This site is here for reference purposes. Starting from the 2011/2012, the DataVis practical is being replaced by four free-style projects. More information available on the new IN4086 course website.
IN4086P Visualisation Practical
Welcome to the IN4086P Visualisation Practical guide.
Register for the practical
Register for the practical as soon as possible by filling in this online form.
Important dates
- The practical runs for 6.5 weeks from Thursday November 11 2010 to Thursday January 6, 2011 (there will be no official practicals in the weeks starting on Monday December 20 and Monday December 27).
- The practical is scheduled for Tuesday afternoons (13.30 - 17.30) and Thursday mornings (8.30 - 12.30) in Drebbelweg 5 rooms 1.160 and 1.170.
The first five (5) exercises should all have been demonstrated by the end of the morning on Thursday, January 6, 2011.
The deadline for submitting your freestyle visualization (exercise 6) report by email to c.p.botha at-sign tudelft dot nl is Friday, January 21, 2011.
Results will be announced during a short award ceremony on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 12:45 in EEMCS Lecture Room A. Presence at this 30 minute ceremony is compulsory for the successful completion of the DataVis practical.
Other Important Information
Before you start, read all of the following:
The Software
VERY IMPORTANT: for exercises 1 and 3 to 5, you need to reboot into Linux and make sure that you're running ParaView 3.8.
- This version has been patched to make available shading in the Volume Visualisation exercise.
- In addition, the source code is available so that you can do the programming exercise and use the LEA plugin in the flow visualisation exercise.
If you're going to work at home, you can download your own ParaView 3.8. Things that might NOT work:
- Shading in the Volume Visualisation exercise.
- The programming exercise. You need your own build-from-source for this.
- The LEA plugin in the flow visualisation exercise. You need your own build-from-source for this.
Building your own (modified) version of ParaView from source is not recommended. However, some instructions are available if you really want to do this.
- For the infovis exercise, you need to reboot into Windows and use XMDV. There is unfortunately no Linux version of this specific software available.
If Paraview built-in help doesn't work, try this: http://paraview.org/OnlineHelpCurrent/
DOs and DON'Ts
- Drop by in the first week to register for this course (give your name and e-mail address to one of the assistants). If you want to join the second week or later, you're going to need a good excuse.
- Work in pairs. Both of you have to be present when we check the exercises and both have to be able to explain your work. If one of the group is not present, the exercise will not be checked off for that person.
- Under no circumstances are you allowed to copy the work of your colleagues. Should you decide to do this in spite of our warning, you will fail the IN4086P practical. This warning may seem unnecessary, but past experience has taught us otherwise. Of course, discussion is allowed and even encouraged, but copying is strictly forbidden.
- Do let us check each exercise when it is finished, one at a time. Do not come by with a pile of paper asking us to check all exercises at once. We cannot do that, we do not have the time, there are more students who need our help.
- Do put titles and axis labels in your figures, use correct tick marks and labels, possibly a legend. Check your use of color, your axis scaling and your graph types. A figure can and will be rejected immediately without looking at the contents if these things are not correct.
- Regularly check this website during the course. It is the authoritative source of current information and might have important announcements during the course.
Read the FAQ (frequently asked questions) BEFORE you begin!
Some help before you start
Save often! ParaView is reasonably stable, but it's quite easy to start an operation that will take a long time. You can wait, but you might be better off killing ParaView and reloading your work. Use Save State to save the whole network rather than just the data.
The Exercises
There are 6 questions in total. Question 6 is a compulsory freestyle/competition question.
This practical is worth 2 ECTS points, or 56 hours, and runs for 6.5 weeks. This means that you will have to spend significant time outside of practical hours working on this. For example, if you decide to come for one day per week for six weeks that this practical runs, you will still have to spend 56 - 6 * 4 = 32 hours in your own time. Those who work more efficiently will of course be able to finish this in less time: In our experience, students who work quickly finish the first 5 exercises in 6 afternoons. Take in mind that the last question (the competition question 6), although it's a lot more fun, will take significantly more time than any of the other exercises.