Work

Houdini for Astrophysical Visualization

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: The rapid growth in scale and complexity of both computational and observational astrophysics over the past decade necessitates efficient and intuitive methods for examining and visualizing large data sets. Here, we discuss some newly developed tools used to import and manipulate astrophysical data into the three-dimensional visual effects software, Houdini. This software is widely used by visual effects artists, but a recently implemented Python API now allows astronomers to more easily use Houdini as a visualization tool. This paper includes a description of features, workflow, and various example visualizations. The project website, www.ytini.com , is aimed at a scientific audience and contains Houdini tutorials and links to the Python script Bitbucket repository to simplify the process of importing and rendering astrophysical data.

Source: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/aa51b3

Authors: J. P. Naiman, Kalina Borkiewicz, A. J. Christensen

Institutions: Harvard University, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Language: English

Topic: Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques

Subfield: Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Science Foundation

Awards: Understanding How Stars Form in the Building Blocks of Galaxies - Gas Dynamics in Dwarf Galaxies and Star Clusters, The Centrality of Advanced Digitally ENabled Science: CADENS