VIZ3D Quick Start Guide

🚀 In 30 Seconds 

; 1. Create volume
volume = FLTARR(64, 64, 64)
; ... fill with your data ...

; 2. Visualize
VIZ3D_INIT
VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'VIRIDIS'
VIZ3D_VOLUME, volume, DIMENSIONS=[64, 64, 64]
VIZ3D_RENDER, /INTERACTIVE

; 3. Done! Browser opens automatically 🎉

✨ What You Get

  • ✅ Automatic browser window - No manual setup
  • ✅ 60 FPS rendering - GPU-accelerated WebGPU
  • ✅ Interactive controls - Rotate, zoom, adjust parameters
  • ✅ Multiple tabs - Run unlimited visualizations
  • ✅ No crashes - Stable and reliable

🎨 Available Colormaps 

VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'VIRIDIS'   ; Default - blue to yellow
VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'RAINBOW'   ; Full spectrum
VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'PLASMA'    ; Purple to yellow
VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'INFERNO'   ; Black to white (hot)
VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'TURBO'     ; Vibrant rainbow
VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'GRAYSCALE' ; Black to white

📋 Full Example 

; Create a 32x32x32 sphere
grid = 32
volume = FLTARR(grid, grid, grid)
center = grid / 2.0

FOR i = 0, grid-1 DO BEGIN
    FOR j = 0, grid-1 DO BEGIN
        FOR k = 0, grid-1 DO BEGIN
            dx = i - center
            dy = j - center
            dz = k - center
            r = SQRT(dx*dx + dy*dy + dz*dz)
            volume[i, j, k] = EXP(-r / 5.0)
        END
    END
END

; Visualize
VIZ3D_INIT, TITLE='My Sphere'
VIZ3D_COLORMAP, 'RAINBOW'
VIZ3D_CAMERA, POSITION=[0.0, 0.0, 3.0]
VIZ3D_VOLUME, volume, DIMENSIONS=[grid, grid, grid]
VIZ3D_RENDER, /INTERACTIVE

🎮 Browser Controls

Once the browser opens:

Action Control
Rotate Left mouse drag
Zoom Mouse wheel
Reset view Click “Reset Camera” button
Change colormap Select from dropdown
Adjust opacity Use opacity slider
Filter noise Use threshold slider

🔧 Advanced Options

Non-Interactive Mode (No Browser) 

VIZ3D_RENDER  ; Without /INTERACTIVE

Custom Window Size 

VIZ3D_INIT, WINDOW_SIZE=[1920, 1080]

Camera Position 

VIZ3D_CAMERA, POSITION=[x, y, z], TARGET=[0, 0, 0], FOV=45.0

Fallback to Native Window 

VIZ3D_BROWSER=0 ./target/release/xdl your_script.xdl

🧪 Test It 

# Quick test (32³ sphere, < 1 second)
./target/release/xdl examples/demo/viz3d_browser_test.xdl

# Full showcase (4 demos, ~60 seconds)
./target/release/xdl examples/demo/viz3d_showcase.xdl

📊 Performance

Volume Size Voxels Load Time FPS
32³ 32,768 < 100ms 60
64³ 262,144 < 500ms 45-60
128³ 2,097,152 < 2s 30-40

❓ Common Issues

Browser doesn’t open?

  • Look for URL in console: http://localhost:XXXXX
  • Manually open that URL

Black screen in browser?

  • Check volume data isn’t all zeros
  • Try a different colormap
  • Open browser DevTools (F12) for errors

“WebGPU not supported” error?

  • Update browser to Chrome 113+
  • Or enable WebGPU in browser flags

📚 More Info

  • Full Guide: VIZ3D_BROWSER_GUIDE.md
  • Test Results: VIZ3D_BROWSER_TEST_RESULTS.md
  • Implementation: VIZ3D_BROWSER_IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md

💡 Tips

  1. Start small: Test with 32³ before going to 128³
  2. Use keyboard shortcuts: Browser has its own dev tools
  3. Multiple tabs: Each demo opens in a new tab - view side by side!
  4. Keep XDL running: Server needs to stay active for browser to work

Ready to visualize? Just run your XDL script and watch your data come to life! 🎨