Next: 3.2.1 BOB Up: 3 Facilities available Previous: 3.1 Programmes
Visualisation packages were created to convert data into meaningful images. In many cases this is the only way data will make any sense. For example, the numbers in a dataset that describes the image of a lamp will not help in working out what the image is. The best way to find out what is contained in the data set is to look at the two or three dimensional image. There are various types of visualisation packages. Some packages are designed for a specific type of visualisation and/or data. Others provide a base on which to build tools to create the required image. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
The three packages available for visualisation at EPCC are BOB, Explorer and AVS. BOB was chosen because of it's speed, the idea being to use BOB as an initial viewing tool. The other visualisation packages available at EPCC are AVS and Explorer. Explorer and AVS are very similar, however the choice of Explorer over AVS was mainly taken because one of my supervisors (Gordon Cameron) had experience with this package.