Visualization

ParaView, wherethe results already are

A 200 GB result should not have to move to be seen.Render it on the machine that wrote it, and watch in a tab.

ParaView 6.1.14 cores · 8 GBOpens in a browser tab
hub://paraview

$ dxflow workflow create --identity paraview hub://paraview --start --link

01Pick a machinecores, memory and a rate per hour
02Create the workflowpulled from the hub, once
03Run it, then stopstopped when the work is done
The application

Every filter,nothing to install

The MPI build with Python 3.10, and every filter that ships with it.

Pipeline browser

Chain a reader, a filter and a view. Point that chain at your next case and it all runs again.

Slice, clip and probe

Cut a plane through the volume, throw half of it away, and read the value at any single point.

Volume rendering

Iso-surfaces, transfer functions and ray tracing over 3D fields, coloured however you want it.

Time series

Step through the timesteps, set a camera path, and write it out as frames or a finished movie.

Python 3.10

Trace what you clicked, then replay that script headless with pvpython across a hundred cases.

Any dataset

Structured and unstructured meshes, point clouds, polygonal data and volumes, in one pipeline.

How you run it

Every defaultis one override away

The session reads its settings from the environment, so you set them on the start line.

VNC_PASSWORDWhat the tab asks for. It ships as dxflow, and everyone reading this knows that.
PANEL and TASKBARBoth hidden, so the render view has the whole screen. Show either one to get the desktop back.
AUDIOOff here. Turn it on and an animation plays with its sound.
start it your way

$ dxflow workflow start paraview --override env.app.VNC_PASSWORD=something-long

$ dxflow workflow start paraview --override env.app.TASKBAR=show --link

The session

One tab, andthe app fills it

A Linux desktop streamed to your browser, with ParaView already maximized.

6082Browserin the tab, at /vnc.html
5901VNCin a native client
/volumeStorageyour work, kept between runs
Open it from anywhereStart with --link and the session comes back on an HTTPS address.
Set a password firstVNC_PASSWORD defaults to dxflow, and everyone can read this page.
Good to know

It renders on the CPUuntil you give it a card

Software OpenGL carries the view by default, which is enough right up until the dataset is not.

Big scenes want a GPU

Volume rendering and ray tracing over a heavy mesh go from a wait to a drag. A card turns the view interactive again.

Memory before pixels

A large dataset is a memory problem first. Give the step room to hold the mesh before worrying about the frame rate.

Trace once, replay forever

Python 3.10 is in the build. Record what you clicked, then run it headless with pvpython over every case you have.

The image

Pulled once,then it stays

ParaView arrives as one image. This is what comes down the first time, and what the disk should have free for it.

1.3Gamd64compressed, the way the registry counts it
20GOn diskunpacked, with room to work beside it
What it asks for

What it wants,and what it needs

The definition asks for 4 cores and 8 GB. The image comes up on less than that, and a start given --fit trims the ask to whatever the machine actually has.

4 cores · 8 GBAsks forwhat the definition writes down
2 cores · 4 GBRuns onthe least the image comes up on
Not neededGPUit works on the cores alone
The ask is not the floorThe definition writes down what suits the work. The image itself starts on less, which is what the second figure is.
--fit caps it to the hostA start given --fit trims each step to what the machine actually has, for that start alone. The definition is never rewritten.

Machines that fit it

ParaView asks for 4 cores and 8 GB. Cheapest first.

E2 Standard-4
$0.168/ hour4 cores · 16 GBStart this machine
B4ms
$0.208/ hour4 cores · 16 GBStart this machine
T3 XLarge
$0.208/ hour4 cores · 16 GBStart this machine
Run ParaView on your own machinePick a machine that meets it, and it opens about a minute after you ask.