Surface viewer

The Surface Viewer interface is available from the toolbar when viewing three-dimensional image data. It allows investigation of a univariate (single variable, i.e. "gray scale") 3D image viewing the result as both slices through the 3D volume and as a 3D surface taken at a specific gray-scale threshold level.

The interface consists of two plots, an interactive colorbar threshold control, and several toolbar buttons (Hover the pointer over a toolbar button to view a tool-tip of the button's functionality).

3D Surface Plot

The left-most plot shows the entire 3D space displayed as a surface where the value of the gray scale data passes through a given threshold. Points which are below and above the threshold are transparent "voids". The colorbar threshold control on the far right of the window shows the current surface threshold value as a heavy black horizontal bar. The threshold is also shown on the title of the 3D plot.

2D Slice Plot

The plot between the 3D surface plot and the colorbar shows a 2D "slice" through the 3D space. It displays the corresponding gray-scale values in a false-color map (with color / value correspondence as shown in the colorbar). The location in which the slice is taken is shown as a semi-transparent gray "plane" in the 3D surface plot as well as in the title of the 2D surface plot.

Interactivity

• Clicking any point in the 3D surface plot moves the 2D slice location to that point.
• Clicking the "Slicing mode" toolbar button rotates the slice direction between the three spatial directions.
• Clicking the colorbar changes the 3D surface threshold to the value clicked.
• Clicking any point in the 2D slice plot changes the 3D surface threshold to the value at the point clicked.
• Clicking the "Opacity" toolbar button adjusts the opacity of the slice plane displayed in the 3D surface plot.
• Clicking the "Rotate 3D" toolbar button enables/disabled the 3D rotate mode in which a click/drag operation on the 3D surface rotates the surface.
• Right-Clicking either the 3D or 2D plot gives a context menu including the option to "Spawn Static View" which creates a copy the current view for the clicked plot.