Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!samsung!emory!att!cbnewsl!sdo
From: sdo@cbnewsl.att.com (scott.orshan)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.visualization
Subject: Re: Help: Creating 3-D mesh from arbitrary points.
Keywords: mesh, points, tesselation, triangulation
Message-ID: <1991Feb15.194736.1887@cbnewsl.att.com>
Date: 15 Feb 91 19:47:36 GMT
References: <1991Feb14.190639.26922@lynx.CS.ORST.EDU>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 34

In article <1991Feb14.190639.26922@lynx.CS.ORST.EDU> johng@OCE.ORST.EDU (John A. Gregor) writes:
>We have a relatively large (several thousand) set of ocean samples in
>3-D that we want to visualize.  Unfortunately, all the tools we have
>demand that the data be represented as gridded data or as a connected
>mesh (either tetrahedrons xor hexahedrons).  Any pointers to routines
>or literature to accomplish this would be greatly appreciated.
>

There's a scientific graphics package (for DOS) called Graftool.
It has a built in spreadsheet, and one of its capabilities is
that it will convert a list of (x,y,z) points into a grid.
This is usually done as a prelude to plotting the surface.

It "uses an inverse-distance weighting algorithm to generate a
rectangular M by N grid of points over a specified range of the
two independent variables, x and y.  At each point in the grid,
an x, y, and z value is computed ..."

You can specify weighting, normalization, and the power used in
the inverse-distance weighting to affect the smoothness of the
surface generated.

This program does quite a lot, and it costs $495. (They have a demo
version for $15).

It is a product of 3-D Visions Corp, 213-540-8818.

I'm not connected with them in any way, except as a customer.


Scott Orshan
UNIX Systems Labs
908-522-5063
sdo@attunix.att.com