[Paraview] Simple Visualization

Thu Oct 30 10:10:25 EDT 2008

To be honest, ParaView doesn't make loading in a simple list of coordinates
as easy as it should.  It's something we will be working on in the near
future (e.g. bug #5016, http://www.paraview.org/Bug/view.php?id=5016).
However, it is still possible to do what you want, it just takes a few more
steps than it should.

I think the easiest way to get your data into ParaView is to convert it to a
legacy VTK file.  From what you attached below, all you need to do is add
some header in front of it.  Below I have included a modified form of your
data that conforms to the legacy VTK file format (hopefully line endings are
preserved again, because they matter in the header).  Copy the data into a
file with a .vtk extension and you will be able to load it into ParaView.

When you first load this into ParaView, you will not actually see anything
drawn.  This is because I was too lazy to add cells to the data.  However,
you can use the Glyph filter to add the exact geometry you described (a
sphere of radius 0.5).  After loading the data (don't forget to hit the
Apply button), add the Glyph filter (there is a convenient toolbar button
with an image of a large sphere covered by smaller green spheres).  Change
the "Glyph Type" to "Sphere".  The default radius happens to be 0.5, so you
are good to hit the Apply button and you should see your particles.

Hope that helps.

-Ken

# vtk DataFile Version 2.0
Some example 50 particles.
ASCII
DATASET POLYDATA
POINTS 50 double
5.488638491049999857e+01 4.533285539199999903e+01 5.990067340830000120e+01
5.507634645640000315e+01 4.690055020359999816e+01 6.205816942250000068e+01
5.611924302530000119e+01 4.584485860769999732e+01 6.292926739199999986e+01
5.641759022880000174e+01 4.340893347419999770e+01 5.895382539940000299e+01
5.693618177649999978e+01 4.489218829629999874e+01 6.410368616600000280e+01
5.555939302830000059e+01 4.362780979029999884e+01 5.951328359800000101e+01
5.554350617000000057e+01 4.188482518459999682e+01 5.878381606479999988e+01
5.604427505559999645e+01 4.649609805720000111e+01 6.210705354470000117e+01
5.530048293149999949e+01 4.624494566079999913e+01 5.959863344469999902e+01
5.467705995490995718e+01 4.355678678950000204e+01 5.875568285069999774e+01
5.621869458380000140e+01 4.439583221640000232e+01 5.924903889080000141e+01
5.561998122079999973e+01 4.394605972949999995e+01 5.851489735050000007e+01
5.690921858690000334e+01 4.582500510620000256e+01 6.362092096509999806e+01
5.475098914309999998e+01 4.619126324740000200e+01 6.049120611730000263e+01
5.641635311080000292e+01 4.243341419539999748e+01 5.854919389150000342e+01
5.621830122240000094e+01 3.991548769199999924e+01 5.863887904930000161e+01
5.719361166030000021e+01 4.174063668590000020e+01 5.835930649010000337e+01
5.616689354599999717e+01 4.325470363480000202e+01 5.795258720969999899e+01
5.579069489220000122e+01 4.498163925800000129e+01 5.848915900779999788e+01
5.481830772069999824e+01 4.707179765050000242e+01 6.105822532359999855e+01
5.564110346620000058e+01 3.912246424140000300e+01 5.901021183169999773e+01
5.621457283520000203e+01 4.152797633419999812e+01 5.806957834979999689e+01
5.719488688780000274e+01 3.994124700609999934e+01 5.900162063970000048e+01
5.665532662689999910e+01 4.495426231879999790e+01 6.309290282119999915e+01
5.580952576610000193e+01 4.721484517420000060e+01 6.137584942670000032e+01
5.561332834329999741e+01 4.679007541709999884e+01 6.043663970149999898e+01
5.518545746840000277e+01 4.457136614680000264e+01 5.923679874550000335e+01
5.647997341979999675e+01 4.154384547210000278e+01 5.909534597060000038e+01
5.765199147479999908e+01 4.512795159830000102e+01 6.337497765989999721e+01
5.584302705049999815e+01 4.535378866500000328e+01 5.946951471839999925e+01
5.562396915850000312e+01 4.236937535799999921e+01 5.785716254439999773e+01
5.551942573040000184e+01 4.293100157170000131e+01 5.873180053770000342e+01
5.536439253620000045e+01 4.586432050150000350e+01 6.446544382109999560e+01
5.601580874620000117e+01 4.532177775110000084e+01 6.383980378760995222e+01
5.522183270229999863e+01 4.591330843859999788e+01 6.239036235070000203e+01
5.552475736130995188e+01 4.671884746799999988e+01 6.299182048400000156e+01
5.569300298889999823e+01 4.574124821929999740e+01 6.043186792259999862e+01
5.505789659319999885e+01 4.672642824350000268e+01 6.394446345749999949e+01
5.647888952489999781e+01 4.055610006399999889e+01 5.944827188789999894e+01
5.512435615700000113e+01 4.330096744890000338e+01 5.784002608130000311e+01
5.587834371390000143e+01 4.749533078369999828e+01 6.238585686929999952e+01
5.554561466909999723e+01 4.008492034519999692e+01 5.941969696160000325e+01
5.513332295810000261e+01 4.791230244629999646e+01 6.177737797679999687e+01
5.680377349180000124e+01 4.076690689720000194e+01 5.847625241530000295e+01
5.520251321359999963e+01 4.582912735579999719e+01 6.343219189789999746e+01
5.499600962339999910e+01 4.554144637859999989e+01 5.888039144079999687e+01
5.577575750479999783e+01 4.085686345740000291e+01 5.873738147630000128e+01
5.603135377430000119e+01 4.636511701490000092e+01 6.383143826789999764e+01
5.642135364429999811e+01 3.952228659610000250e+01 5.958435845870000236e+01
5.541103635689999862e+01 4.624251213800000215e+01 6.131094504189999839e+01

On 10/30/08 5:47 AM, "Lorenzo Isella" <lorenzo.isella at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear All,
> I am a complete newbie in visualization, so an apology in advance is
> what I ask will sound trivial.
> I am browsing several Paraview tutorials, but I am missing out what I
> really need.
> Right now, I do NOT need e.g. to plot a temperature field on a metal
> slab with a non-trivial geometry. Rather, I have a set of particles
> (each is a simple sphere) in a 3D-box. The raw data is an ascii file
> of the form:
>
> x_1  y_1  z_1
> x_2  y_2  z_2
> .............
> x_N  y_N  z_N
>
> In each position {x_i,y_i,z_i} there is a sphere having radius 0.5.
> Hence I do not have a grid but only a list of positions of some
> spheres in space.
> How should I deal with that in Paraview? Which format should I convert
> my ascii file to?
> In case it turns out to be useful to fix the ideas, I paste below an
> example case with 50 particles (each line should contain three
> numbers, but I do not know how it will be shown by your email client).
> Many thanks
>
> Lorenzo
>
> 5.488638491049999857e+01 4.533285539199999903e+01 5.990067340830000120e+01
> 5.507634645640000315e+01 4.690055020359999816e+01 6.205816942250000068e+01
> 5.611924302530000119e+01 4.584485860769999732e+01 6.292926739199999986e+01
> 5.641759022880000174e+01 4.340893347419999770e+01 5.895382539940000299e+01
> 5.693618177649999978e+01 4.489218829629999874e+01 6.410368616600000280e+01
> 5.555939302830000059e+01 4.362780979029999884e+01 5.951328359800000101e+01
> 5.554350617000000057e+01 4.188482518459999682e+01 5.878381606479999988e+01
> 5.604427505559999645e+01 4.649609805720000111e+01 6.210705354470000117e+01
> 5.530048293149999949e+01 4.624494566079999913e+01 5.959863344469999902e+01
> 5.467705995490995718e+01 4.355678678950000204e+01 5.875568285069999774e+01
> 5.621869458380000140e+01 4.439583221640000232e+01 5.924903889080000141e+01
> 5.561998122079999973e+01 4.394605972949999995e+01 5.851489735050000007e+01
> 5.690921858690000334e+01 4.582500510620000256e+01 6.362092096509999806e+01
> 5.475098914309999998e+01 4.619126324740000200e+01 6.049120611730000263e+01
> 5.641635311080000292e+01 4.243341419539999748e+01 5.854919389150000342e+01
> 5.621830122240000094e+01 3.991548769199999924e+01 5.863887904930000161e+01
> 5.719361166030000021e+01 4.174063668590000020e+01 5.835930649010000337e+01
> 5.616689354599999717e+01 4.325470363480000202e+01 5.795258720969999899e+01
> 5.579069489220000122e+01 4.498163925800000129e+01 5.848915900779999788e+01
> 5.481830772069999824e+01 4.707179765050000242e+01 6.105822532359999855e+01
> 5.564110346620000058e+01 3.912246424140000300e+01 5.901021183169999773e+01
> 5.621457283520000203e+01 4.152797633419999812e+01 5.806957834979999689e+01
> 5.719488688780000274e+01 3.994124700609999934e+01 5.900162063970000048e+01
> 5.665532662689999910e+01 4.495426231879999790e+01 6.309290282119999915e+01
> 5.580952576610000193e+01 4.721484517420000060e+01 6.137584942670000032e+01
> 5.561332834329999741e+01 4.679007541709999884e+01 6.043663970149999898e+01
> 5.518545746840000277e+01 4.457136614680000264e+01 5.923679874550000335e+01
> 5.647997341979999675e+01 4.154384547210000278e+01 5.909534597060000038e+01
> 5.765199147479999908e+01 4.512795159830000102e+01 6.337497765989999721e+01
> 5.584302705049999815e+01 4.535378866500000328e+01 5.946951471839999925e+01
> 5.562396915850000312e+01 4.236937535799999921e+01 5.785716254439999773e+01
> 5.551942573040000184e+01 4.293100157170000131e+01 5.873180053770000342e+01
> 5.536439253620000045e+01 4.586432050150000350e+01 6.446544382109999560e+01
> 5.601580874620000117e+01 4.532177775110000084e+01 6.383980378760995222e+01
> 5.522183270229999863e+01 4.591330843859999788e+01 6.239036235070000203e+01
> 5.552475736130995188e+01 4.671884746799999988e+01 6.299182048400000156e+01
> 5.569300298889999823e+01 4.574124821929999740e+01 6.043186792259999862e+01
> 5.505789659319999885e+01 4.672642824350000268e+01 6.394446345749999949e+01
> 5.647888952489999781e+01 4.055610006399999889e+01 5.944827188789999894e+01
> 5.512435615700000113e+01 4.330096744890000338e+01 5.784002608130000311e+01
> 5.587834371390000143e+01 4.749533078369999828e+01 6.238585686929999952e+01
> 5.554561466909999723e+01 4.008492034519999692e+01 5.941969696160000325e+01
> 5.513332295810000261e+01 4.791230244629999646e+01 6.177737797679999687e+01
> 5.680377349180000124e+01 4.076690689720000194e+01 5.847625241530000295e+01
> 5.520251321359999963e+01 4.582912735579999719e+01 6.343219189789999746e+01
> 5.499600962339999910e+01 4.554144637859999989e+01 5.888039144079999687e+01
> 5.577575750479999783e+01 4.085686345740000291e+01 5.873738147630000128e+01
> 5.603135377430000119e+01 4.636511701490000092e+01 6.383143826789999764e+01
> 5.642135364429999811e+01 3.952228659610000250e+01 5.958435845870000236e+01
> 5.541103635689999862e+01 4.624251213800000215e+01 6.131094504189999839e+01
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   ****      Kenneth Moreland
    ***      Sandia National Laboratories
***********
*** *** ***  email: kmorel at sandia.gov
**  ***  **  phone: (505) 844-8919
    ***      fax:   (505) 845-0833