python have access
to an UPDATE_TIME field?</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> - How do I place the Python script
in a way that it is evaluated every single time the ParaView UI updates
it's own timestep - otherwise the filter won't update during an animation
tick</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I appreciate the response - if you have
any additional thoughts on this I'd love to hear about them in further
detail.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Best wishes!</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> -Another John</font>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<table width=100%>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">From:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">"Biddiscombe, John A." <biddisco@cscs.ch></font>
<br>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">To:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">John CTR Mick/ACT/CNTR/FAA@FAA, "paraview@paraview.org"
<paraview@paraview.org></font>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Date:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">03/22/2012 04:57 PM</font>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Subject:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">RE: [Paraview] Assistance/Suggestion
With Animating Relatively Small Datasets Over Many Timesteps</font></table>
<br>
<hr noshade>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">I would stick to the CSV
file if you’ve got all the information you need inside it</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">… but instead of using a
table to points filter, create your own custom filter which takes the CSV
table as input, and outputs just a small polydata object which has the
current positions (+scalars) encoded for the given time.</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">All you need to do is create
a RequestData function which looks at UPDATE_TIME, and fetches the corresponding
rows/columns for each planet/point for that time and adds them to the output.</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">For added fun, you can export
a multi-block dataset, and/or have a treeview which allows you to enable/disable
certain planets/points. This way you can</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">Reader -> ExtractPlanetFilter1
->Render (use textureA)</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">
ExtractPlanetFilter2->Render
(use tectureB)</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">[Or other combinations with
ExtractBlockFilter if you use multiblock ].</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">The Reader would simply subclass
polydataalgorithm, but take a vtkTable as input. Couple of hours work is
all you’d need and you can leave the data in its current form.</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">$0.02</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri">JB</font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 color=#004080 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Tahoma"><b>From:</b> paraview-bounces@paraview.org
[</font><a href="mailto:paraview-bounces@paraview.org"><font size=2 face="Tahoma">mailto:paraview-bounces@paraview.org</font></a><font size=2 face="Tahoma">]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>John.CTR.Mick@faa.gov<b><br>
Sent:</b> 22 March 2012 17:13<b><br>
To:</b> paraview@paraview.org<b><br>
Subject:</b> [Paraview] Assistance/Suggestion With Animating Relatively
Small Datasets Over Many Timesteps</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
This is my first experience posting to the ParaView Mailing
List; as well as my first project I am exploring with ParaView. I
hope I am posting this question to the correct audience.</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
I am attempting to create an animation of our Solar System
- at an extremely high update interval - perhaps plotting the position
and velocity of significant solar system bodies over 165 Earth years at</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
a one day interval. Initially I thought I would be able to work with
CSV files to define a dataset which includes time, positional coordinates,
and velocity vectors. While testing this approach I managed to use
the TableToPoints filter to create a visualization of a sample dataset;
but I was not able to sequence over the individual timesteps. So
in effect you see all the positions a particular planet was at for the
entire duration of the dataset.</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
I created a video of this test and made it available online:</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
</font><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLPxx-2Zc9Q"><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><u>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLPxx-2Zc9Q</u></font></a><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
<br>
Next I thought perhaps the CSV format was a little too general
for what I needed, so I read the VTK file format document and migrated
over to the XML VTK format. It seems like there is no way to define
time sequenced data natively within the file format itself? ParaView
expects the user to break the timesteps into individual files - with a
numeric indicator in the filename to define the sequence. If I were
to take this approach, I could be looking at creating nearly 500,000 individual
files to represent the entire duration of time I'm interested in plotting.
I feel like there must be a better way to do this. <br>
<br>
As a small improvement I thought I could at least combine
all of the unique solar system bodies (Earth, Sun, etc.), into a single
timestep file such as this: <br>
(filename: timeseries_2455562.vtu) <br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<?xml version="1.0"?></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<VTKFile type="UnstructuredGrid" version="0.1" byte_order="LittleEndian"
compressor="vtkZLibDataCompressor"></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<UnstructuredGrid></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<Piece NumberOfPoints="2" NumberOfCells="2"></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<PointData Vectors="Velocity" Scalars="Radius"></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<DataArray Name="Time" type="Float32"
format="ascii">2455562 2455562</DataArray></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<DataArray Name="Radius" type="Float32"
format="ascii">6371 696000</DataArray></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<DataArray Name="Velocity" type="Float32"
NumberOfComponents="3" format="ascii"></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
-2.982651603443954E+01 -5.304542013817379E+00
-7.226846229160870E-04</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
0 0 0</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</DataArray></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</PointData></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<Points></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<DataArray type="Float32" NumberOfComponents="3"
format="ascii"></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
-2.567030301930377E+07 1.448508985971261E+08
-3.607762965630511E+03</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
0 0 0</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</DataArray></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</Points></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<Cells></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<DataArray Name="connectivity"
type="Int32" format="ascii">0 1</DataArray></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<DataArray Name="offsets" type="Int32"
format="ascii">1 2</DataArray></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
<DataArray Name="types" type="UInt8"
format="ascii">1 1</DataArray></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</Cells></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</Piece></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</UnstructuredGrid></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
</VTKFile></font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> <br>
<br>
The idea of this approach was to list all of the scalars and vectors for
each corresponding body in a single file. In this example the first
listed scalar, vector, or coordinate point, is the Earth while the second
set of values indicates the Sun's data. By combining the bodies into
a single file I could reduce the 500,000 files required down to some 60,000
files....still undesirable but better. <br>
<br>
However I would also like to segment the Points once inside the ParaView
environment; so I can create a distinct pipeline for each body in the dataset.
One application for this would be to allow different Glyph rendering
rules for the Sun and the Earth so I can make the Sun...have a Sun texture
- and the Earth an Earth texture. <br>
<br>
After experimenting with this for awhile I found myself trying to implement
a Programmable Filter. The filter would take the Unstructured Grid
for the given timestep, and given an index, extract the Point, Scalar,
and Vector data from its input - then set only those values to the Output
Unstructured Grid. I currently have a script that looks something
like this: <br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# CELLID 0 = EARTH</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
cellId = 0</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> <br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Obtain References To Input/Output Data</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
gridI = self.GetUnstructuredGridInput()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
gridO = self.GetUnstructuredGridOutput()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
dataI = self.GetInput()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
dataO = self.GetOutput()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
scalarI = dataI.GetPointData().GetScalars()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
vectorI = dataI.GetPointData().GetVectors()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Initialize Local Storage Arrays</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newVector = vtk.vtkFloatArray()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newVector.SetName(vectorI.GetName())</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newVector.SetNumberOfComponents(3)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newScalar = vtk.vtkFloatArray()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newScalar.SetName(scalarI.GetName())</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newPoint = vtk.vtkPoints()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newPoint.SetNumberOfPoints(1)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newCell = vtk.vtkCellArray()</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Lookup CellId References</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
idCell = gridI.GetCell(cellId)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
idCellType = gridI.GetCellType(cellId)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
idPoint = gridI.GetPoints().GetPoint(cellId)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
idScalar = scalarI.GetTuple(cellId)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
idVector = vectorI.GetTuple(cellId)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Populate New Local Cell Array with CellId Cell</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newCell.InsertNextCell(idCell)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Populate New Local Point Array With CellId Point</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newPoint.SetPoint(0, idPoint)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Populate New Local Scalars with CellId Scalar Tuples</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newScalar.InsertNextTuple(idScalar)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Populate New Local Vectors with CellID Vector Tuples</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
newVector.InsertNextTuple(idVector)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
# Copy Local Cells, Scalars, Vectors, and Points Into Output Pipeline Data</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
gridO.SetPoints(newPoint)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
gridO.SetCells(idCellType, newCell)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
dataO.GetPointData().SetScalars(newScalar)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
</font><font size=2 face="Lucida Console"><br>
dataO.GetPointData().SetVectors(newVector)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
The filter does achieve the desired effect for the cellID 0 - but when
I switch the value of cellID to 1 (which should refer to the Sun's index)
ParaView crashes hard - where I assume I am missing something, possibly
requesting something out of bounds in memory.</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
I've been struggling with this problem for a little while now and thought
to share my progress here; hopefully there is somebody out there with a
little more insight that could help guide me towards either a conclusion
with this implementation or a suggestion for a better approach.</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
Essentially - How can one give ParaView Point and Velocity vectors over
a vast sequence of time without creating potentially hundreds of thousands
of files on disc? Does this Programmable Filter seem like a reasonable
approach? Is there a native feature I am missing that does this already?
Is there some other file format other than VTK I could use to have
ParaView understand this format of data?</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
Any thoughts, comments, or questions will be greatly appreciated. :)</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">
<br>
</font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
Thanks,</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font><font size=2 face="Arial"><br>
John</font><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<br>
<br>