86168-2 The definitive, practical guide to rendering 3D discrete data! Volume rendering is the next revolution in computer graphics -- and this is your guide to the revolution. Start by understanding exactly what 3D volume rendering is, and how it differs from conventional computer graphics. Next, walk step-by-step through the volume rendering process -- including data acquisition, representation, storage, shading, classification, resampling and compositing. *Discover the most important applications for volume rendering *Learn the fundamentals, including transformation, classification, shading and composition *Manage key tradeoffs, including rendering performance, quality and precision *Discover great resources: periodicals, software, databases, Web sites and more *Hands-on techniques: easy-to-follow examples Once, volume rendering was limited to specialized medical applications --and it required supercomputer power. Today, it's everywhere: in science, engineering, even in computer games. For today's engineers, developers and students, this is must-know technology. You only need two things to get started: a C compiler and Introduction to Volume Rendering. CD-ROM included.Experiment to your heart's content! The accompanying CD-ROM includes comprehensive C source code, executable programs and data sets -- everything you need to learn volume rendering. Combined the authors have a broad base of volume rendering, imaging and computer graphics experience both within and outside of Hewlett-Packard Company. At Hewlett-Packard, they worked together to design the hardware and software medical imaging accelerators. Separately, they have designed MRI scanning software, optical scanning hardware, computer architectures and computer graphics systems. 0-13-861683-3