FluoRender

FluoRender Source Code

This is the open-source repository for FluoRender, an interactive rendering tool for confocal microscopy data visualization. It combines the renderings of multi-channel volume data and polygon mesh data, where the properties of each dataset can be adjusted independently and quickly. The tool is designed especially for neurobiologists, and it helps them better visualize the fluorescent-stained confocal samples.

Aknowledgements

If you use FluoRender in work that leads to published research, we humbly ask that you add the following to the 'Acknowledgments' section of your paper: "This work was made possible in part by software funded by the NIH: Fluorender: An Imaging Tool for Visualization and Analysis of Confocal Data as Applied to Zebrafish Research, R01-GM098151-01."

Author: Yong Wan
Developer: Brig Bagley

Requirements

• Git (https://git-scm.com/)
• CMake 2.6+ (http://www.cmake.org/)
• wxWidgets (https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets)
• Windows 7+ : Visual Studio 2010
• OSX 10.9+ : Latest Xcode and command line tools, homebrew
• Other platforms may work, but are not officially supported.
• Boost 1.55.0+ (http://www.boost.org/users/download/#live)

Building FluoRender

We recommend building FluoRender outside of the source tree.

OSX

1. Clone the latest wxWidgets using GIT (git clone [email protected]:wxWidgets/wxWidgets.git).

   • The steps following will assume the wxWidgets root directory is at ~/wxWidgets

2. Build wxWidgets from the command line.

   • cd ~/wxWidgets/

   • mkdir mybuild

   • cd mybuild

   • ../configure --disable-shared --enable-macosx_arch=x86_64 --enable-unicode --with-cocoa --enable-debug --with-macosx-version-min=10.9 --enable-stl --enable-std_containers --enable-std_iostreams --enable-std_string --enable-std_string_conv_in_wxstring --with-libpng --with-libtiff --with-libjpeg

   • make

3. Download and build boost.

   • Download boost (http://www.boost.org/users/download/#live) and extract onto your machine.

   • Build boost using ./bootstrap.sh and ./b2 in the boost directory.

   • The steps following will assume the boost root directory is at ~/boost_1_55_0 (your version might differ).

4. Get homebrew, libtiff, and freetype

   • ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

   • brew install libtiff

   • brew install freetype

5. Get and build FluoRender

   • git clone [email protected]:SCIInstitute/fluorender.git
     

   • cd fluorender
     

   • mkdir build
     

   • cd build
     

   • cmake -G Xcode -DwxWidgets_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE="/wxWidgets/mybuild/wx-config" -DwxWidgets_wxrc_EXECUTABLE="/wxWidgets/mybuild/utils/wxrc/wxrc" -DwxWidgets_USE_DEBUG=ON -DwxWidgets_ROOT_DIR="~/wxWidgets" -DBoost_INCLUDE_DIR="/Users/YourUserName/boost_1_55_0" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Debug" .. (replace directories with your versions)

6. Open the Xcode file generated to build and run FluoRender.

Windows

1. Clone the latest wxWidgets using GIT (git clone [email protected]:wxWidgets/wxWidgets.git).

   • The steps following will assume the wxWidgets repository is at C:\wxWidgets

2. Open a 64 bit Visual Studio 10 command prompt to build wxWidgets.

   • Go to directory C:\wxWidgets\build\msw

   • Type nmake /f makefile.vc TARGET_CPU=x64 BUILD=Debug to build debug libraries.

   • Type nmake /f makefile.vc TARGET_CPU=x64 BUILD=Release to build release libraries.

3. Download and build boost.

   • Download boost (http://www.boost.org/users/download/#live) and extract onto your machine.

   • Build boost using bootstrap and ./b2 in the boost directory in a MSVC 2010 prompt.

   • The steps following will assume the boost root directory is at ~/boost_1_55_0 (your version might differ).

4. You may need to add lines to C:\Program Files (x86)\CMake X.X\share\cmake-x.x\Modules\FindwxWidgets.cmake (x's are your version) for wxWidgets 3.* if it still complains that you haven't installed wxWidgets.

   • Starting about line 277, you will have listed a few sets of library versions to search for like wxbase29${_UCD}${_DBG}
     

   • In 4 places, you will need to add above each line with a "29" a new line that is exactly the same, but with a "31" instead, assuming your version of wxWidgets is 3.1.*).
     

5. Download FluoRender using Git git clone [email protected]:SCIInstitute/fluorender.git

6. Use the C:\Program Files(x86)\CMake2.8\bin\cmake-gui.exe program to configure build properties and generate your Visual Studio 10 Solution file.

   • Select your FluoRender source and build directories (create a new folder for building), and add the locations of boost and wxWidgets.
     

   • Choose the FluoRender main folder for source and create a new folder for the build.
     

   • Click Configure. NOTE: You may need to display advanced options to set below options.
     

   • Choose the build type CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE to be "Debug" or "Release"
     

   • Be sure to set wxWidgets_LIB_DIR to C:\wxWidgets\lib\vc_x64_lib.

   • Be sure to set wxWidgets_ROOT_DIR to C:\wxWidgets.

   • Be sure to set Boost_INCLUDE_DIR to C:\boost_1_55_0 (assuming this is your boost dir).
     

   • Click Generate.

   • You may also generate using the command prompt, but you must explicitly type the paths for the cmake command.
     

   • Open Visual Studio 2010 64 bit Command Prompt. Go to the CMakeLists.txt directory.
     

   • Type cmake -G "Visual Studio 10 Win64" -DwxWidgets_LIB_DIR="C:\wxWidgets\lib\vc_x64_lib" -DwxWidgets_ROOT_DIR="C:\wxWidgets" -DBoost_INCLUDE_DIR="C:\boost_1_55_0" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Debug" .. in your build directory (again assuming these are your directory locations and the build folder is in the FluoRender root directory).
     

   • Open the Visual Studio SLN file generated by CMake (found in your "build" directory).
     

   • Build the solution. Use CMake to generate both "Release" and "Debug" configurations if you wish to build both in Visual Studio.
     
     Notes for Visual Studio

   • Visual Studio may not set the correct machine target when building 64 bit. Check Project Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Linker -> Command line. Make sure "Additional Options" is /machine:X64 NOT /machine:X86.
     

   • You may need to right-click FluoRender project on the Solution Explorer to "Set as StartUp Project" for it to run.
     

   • If you are building on Windows 8 or later, you will need to set a Visual Studio Graphics Option. This enables the application to build in higher definition.
     Project Properties -> Manifest Tool -> Input and Output -> Enable DPI Awareness -> Yes
     

Contact

If there are any problems, email: [email protected]