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EnlitHamster / VtkUnityWorkbench

VTK Unity plugin enabling visualization creation in VR

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VtkUnityWorkbench - An All-In-One VR visualization workbench

This is the main repository for the code from the my Master Thesis. Other than me, a number of BSc students have made their theses based on this and I will try to keep the list updated with the different updates, new features and toolkit components that are added.

This Unity plugin is composed of a underlying architecture that connects VTK and Unity using a shared OpenGL context (see Wheeler et al.'s plugin on which this is based here) and a toolbox of UI components that are called for interactive manipulation through introspection on the VTK classes. In particular, these components are to be compounded in order to create a modular UI where the data for the VTK pipelines can be inserted.

If you want to contribute, there a number of parts where you could do so. If you are more interested in the UI part of the plugin, you can develop or refine the UI components in the Toolbox. If you want to enhance or expand the architecture you are free to do so. You can fork this repository but we ask you to open a pull request when you are at a stable stage in your development so we can maintain this tool updated and running rather than fragmenting it in numerous repositories.

Installation

Requirements

Setup

  • Create a folder as you please that will be you workspace (e.g. C:/Users/<your-username>/Documents/VtkUnity/) referred to from here on as %WORKSPACE%
  • Inside %WORKSPACE% create two folders, Vtk and VtkUnityWorkbench

Building VTK

  • Inside %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/ create the folders Source, Build and Install
  • Open a console or git bash inside %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/ (you can also use a git UI client for these steps)
  • Clone VTK's repository as follows: git clone https://github.com/Kitware/VTK.git source
  • Checkout VTK version 8.1.2 (we suggest this version as the software was tested with it): git checkout v8.1.2
  • Initialize the repository's submodules: git submodule update --init
  • Open CMake and set the source directory to %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/source and the build directory to %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Build
  • Click on Configure and select Visual Studio 15 2017 generator, with platform x64, click Finish and wait till the configuration ends
  • Check Advanced in the top bar
  • Set CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX to %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Install
  • Set the INSTALL_*_DIR to %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Install/* for each of the entries
  • Enable the following modules
    • Module_VtkPython
    • Module_VtkRenderingExternal
    • Module_VtkWrappingPythonCore
    • Module_VtkWrappingTools
  • Make sure PYTHON_EXECUTABLE points to the right python.exe file (i.e. Python 3.7.X)
  • Set VTK_PYTHON_VERSION to 3.7
  • Check VTK_WRAP_PYTHON
  • Click Configure and wait for CMake to finish
  • Make sure the PYTHON_* point to the right Python 3.7.X files and directories
  • Click Configure and wait for CMake to finish
  • Check VTK_ENABLE_VTKPYTHON
  • Click Configure and wait for CMake to finish
  • Click Generate and wait for CMake to finish
  • Open %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Build/VTK.sln with Visual Studio 2017
  • Make sure the build configuration is Release x64
  • In the solution explorer
    • Open the CMakePredefinedTargets filter
    • Right click on ALL_BUILD and run Build and wait for the build to finish
    • Right click on INSTALL and run Project only > Build INSTALL only

The compilation of the VTK library could take up to two hours depending on the performances of your computer. If it takes longer than that, we suggest you switch to a more powerful workstation for ease of development, as otherwise it could become very difficult and stressful.

Building VtkUnityWorkbench

  • Open a console or git bash inside %WORKSPACE%/VtkUnityWorkbench/ (you can also use a git UI client for these steps)
  • Clone VtkUnityWorknech's repository as follows: git clone https://github.com/EnlitHamster/VtkUnityWorkbench.git VtkUnityWorkbench
  • Initialize the repository's submodules: git submodule update --init
  • From here on, we will refer to %WORKSPACE%/VtkUnityWorkbench/Source/VtkToUnityPlugin/ as %PLUGINDIR%
  • Inside %PLUGINDIR create the folders Build and Install
  • Open CMake and set the source directory to %PLUGINDIR%/source and the build directory to %PLUGINDIR%/Build
  • Click on Configure and select Visual Studio 15 2017 generator, with platform x64, click Finish and wait till the configuration ends
  • Check Advanced in the top bar
  • Set MY_OWN_INSTALL_PREFIX to %PLUGINDIR%/Install
  • Make sure the PYTHON_* point to the right Python 3.7.X files and directories
  • Set VTK_DIR to %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Build
  • Click Configure and wait for CMake to finish
  • Click Generate and wait for CMake to finish
  • Open %PLUGINDIR%/Build/VtkToUnityPlugin.sln with Visual Studio 2017
  • Make sure the build configuration is Release x64
  • In the solution explorer
    • Open the CMakePredefinedTargets filter
    • Right click on ALL_BUILD and run Build
    • Right click on INSTALL and run Project only > Build INSTALL only

At the end of this procedure, you should have some main crucial files:

  • %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Install/bin should now contain the DLL files for VTK C++
  • %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Install/lib/python3.7/site-packages should contain the pyc files for VTK Python
  • %PLUGINDIR%/Install should now contain the DLL file and the build files for VtkUnityWorkbench
  • %PYTHONDIR%, the install directory of Python 3.7, should contain python37.dll and python37_d.dll

Setting up for Unity

First of all, we need now to install VTK Python somewhere accessible to Python. We strongly recommend doing this installing it in the global Python install directory %PYTHONDIR%/Lib/site-packages, by copying in there %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Install/lib/python3.7/site-packages/vtk, and then the contents of %WORKSPACE%/Vtk/Install/bin inside %PYTHONDIR%/Lib/site-packages/vtk (or to any place within the PATH environmental variable, the important thing is that Python must be able to access the DLL files). To test whether this works, run a command line terminal, open the Python interpreter python and run import vtk. If it returns no error, VTK Python should be correctly installed.

At the moment, VtkUnityWorkbench does not support virtual environments, but it is a feature which we plan to introduce soon.

From here on we will refer to %WORKSPACE%/VtkUnityWorkbench/Source/VtkToUnityExample/ as %UNITYDIR%. Copy the contents of %PLUGINDIR%/Install into %UNITYDIR%/Assets/VtkToUnity/vtktounitybinary/Plugins/x86_64/. Add %UNITYDIR% to your Unity Hub projects and download the correct Unity version. This should be enough to have your setup ready to go.

Notes

  • The version chosen for Unity should not be important. The software is developed to be compatible with most versions. However, take care in building the plugin with the correct header files for the Unity version you are using to be sure those will not influence the correct execution. We can guarantee only since Unity 2019.3.5f1.
  • The version chosen for VTK should not be important. The software is developed to be compatible with most versions. However, take care in running the setup process with the necessary changes, where the VTK version is important. The minimum version of VTK we support is VTK 5.

Roadmap

A number of outstanding issues are still open regarding the Workbench. We aim at producing a solution that is stream-lined and ready-for-use. As such, our most important objectives are:

  • Automating the build process.
  • Releasing the Python scripts as a stand-alone Pypi package.
  • Expanding the Introspection capabilities to support any VTK pipeline.
  • Creating a UI framework in Unity for UI components.
  • Adding built-in support for interaction with VTK objects.

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VTK Unity plugin enabling visualization creation in VR