NAME
vpOctreeMask - compute a mask representing one level of a min-max
octree
SYNOPSIS
#include <volpack.h>
vpResult
vpOctreeMask(vpc, array, array_size, max_level)
vpContext *vpc;
unsigned char *array;
int array_size;
int max_level;
ARGUMENTS
vpc VolPack context from vpCreateContext.
array A 3D array for storing the mask.
array_size
Size of array in bytes.
max_level
Maximum octree level to descend to.
DESCRIPTION
vpOctreeMask is used for performance debugging when rendering volumes
with a min-max octree. During rendering the min-max octree is used to
help determine which voxels are transparent. The time required to make
this determination can be minimized by an appropriate choice for the
range parameters for vpMinMaxOctreeThreshold and the node size
parameters for vpCreateMinMaxOctree. vpOctreeMask provides information
that can help to determine whether a set of parameters works
effectively or not.
The output of the routine is stored in a 3D array of bytes that has the
same dimensions as the volume (although each element is only one byte,
regardless of the size of a voxel). For each voxel in the volume the
corresponding byte in the output array is set by vpOctreeMask to one of
three values: 0 if the voxel is definitely transparent, 255 if the
voxel may be non-transparent, or 128 if the voxel may be non-
transparent and there is more detailed information available at
unvisited levels of the octree. The max_level argument specifies the
deepest level of the octree to be visited (the root level is level 0).
A suggested way to use this routine is to compute an octree using a
particular set of parameters and then call vpOctreeMask with several
different values for max_level. For each resulting mask array, look at
slices (or create a volume rendering!) and see how accurately the mask
captures the general shape of the data in the original volume. The
best set of parameters results in a mask that captures the general
shape without an excessively small value for the minimum octree node
size (which would result in a very large data structure and a lot of
traversal overhead).
ERRORS
The normal return value is VP_OK. The following error return values
are possible:
VPERROR_BAD_SIZE
There is no octree or the output array has the wrong size.
VPERROR_BAD_VOXEL
The voxel size or the voxel fields have not been specified or
have been incorrectly specified.
VPERROR_BAD_CLASSIFIER
The opacity transfer function tables have invalid sizes or are
associated with invalid voxel fields or have been incorrectly
specified.
SEE ALSO
VolPack(3), vpCreateContext(3), vpCreateMinMaxOctree(3)