[vtkusers] Creating billboard particle effects (e.g., smoke, fire)

[Ken Martin]

It depends on the specifics of the implementation but as a start

1) vtkPointGaussianMapper  will draw billboard triangles and execute a
possibly user defined sharer on them. This can be used to draw translucent
splats/discs/squares/etc. based on the shader  provided.

2) if you are thinking more as point sprites (fixed pixel size as opposed
to world coord size) you can use the regular polydata mapper with a point
size and then shade it/texture it

3) If you have 3D elements (as opposed to billboards) then you could use
vtkGlyph3DMapper which under the hood uses opengl instancing to replicate
geometry.

4) if you mostly want spheres or cylinders then there are dedicated mappers
for those which is what the molecule mapper uses under the hood. Those
mappers have the code to properly compute z values based on sphere/cylinder
equations so they are not exactly billboards but more impostors.





On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 12:12 PM, Milef, Nicholas Boris <milefn at rpi.edu>
wrote:

> What would be the best way to create billboard particle effects such as
> smoke or fire? Should I use the vtkMoleculeMapper?
>
> Example:
> http://www.opengl-tutorial.org/intermediate-tutorials/
> billboards-particles/particles-instancing/
>
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-- 
Ken Martin PhD
Distinguished Engineer
Kitware Inc.
28 Corporate Drive
Clifton Park NY 12065

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