Introduction to 3D Imaging

Image-Pro with 3D Module only

Image-Pro includes a volume renderer, animation tools, and 3D object measurement tools. Volume rendering enables you to view an image stack, or a portion of an image stack, as a three dimensional space, with width, height, and depth, from any 'camera' point of view. Animation allows you to create a moving image sequence that rotates the volume, showing it from many different points of view.  The measurement tools allow you to automatically identify 3D objects of interest (using threshold segmentation), make manual measurements of features on the iso-surfaces of the objects, and make measurements of the various volumetric dimensions of the 3D objects.

In volume rendering, light emission and light absorption parameters are assigned to each point of the volume. Each of these points is called a voxel; that is, a 3-dimensional version of a pixel. Voxels have height, width, and depth, as well as intensity characteristics. Simulating the transmission of light through the volume makes it possible to display your data from any view in any direction. 

The 3D Viewer window allows you to examine an image stack in a variety of different ways: by volume, in slices, and as an animated display. In the 3D Viewer, all geometric objects are shown in 3D space. It can be regarded as a virtual camera which can be moved to any arbitrary position within or around the 3D scene.

The 3D Workspace

Image sequence files containing X, Y, and Z data for a given scene can be shown in the 3D Viewer by opening them and selecting the 3D option on the Image tab.

When you click this option, Image-Pro switches to the 3D Viewer mode which depicts a 3D view of the image sequence in a new window in the application workspace. When the 3D Viewer is first displayed, you can click and drag the mouse in the image to rotate the volume and look at it from different 'camera' points of view.

The 3D View Options Panel

There is an options panel just to the right of the 3D Viewer window. This panel has a toolbar with tools you can use for obtaining 'slice' views of the volume. Under the toolbar is a panel of controls that allow you to configure the 3D view of the image. It also provides controls. Click here for more information.

Viewing Volumes in the 3D Viewer

When the 3D Viewer is displayed, the 3D View tab is opened in the ribbon bar. The options on this tab allow you to optimize the way the volume looks in the 3D viewer, create animations, and much more. The various groups of the 3D View tab are listed below. Click on the group about which you want to learn more:

• Input
• Navigate
• Voxel Size
• Decoration
• View Style
• Composition
• Geometry
• Volume of Interest
• Animation Settings
  

Measuring Volumes in the 3D Viewer

The advanced 3D rendering allows you to have Image-Pro auto-detect 3D objects of interest (using threshold segmentation), add iso-surfaces to them, and obtain many different kinds of measurements about them. 3D object count and measurement options are available on the 3D Measure tab. This tab is only enabled when you are viewing a volume in the 3D viewer. The various groups of the 3D Measure tab are listed below. Click on the group about which you want to learn more:

• Navigate
• Count
• Volume Measurements
• Measurements
• Active Tool
• Derived Measurements
• View

Creating Animations

The Animation tab contains the tools for creating simple animations and movie files. The Animation feature allows you to create, record, and play animation files (*.anm) in the Image-Pro 3D workspace. This tab is only enabled when you are viewing a volume in the 3D viewer. Go to the Animation Tab topic to learn more about this feature.