Marching Cubes (MC) is the most popular isosurface extraction algorithm due to its simplicity, efficiency and robustness and has been widely studied, improved, and extended. As part of study to improve MC results for applications in scientific computing, we have developed a new classification scheme called “Edge Groups”, which helps improve the quality of resulting surfaces. This formulation allows for a more systematic way to control the quality of triangles that make up the surface and is general enough to extend to other polyhedral cell shapes.

The change in polarization state due to the interaction of light with the surface and beneath the surface of an object has become increasingly important in realistic image synthesis of materials such as metallic, iridescent and pearlescent paint, skin, hair and cosmetics. This paper presents a model for the anisotropic scattering of polarized light based upon the physics of light; which is capable of calculating both partial and complete polarization using a combination of Jones and Mueller calculus, as well as incorporating self shadowing effects.

Volume rendering is a powerful means for visualizing high resolution 3D scalar fields, and if used in combination with transfer functions and different rendering styles, it allows for an effective visual communication of complex structures and relationships between them. To improve the analysis process it is often desired to not only render the data but also to interactively edit this data. One such example is the placement of annotations to give extra information about relevant structures.