Description of Sources

Point Source

Generate a set of NumberOfPoints random points inside a sphere of radius Radius centered at Point. This is an interface for the VTK filter http://www.vtk.org/doc/nightly/html/classvtkPointSource.html#_details

Plane

The plane is specified by three corners. This allows the flexibility of having a non-rectangular planar patch. However, it is quite confusing to make simple planes. You can vote for an easier to use plane source at http://paraview.uservoice.com/pages/11350-general/suggestions/360110-easier-to-use-plane-source?ref=title.

1. Origin - The origin of the plane to be created. When viewing the plane orthogonally, this could be interpreted as the "lower left corner" of the plane.
2. Point1 - the "bottom right" corner of the plane.
3. Point2 - the "top left" corner of the plane.
4. X Resolution - how many divisions will be created in the X direction. You can see what is going on by switching to wireframe mode.
5. Y Resolution - how many divisions will be created in the Y direction. You can see what is going on by switching to wireframe mode.
6. The Apply button must be pressed before the plane will be generated.

Line

Hover the mouse and press 'p'. This seems to move the closest endpoint of the line to the current mouse position.

Ruler

Acts just like the line source - hover the mouse and press 'p' to snap the nearest endpoint of the ruler's indicator line to the current mouse position. The distance between the two points is displayed.

Sphere

Create a sphere by creating a discrete set of points on the surface of a sphere and then creating a mesh on them.

1. Center - the coordinate of the center of the sphere
2. Radius - the radius of the sphere
3. Theta Resolution - how many points to use on cross sections of the sphere in the XY plane. You can see what is going on by switching to wireframe mode.
4. Start Theta - the angle from +x (in the counter clockwise direction) in the XY plane to start creating points on the sphere. If this is > 0, there will be a "cut" out of the sphere
5. End Theta - the angle from +x (in the clockwise direction) in the XY plane to finish creating points on the sphere. If this is < 360, there will be a "cut" out of the sphere
6. Phi Resolution - how many points to use (minus the poles) on the cross sections of the sphere in the XZ plane. You can see what is going on by switching to wireframe mode.
7. Start Phi - the angle from +z to start the sphere. There will be a missing "cap" on the top of the sphere if this is >0.
8. End Phi - the angle from -z to finish the sphere. There will be a missing "cap" on the bottom of the sphere if this is < 180.

Arrow

Create an arrow. The arrow always has length 1. It is commonly used as a glyph source, so the final length of the arrow is determined by a scaling factor. To change the size of an arrow, use the "scaling" in the display tab of the object inspector or apply a transform filter.

1. Tip Resolution - The number of faces which are used to draw the tip. The more faces, the "rounder" the tip will look.
2. Tip Radius - The width of the tip.
3. Tip Length - The proportional size of the arrow tip to the whole arrow.
4. Shaft Resolution - The number of faces used to draw the cylinder (shaft) of the arrow. The more faces, the "rounder" the cylinder will be.
5. Shaft Radius - The width of the cylinder (shaft) of the arrow.