Under construction

Visualizing External Data in Shape

As we know very well, AstroBEAR generates simulations in HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format), i.e. Chombo, files. As far as we know Shape has not yet been developed to import HDF5. Currently it accepts ASCII files. Therefore the simulations you want to visualize will need to be in ASCII form.

Shape can read and visualize 3D simulations. However make sure that the columns in your ASCII file are converted to a 3D Cartesian coordinate system. You will need a minimum of 7 columns, of the form: px, py, pz, vx, vy, vz, n. Where all pi are the positions in (x, y, z), all vi are the respective velocities, and n is the density. One can also have a column for temperature T, and pressure P. Unlike VisIt, where you visualize the time evolution of a simulation frame-by-frame, Shape will only require one frame to be visualized. In Shape, you can rotate it and study the morphology at that instant. It may be best to visualize with VisIt first, pick your frame, and then convert it to ASCII. See the Before Starting section for more on this.

Remember that Shape's goal is to be a software that reduces restrictions on physical assumptions so that astronomers can make a realistic reconstruction of an astrophysical object's morphology. Thus the software is useful for defining 3D structural elements to create a model that can be optimized to fit an observation. Here, by importing external data, we are approaching from the opposite angle. We are using a code to generate a simulation of an object, or phenomena, that is comparable to actual astrophysical objects. In Shape we can then visualize, and compare these simulations more easily with observation. Expect the animations you make with Shape to not look as defined as those one could make in VisIt with the same simulation, as they are meant to look like emission maps.

Links

• ​Shape Developers' Documentation on External Data Visualization

• ​Shape Developers' YouTube Tutorial on External Data Visualization

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In this tutorial in visualizing external data in Shape, we will be visualizing a sphere generated by the following script:

Pseudo ASCII data generator (python)

import random
from math import pi,sin,cos

#Creating Sphere Dataz                                                                                                         
def createSphere(r=5, N=100):
    lst = []
    for phi in [(pi*i)/(N-1) for i in range(N)]:
        M = int(sin(phi)*(N-1))+1
        for theta in [(2*pi*i)/M for i in range(M)]:
            x = r * sin(phi) * cos(theta)
            y = r * sin(phi) * sin(theta)
            z = r * cos(phi)
            lst.append((x, y, z))
    return lst

#Opens/creates new ascii file                                                                                                  
outfile = open("test_sphere_7col.dat", "w")

#Writes the data to the file                                                                                                   
for x,y,z in createSphere():
    rho = random.random()*1000000
    vx = random.random()*10
    vy = random.random()*100
    vz = random.random()                                                                                                      
    print("{0}\t{1}\t{2}\t{3}\t{4}\t{5}\t{6}".format(x,y,z,vx,vy,vz,rho), file=outfile)

#Closes the file                                                                                                               
outfile.close()

a file generated by the script can be found in the attachments, titled test_sphere_7col.dat. In the following sections you'll observe how we come to visualize its "emission map." We suggest downloading the attachment and following along with the tutorial.

Tutorial by Example

Before Starting:

Before Starting

1. Make sure your simulation is in ASCII form. Hopefully you will find this ​guide on how to convert HDF5 to ASCII helpful.

2. (Currently Subjected to Testing) The basic format you will want for your ASCII file is a series of 7 columns minimum. They will be of the form: px,py,pz,vx,vy,vz,n, the Cartesian coordinates of position, velocity and the density.

3. Import the data into Excel. Take the averages of all of the columns. You can open the file in terminal and scroll to the bottom to determine how many lines there are. You will use these values later to center your data.

Figure 1. A screen shot of the Excel spreadsheet, where the pseudo sphere ASCII data was imported (test_sphere_7col.dat). The averages are bolded. Headers are above the averages, and the raw data below.

4. Once you have looked at your data to see what format it is in (number of columns, delimiters), and gotten the averages for each column, you can open Shape.

5. Create a new project: File → New.

6. Click on the 3D Module, it looks like a 2x2x2 cube.

3D Module:

3D Module

When you first open the 3D Module, it will look like this:

Figure 2. A screen shot of the 3D Module once a new project is opened.

Now following the numbers in Figure 3:

Figure 3. A screen shot of the 3D Module after creating a mesh sphere.

In order to import external data, we will need to use one of the mesh objects listed at the top of the 3D Module (Figures 2 & 3) (Sphere, Torus, Cone, Cube, Plane, Cylinder, etc.) to carry it into the software. This is all done in this module, and then we visualize it in the Render Module. We start in the General tab.

1. In this case we chose the sphere. Simply click the icon, then click in any of the four windows. Then click again to choose the size of the sphere. The size does not matter, as we will get rid of the sphere later on. We just need it to carry the data into Shape.

2. Note that under the general tab we can change the name of the object. We do this here in Figure 4 (below), to External Sphere. You don't have to change it. But it might be useful in case you want to import other simulations in the same session.

3. Choose the ASCII format, as that is the format our simulation is in. Then click the square button next to the drop down tab, to import the data in the Input Parameters dialog. This is what it looks like before we direct Shape to where our ASCII file is.

Figures 4 & 5. (left) The 3D module after opening the ASCII renderer, and having changed the name of the mesh object. (right) The input parameters for the ASCII simulation we are aiming to import into Shape.

On Input Properties:

Input

1. Filename: The path used to reach your ASCII file is input here.
2. dNum: Keep this as the default (1E4).
3. Format: As seen in Figure 4 the default is px,py,pz,n,vx,vy,vz,T,P. These are all the variable columns you may input to shape: position, density, velocity, temperature, and pressure. However in this case we are simply going to use the position, velocity coordinates, and density. Therefore the format will be px,py,pz,vx,vy,vz,n.
4. Comment: How comments are denoted in your ASCII file. Keep the default of #.
5. n: Keep this as the default (1).
6. Lines per entry: How many rows are in your ASCII file? Open the file in whatever text editor your prefer, and get the number for the last line. In this example there were 6284 rows, or lines per entry.

Column Separator

How is your file delimited? Typically when you input the filename Shape will adjust the column separator automatically. However check that it is correct.

Center

For the x,y,z inputs, enter the averages from your Excel file for the position coordinates. If you click to detect extents after entering the averages, they should be 0,0,0.

Preview

Allows you to preview your data file.

Now you have imported your data. However you will not be able to see it in the 3D Module yet. Now move onto the Modifiers tab.

Figure 6. Under the Modifiers tab in the 3D Module.

After importing the data under the General tab, we now move to the Modifiers tab. There you will see two modifiers (temperature, density). Delete these using the X button, while they are highlighted. A new window will appear asking if you want to delete these.

Now we will want to move into the Physics Module:

Image 7. In 3D Module directing you to the Physics Module for the purpose of creating a species for our emission map to be viewed in the Render Module.

Click the icon at the top of the Shape GUI that looks like a chalkboard. Now move on to the next section of this tutorial.

Physics Module:

Physics Module

In this section of the tutorial, we will be making a species for our emission map. To do this we will need to create a new custom species, and edit the emission coefficient so that it uses a Gaussian template. Depending on what sort of simulation you've made, you may want to do something different.

Image 8. Screen capture of the default physics module. Note the red circle, indicating where to create a new species.

Click the Add button at the top of the Physics Module. After doing this, you will be prompted to add a certain type of species. There are many options, however here we will choose Custom.

Image 9. Prompt for adding a species. Here we have selected a Custom species.

Once you have clicked Ok the Physics Module will now give you the option to edit a Custom species. The module will look similar to what is presented in Image 10 (sans red text, of course).

3D Module:

3D Module

Render Module:

Render Module