Visualization of vector fields using seed LIC and volume rendering

Line Integral Convolution (LIC) is a powerful texture-based technique for visualizing vector fields. Due to the high computational expense of generating the 3D textures and the difficulties of effectively displaying the result, LIC has most commonly been used to depict vector fields in 2D or over a surface in 3D. Here, we propose new methods for more effective volume visualization of three-dimensional vector fields using LIC: 1) We present a fast method for computing volume LIC textures that exploits the sparsity of the input texture. 2) We propose the use of a shading technique, called limb darkening, to reveal the depth relations among the field lines. The shading effect is obtained simply by using appropriate transfer functions and, therefore, avoids using expensive shading techniques. 3) We demonstrate how two-field visualization techniques can be used to enhance the visual information describing a vector field. The volume LIC textures are rendered using texture-based rendering techniques, which allows interactive exploration of a vector field.