Does anyone know what types of visualization development library is good for flow visualization. I want to know especially for those that are used for commercial software postprocessing. Please give me some hints on this. Now I am using visual C++ to develop a GUI that includes flow pattern snapshots during running of the numerical model. It is expected to be too time-consuming if I do programming by using openGL. Some specific suggestions are welcome on some topics such as contour plotting, color mapping, etc.

(1). I have seen two commonly used graphic libraries, namely, (a). OpenGL which is available for workstations and PC/Windows, (b). Hoops which is also available for both the workstations and the PC. (from AutoCAD company, originally from MIT?) (2). It is quite involved in developing graphic programs. Therefore, in most cases, they are not available in source code form. (3). You can take a look at the PC related journals or Internet sites, to see if there are the so-called thiry party graphic library available. (4). Base on my experience in graphic programming, the code usually is much longer than the cfd counter-part.

Hi Dear Soofuu If you are writing your programs in C or C++ I think it will be helpfull to make use of MathLink feature of Mathematica, by use of this capability you can transfer your commands and data from a link to the Mathematica program and then you can maje use of the feattures like three dimmensional parametric plot and animating you graphical outputs and save the results in postscript or avi format... I suggest to check the web site www.wolfram.com Reza

Hi!

You should maybe have a look at the visualization toolkit. It has all the stuff you need for 3D flow visualization (contours, streamlines, vectors ...). Check out <A HREF="http://www.kitware.com/vtk.html">www.kitware.com/vtk.html</a>.

Oliver