Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Movie-making In VisIt Brad Whitlock DEPCom Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Movie-making has proven to be one of the greatest challenges for VisIt users because of the inherent complexity involved. The movie-making process, which includes: setting up intricate visualizations, processing very large datasets, adding special effects, and encoding final movies, has been encapsulated into the movie template. Movie templates hide the complexity of creating high-end movies, making it possible for many more VisIt users to create their own movies. Introduction Many VisIt users do not have the time or energy to become experts in all of the areas required to make a movie. Movie-making requires knowledge of: VisIt Python scripting Image processing tools Movie encoding tools A more automated way of producing a movie must be created so the average VisIt user can create complex movies. VisIt Movie Generation Script Movie Template Scripting Object VisIt Image processing Movie encoders Movie templates are XML files that contain the movie design, including: metadata, viewports, and image sequence definitions. The Movie wizard reads the movie template and creates appropriate user interface pages that let users customize the movie template. The results are written out as a new XML file that is used as input to VisIt’s command line Movie Generation Script. Design Easy wizard-style interface Provides stock movie templates Records, edits, saves movie templates Allows custom user interfaces Inserts effects (rotations, transitions, etc.) Makes movies with multiple viewports Use movie template from command line Allows user-provided Python scripting XML Scripting User Interface Movie template VisIt Movie wizard Diagram of how movie templates are recorded and used in VisIt Input Output Movie templates and Movie wizard VisIt now encapsulates intricate visualizations and special effects into a movie template. Movie templates hide the complexity of making a movie by allowing the user to assemble complex movies from simple elements. Movie templates are recorded and edited using the Movie wizard in VisIt. Movie template selection, Viewport setup, Image sequence creation and viewport mapping. VisIt users can create new types of movies or movies based on stock movie templates. The Movie wizard lets users choose how visualizations are used and permits elements such as image transitions to be added to the movie template. Each movie element provides a page in the Movie wizard so the user can perform customizations. Command line movie generation (visit –movie) Summary VisIt now provides a flexible, easy-to-use movie-making interface that enables creation of high-end movies. Hides details of Python scripting, image processing, and movie encoding Extensible and allows users to record new templates Allows users to assemble simple elements into complex movies This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48. UCRL-POST-229038