The Rendering page of the Performance dialog has the following options:
• Use Auto Redraw When selected, Tecplot RS will automatically redraw the plot whenever style or data changes. Some users prefer to turn this option off while setting multiple style settings and then click the Redraw All button in the toolbar to see the updated plot.
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To interrupt an auto-redraw, click your pointer or press any key.• Subdivide all volume cells (to resolve saddle point issues) Turn on this control to eliminate holes in iso-surfaces near saddle points. When turned on, all cells are subdivided for the purpose of contouring, slicing, and isosurface generation. This layout property applies to all frames and iso-surfaces.
• Approximate Plots for Better Speed When selected, Tecplot RS builds an approximate representation of the plot. The following settings control the degree of detail of the approximation:
• Automatic (Default) When the number of data points exceeds the point threshold, Tecplot RS will render the approximate plot for style, data, and interactive view changes, followed immediately by the full plot. This option provides for good interactive performance with the final plot always displayed in the full representation.
• Non-Active Frames Always Approximated When only one frame exists, this option acts the same as the automatic mode. When the plot contains multiple frames, Tecplot RS sets the active frame to automatic mode while approximating the other frames.
• All Frames Always Approximated When the number of data points exceeds the point threshold, Tecplot RS renders the approximate plot in all frames. To see the full representation, click the Redraw All button in the toolbar.
• Point Threshold for Automatic Approximation This value controls when Tecplot RS will consider using approximate plots. The optimal value to use depends highly on the computer's hardware capabilities.
• Approximate Plot as % of Full Plot This value controls the percentage of geometric detail represented by the approximate plot. The larger the percentage the more closely the approximation represents the original plot. However, the interactive performance is reduced. This number should be adjusted until there is a balance between good interactive performance and sufficient detail. Typically, the percentage should be set to be less than or equal to 50. If values larger than 50% are needed to provide sufficient detail, consider not using approximate plots.
Tecplot RS uses OpenGL to render plots. OpenGL provides the ability to cache graphic instructions for rendering and can re-render the cached graphics much faster. This increases speed for interactive manipulation of a plot. However, this performance potential comes at the cost of using more memory. If the memory need is too high, the overall performance could be less.
Use one of the following Graphics Cache modes to optimize your computer’s performance:
• Cache All Graphics (Default) When selected, Tecplot RS assumes that there is enough memory to generate the graphics cache. If this is valid, Tecplot RS's rendering performance will be optimal for interactive manipulation of plots.
• Cache Only Lightweight Graphics Objects Lightweight objects include approximate plots and some other minor items, but do not include full plots. This is a good setting for memory constrained problems. Consider using this option in conjunction with the “Plot Approximation” mode set to “All Frames Always Approximated”.
• Do Not Cache Graphics Consider using this option when memory constraints are very limited. If you intend to interact with the plot, also consider setting the “Plot Approximation” mode set to “All Frames Always Approximated”.
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Tecplot RS supports high quality TrueType font usage. Windows platforms include the TrueType fonts used by Tecplot RS. On the Linux platforms, the fonts have to be obtained and installed.
Tecplot RS has three high quality font modes:
• When Possible (Default setting for Windows) Tecplot RS uses any of its TrueType fonts that are available for any size text. This produces the best rendering quality; however, performance is slower for large amounts of text.
• For Large Characters Only Tecplot RS uses the TrueType fonts for large characters only. Small characters will use Tecplot RS's built-in stroke fonts. This is a good blend of quality and performance.
• Never Tecplot RS never uses TrueType fonts. This is the default mode for platforms other than Windows and Linux 32 bit operating systems.
Some graphics cards’ hardware does not support off-screen rendering (needed for exporting images). In addition, most graphic hardware produces images off-screen slower than on-screen.
To accommodate a variety of graphic hardware Tecplot RS provides two image export modes:
• Safe (Render Image Off-Screen) (Default) Tecplot RS will render all exported images off-screen. This allows creation of images not bound by the physical size and state of the Tecplot RS drawing area.
• Fast (Use On-Screen Image) Tecplot RS will grab the pixels from the physical Tecplot RS drawing area. Any rendering damage, such as occluding windows or partially drawn images will become part of the exported image. In addition, the image size is bound by the physical size of the Tecplot RS drawing area.
Best Practices For Rendering Performance
The factory settings in the Performance dialog are designed for moderately sized data and occasionally may need to be adjusted to optimize Tecplot RS's rendering performance.
There are many combinations of Plot Approximation and Graphics Cache modes. However, two combinations meet most user's needs:
• When visualizing moderate to large size data sets:
• Toggle-on “Plot Approximation”
•When using one frame, set the Plot Approximation mode to “Automatic” (Default).
•When using multiple frames, set the Plot Approximation mode to “Non-Active Frames Always Approximated”.
• Set the Graphics Cache mode to Cache All Graphics.
• When visualizing large to very large size data:
• Set the Graphics Cache mode to “Cache only Lightweight Graphics Objects”.
• For ordered data, setting the Plot Approximation mode to “All Frames Always Approximated” can be helpful.
• For finite element data, toggle-off “Plot Approximation” to reduce up-front load time. However, this setting may result in unacceptably slow view changes (rotation, translation, zooming, etc.).
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The size of the data isn’t the only factor when rendering in Tecplot With either case, adjust the “Approximate Plot as% of Full Plot” value to give an acceptable balance between interactive performance and plot detail.
See Miscellaneous for information about the second page of the dialog.