geant4

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     Geant4 - an Object-Oriented Toolkit for Simulation in HEP
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                            Example vtk
                            -----------

 This example demonstrates VTK visualisation driver. The code is based on
 the basic/B1 example, although the geometry has been modified. The physical
 example is a concerete dump, so a cuboid with a cylindrical hole removed.

 VTK is a graphical pipeline (https://book.vtk.org/en/latest/VTKBook/04Chapter4.html#pipeline-design-and-implementation)
 based renderer.

 VTK has some visualisation commands which are not applicable to all viewers,
 which currently include cutters, clippers and geometry overlays. The VTK commands
 are in vtk.mac and you can explore apply different VTK only commands.

 A- VISUALISATION
 ================

This example is really for demonstration of VTK and so the easiest way to start with

% G4VIS_DEFAULT_DRIVER=VtkQt ./exampleVtk

or

% G4UI_USE_TCSH=1 G4VIS_DEFAULT_DRIVER=VtkNative ./exampleVtk

The event loop for the UI can be blocked by the VtkNative window. So if input events
are captured by VTK, then the easiest way to exit from the viewer is to hit the 'q' button,
then you are returned to the shell UI. To restart interaction then issue the command

Idle> /vis/vtk/startInteractor

 B- USER INTERFACE
 =================

VTK can be used in conjunction with all UI systems. If a shell UI is used event loop for the UI can be blocked
by the VtkNative window. So if input events are captured by VTK, then the easiest way to
exit from the viewer is to hit the 'q' button, then you are returned to the shell UI.
To restart interaction then issue the command

Idle> /vis/vtk/startInteractor

 C- HOW TO RUN
 =============

Starting with VTK

% G4VIS_DEFAULT_DRIVER=VtkQt ./exampleVtk

Executing VTK specific commands

Idle> /control/execute vtk.mac

There are various pipelines and the state of the pipelines can be
displayed by issuing this command

Idle> /vis/vtk/printDebug

Pipelines can be switched during operation. This is performed by calling

Idle> /vis/vtk/set/polyhedronPipeline (append/tensor/bake/separate)

and then a subsequent

Idle> /vis/viewer/flush

There is significantly different performance between these pipelines. Append, tensor
and bake are all designed for large models and high performance. Separate creates
a pipeline for each polyhedron, each pipeline will ultimately end with a draw call.
In general with modern pipelined shaders draw calls should be kept to a minimum.

For debugging the VTK viewer it is possible to place a head up display (HUD) which
gives key information on the viewer performance. The HUD is enabled by issuing

Idle> /vis/vtk/set/hud 1

Stewart Boogert
7th November 2023