[Paraview] special field-data annotation filter or similar functionality

[Dr. Roman Grothausmann]

Dear mailing list members,


Is there a filter in paraview that allows one to display specific field-data 
(e.g. of points or cells) at the 3D position of the corresponding point/cell in 
such a way that the annotation is hidden if some mesh or voxel object is in 
front? Or if the objects in front have some transparency the annotations are 
only visible as much as the transparency of the objects in front dictates?
I know about the possibility of displaying selection labels via the Find-Dialog.
However these annotations are
- always in front,
- cannot be made partially transparent (as I think was possible in older 
paraview versions than 4.1.0 when vtkVectorText was used) and
- only the active selection can be annotated, ie not multiple datasets.

I found this example in which the text is not always rendered in front of the axes:
https://github.com/Kitware/VTK/blob/master/Examples/Annotation/Python/textOrigin.py
However it uses vtkVectorText (which is not exportable as text into e.g. SVGs 
however vtkTextActor3D is).
I now wonder if only vtkVectorText allows being hidden by other objects or if 
some settings of vtkTextActor3D are not offered for adjustment in the Find-Dialog?
In any case a paraview filter that would offer all 3 features mentioned above 
would be really helpful. Are there any reasons that such a filter cannot be 
implemented in paraview at the present state?
Can such functionality be implemented in general with the current state of VTK?

Any help or hints are very much appreciated
Roman

-- 
Dr. Roman Grothausmann

Tomographie und Digitale Bildverarbeitung
Tomography and Digital Image Analysis

Institut für Funktionelle und Angewandte Anatomie, OE 4120
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1
D-30625 Hannover

Tel. +49 511 532-9574