Expressive volume rendering

Abstract

Accurately and automatically conveying the structure of a volume model is a problem not fully solved by existing volume rendering approaches. Physics-based volume rendering approaches create images that may match the appearance of translucent materials in nature, but may not embody important structural details. Transfer function approaches allow flexible design of the volume appearance, but generally require substantial hand tuning for each new data set in order to be effective. We have introduced the volume illustration approach, combining the familiarity of a physics-based illumination model with the ability to enhance important features using non-photorealistic rendering techniques. Since features to be enhanced are defined on the basis of higherorder model characteristics rather than volume sample value, the application of volume illustration techniques requires less manual tuning than the design of a good transfer function. Volume illustration provides a flexible unified framework for enhancing structural perception of volume models through the amplification of features, the addition of illumination effects, and the application of procedural textures. Volume illustration works on both presampled and procedurally defined volume models, enabling a range of image styles from practical technical illustrations to more abstract painterly effects.