IJMS, Vol. 20, Pages 5158: Ellipsoidal Abstract and Illustrative Representations of Molecular Surfaces (International Journal of Molecular Sciences)

Molecular visualization is often challenged with rendering of large molecular structures in real time. The key to LOD (level-of-detail), a classical technology, lies in designing a series of hierarchical abstractions of protein. In the paper, we improved the smoothness of transition for these abstractions by constructing a complete binary tree of a protein. In order to reduce the degree of expansion of the geometric model corresponding to the high level of abstraction, we introduced minimum ellipsoidal enveloping and some post-processing techniques. At the same time, a simple, ellipsoid drawing method based on graphics processing unit (GPU) is used that can guarantee that the drawing speed is not lower than the existing sphere-drawing method. Finally, we evaluated the rendering performance and effect on series of molecules with different scales. The post-processing techniques applied, diffuse shading and contours, further conceal the expansion problem and highlight the surface details.