[vtkusers] ANN: MayaVi-1.3 released

[Prabhu Ramachandran]

Hi,

This is to announce the availability of the MayaVi Data Visualizer
version 1.3.

MayaVi is a free, easy to use, scientific data visualizer.  It is
written in Python and uses the Visualization Toolkit (VTK) for the
graphics.  It provides a GUI written using Tkinter.  MayaVi is free
and distributed under a BSD license.  It is also cross platform and
should run on any platform where both Python and VTK are available.

For more information, sources, binaries, screenshots, installation
instructions, documentation etc. visit the MayaVi home page at:

	http://mayavi.sourceforge.net

Also bundled with MayaVi is a VTK pipeline browser written in Python
and a utility module that makes using VTK easier from the Python
interpreter.

New in this release:

    * New Modules:
      - Volume: Volume visualization using either texture or ray cast
        mappers.  A useful GUI color transfer function editor is also
        built-in.
      - Glyph: Generic glyphs for scalars and vectors.
      - BandedSurfaceMap: Display banded contours of input data.
      - Labels: Automatic labeling of data used in other modules.
      - Text: Display 2D text strings.

    * New Filters:
      - ExtractGrid: Select part of a grid or subsample it.
      - StructuredPointsProbe: Probes any input data onto a structured
        points grid so the data can be used for Volume visualization.
      - Delaunay3D/Delaunay2D: Triangulate input point data.
      - UserDefined: Manage any user specified VTK filter.
      - CutPlane: Cut through any input dataset with a plane.

    * Support for VTK's new XML based files and for EnSight case files
      (EnSight6 and EnSightGold formats are supported).

    * Improved VectorCutPlane and VelocityVector so you can use a 3D
      arrow and any of the standard 2D glyphs.

    * The 'imv' module is now part of the mayavi.tools package.  imv
      is a simple MayaVi based module that provides Matlab like one
      liners to view 2D surfaces and arrays from the Python
      interpreter.

    * Support to save rendered scene to vector EPS/PS/PDF or save the
      text to TeX output using GL2PS.  Requires VTK to be built with
      GL2PS support (the MayaVi binaries support this).  Also added
      support for exporting to a Wavefront OBJ file.

    * Support to save the stereo rendering options, the lookup table
      settings and the lighting as defaults.
    
    * Default lookup tables have better contrast.  28 user contributed
      lookup tables are also included in the sources.  Any lookup
      table can be reversed.

    * Improved vtkPipeline modules:
      - ConfigVtkObj: Separated functionality of the ConfigVtkObj
        class into a separate ConfigVtkObjFrame and a driver class.
        More options to generate GUI's automatically.
      - VtkPickler: Can save/load state from a dictionary.      

    * Fixes for Python-2.3 and Tk-8.4 related changes.

    * Fixes for the Mac OS X.

    * Many other fixes and improvements.


Acknowledgements:

 Many thanks to the following folks.
  - Gerard Gorman: initial volume module with GUI CTF editor.
  - Axel Steuwer: initial Delaunay3D filter.
  - Richard Boardman: patch for OBJ export.
  - Fernando Perez and Arnd Baecker: user contributed lookup tables.
  - P. N. Badri Narayanan: Win32 VTK DLL's.
  - Thanks also to others who reported bugs and sent in bug fixes.


Have fun!
prabhu