Skip to content

Scalar Quantities

Visualize scalar (real or integer)-valued data at the elements of a surface mesh.

Example: 

import numpy as np
import polyscope as ps
ps.init()

N_vert = 100
N_face = 250
vertices = np.random.rand(N_vert, 3) # (V,3) vertex position array
faces = np.random.randint(0, N_vert, size=(N_face,3)) # (F,3) array of indices 
                                                      # for triangular faces

ps_mesh = ps.register_surface_mesh("my mesh", vertices, faces)

# visualize some random data per-vertex
vals_vert = np.random.rand(N_vert)
ps_mesh.add_scalar_quantity("rand vals", vals_vert, enabled=True)

# visualize some random data per-face
vals_face = np.random.rand(N_face)
ps_mesh.add_scalar_quantity("rand vals2", vals_face, defined_on='faces')

# visualize some random data per-edge (halfedges are also supported)
vals_edge = np.random.rand(ps_mesh.n_edges())
ps_mesh.add_scalar_quantity("rand vals3", vals_edge, defined_on='edges')

# as always, we can customize the initial appearance
ps_mesh.add_scalar_quantity("rand vals3 opt", vals_edge, defined_on='edges', 
                            enabled=True, vminmax=(-3., 3.), cmap='reds')

# view the mesh with all of these quantities
ps.show()

Add Scalars to Elements

SurfaceMesh.add_scalar_quantity(name, values, defined_on='vertices', enabled=None, datatype="standard", vminmax=None, cmap=None, param_name=None, image_origin="upper_left")

Add a scalar quantity to the mesh.

  • name string, a name for the quantity
  • values a length N numpy array, scalars at vertices/faces/etc
  • defined_on one of 'vertices','faces','edges','halfedges','texture', is this data a value per vertex or a value per face, etc?

This function also accepts optional keyword arguments listed below, which customize the appearance and behavior of the quantity.

The param_name and image_origin arguments are used only if defined_on='texture'. See below for details.

Scalar Texture Maps

Texture images define data by storing it an image grid, and using coordinates defined on the face-corners or vertices of a mesh to sample values from the image for each point on the surface.

To visualize scalar data defined in texture maps, first add a Parameterization Quantity (aka UV map) defining the coordinates. Then, add a buffer of image data to be sampled from.

The resulting scalar texture supports color mapping and all of the other usual scalar data features.

Example 

import numpy as np
import polyscope as ps

ps.init()

# add a mesh
N_vert = 100
N_face = 250
vertices = np.random.rand(N_vert, 3)
faces = np.random.randint(0, N_vert, size=(N_face,3))
ps_mesh = ps.register_surface_mesh("my mesh", vertices, faces)

# add a parameterization (aka UV map)
param_vals = np.random.rand(ps_mesh.n_vertices(), 2)
ps_mesh.add_parameterization_quantity("test_param", param_vals, 
                                      defined_on='vertices', enabled=True)

# add the texture quantity
dims = (200,300)
vals = np.random.rand(*dims) # dummy placeholder image data
ps_mesh.add_scalar_quantity("test_vals", vals, 
                             defined_on='texture', param_name="test_param", 
                             vminmax=(-5., 5.), enabled=True)

ps.show()

Texture image data is added via add_scalar_quantity(), with defined_on='texture' and param_name=... specifying the name of the parameterization UV map with coordinates on [0,1] which will be used to sample from the image.

The texture image data, dimension, and origin conventions are the same as those used to define images. See there for details.

Scalar Quantity Options

When adding a scalar quantity, the following keyword options can be set. These are available for all kinds of scalar quantities on all structures.

Keyword arguments:

  • enabled boolean, whether the quantity is initially enabled (note that generally only one quantitiy can be shown at a time; the most recent will be used)
  • datatype, one of "standard", "symmetric", or "magnitude", affects default colormap and map range
  • vminmax, a 2-tuple of floats, specifying the min and max range for colormap limits; the default is None, which computes the min and max of the data
  • cmap, which colormap to use
  • isoline keywords (darker-shaded stripes showing isocontours of the scalar field):
    • isolines_enabled are isolines enabled (default: False)
    • isoline_width how wide should the darkend stripes be, in data units (default: dynamically estimated)
    • isoline_width_relative if true, interpret the width value as relative to the world coordinate length scale (default: False)
    • isoline_darkness how much darker should the alternating stripes be (default: 0.7)

If not specified, these optional parameters will assume a reasonable default value, or a persistent value if previously set.