ipyvolume

ipyvolume is a 3D plotting library for Python in Jupyter notebooks that uses WebGL and IPython widgets.

Key Features:

• Volume Rendering: Supports (multi) volume rendering and isosurfaces.
• Scatter & Quiver Plots: Create scatter plots (up to ~1 million glyphs) and quiver plots (scatter plots with directional arrows).
• Interactivity: Supports lasso mouse selections.
• Animation: Supports D3-style animations and time-series sequences by passing lists of arrays to scatter/quiver plot properties.
• Output Formats: Renders in Jupyter notebooks or can be exported as standalone HTML pages/snippets.
• VR Support: Can render in stereo for Google Cardboard.
• Integrations: Works with ipywidgets for GUI controls, and supports selection linking with bokeh and bqplot.

If you do not have administrative privileges, install ipyvolume using the --user flag and enable the extension for your user profile.

$ pip install ipyvolume --user
$ jupyter nbextension enable --py --user ipyvolume

When developing ipyvolume, you can use a watch command to automatically recompile TypeScript and rebuild the Webpack bundle whenever source files change. You do not need to restart the notebook server; simply refresh the page to see changes.

Run the following command in the root directory:

$ (cd js; npm run watch)

This process:

1. Watches for changes in the source code.
2. Runs the TypeScript compiler to transpile src to lib.
3. Watches the lib directory and uses Webpack to build ROOT/ipyvolume/static/index.js.

When developing for the classical Jupyter Notebook, you need to watch the JavaScript source files. Run the following command from the repository root to start the TypeScript compiler and Webpack watcher:

$ (cd js; npm run watch)

This process watches the src directory for changes, transpiles TypeScript to the lib directory, and uses Webpack to build ROOT/ipyvolume/static/index.js.

Note: You do not need to restart the notebook server; nbextensions are picked up after a simple page reload.

If you must install as a user (without root access) and are not using a virtual environment, use the --user flag. Note that this may affect all your Python environments.

$ pip install ipyvolume --user
$ jupyter nbextension enable --py --user ipyvolume
$ jupyter nbextension enable --py --user widgetsnbextension

To install ipyvolume for development purposes, follow these steps to clone the repository, install in editable mode, build the JavaScript components, and register the Jupyter extensions:

$ git clone https://github.com/maartenbreddels/ipyvolume.git
$ cd ipyvolume
$ pip install -e . notebook jupyterlab
$ (cd js; npm run build)
$ jupyter nbextension install --py --overwrite --symlink --sys-prefix ipyvolume
$ jupyter nbextension enable --py --sys-prefix ipyvolume
# for jupyterlab (>=3.0), symlink share/jupyter/labextensions/bqplot-image-gl
$ jupyter labextension develop . --overwrite

Install ipyvolume using pip. It is highly recommended to use conda or virtualenv to avoid polluting your global Python environment. Avoid using the --user flag unless you are certain of the implications for your other Python environments.

$ pip install ipyvolume

The following example notebooks demonstrate various capabilities of ipyvolume, including volume rendering, mesh visualization, animations, and integrations with other plotting libraries:

• Scatter plots: examples/scatter
• Volume rendering: examples/volshow, examples/volume-clipping
• Mesh visualization: examples/mesh
• Animations: examples/animation
• Integrations: examples/bqplot, examples/bokeh
• Visual controls: examples/scales, examples/lighting, examples/popup, examples/slice
• Specialized plots: examples/moebius, examples/bars

To install the ipyvolume package, ensure you have node installed on your system, then run the following command in your project directory:

npm install --save ipyvolume

To install ipyvolume using pip, use the following command.

Note: It is highly recommended to use conda or virtualenv to avoid polluting your global Python environment. Avoid using the --user flag unless you are certain of the consequences for your other environments.

$ pip install ipyvolume