EDF Step by Step

Note

When you start NIS-Elements with the EDF module installed, a new section containing several commands appears in the Applications menu. Open (or acquire) an ND2 file that includes the Z dimension. If you use the Applications > EDF > Open File Sequence command to get the Z stack of images, a new ND2 file is created automatically.

  1. Align Sequence

    Small shifts of the images can occur as a result of hardware inaccuracies during the Z series acquisition. To get reliable results out of the EDF module, the sequence that is to be processed should be aligned first. Use the Applications > EDF > Align Sequence command to automatically correct possible shifts.

  2. Create the focused image

    When the method is selected and the sequence is aligned, the only thing to do is to run the Applications > EDF > Create Focused Image command. Select the Processing Range and adjust the Z-Map Setting - choose whether to create a Z-Map (Balanced, Correlation or Original) and choose the coordinates for the Z-Profile (Zero Based or Real Coordinates). If the Z-map calculation is not necessary for your task, select None in the drop-down menu to speed up the EDF image acquisition.

    The focused image will be created and appended to the ND2 file.

  3. View the result

    ../img/eng/edf_showwindow.png image

    Figure 277. 

    After the focused image is created, all buttons of the EDF toolbar (located within the image toolbar and in the context menu over the focused image) become enabled. There are three ways to observe the resulting focused image, as:

    • A common Color/Gray image.

    • A 3D model, utilizing so called 3D Surface View.

    • A 3D anaglyph - to be viewed using 3D glasses.

    These buttons display the focused image, the first one as a view of the existing ND image, the second one as a new separate 2D document.

    Creating anaglyph 
    Using this button, you can create a three-dimensional stereo image (anaglyph). This image shall be observed with special glasses having red and green or blue filters which provides the 3D impression.

    Exploring the surface view 
    This button runs the built in surface viewer. The surface viewer displays the surface of a captured object three-dimensionally. You can rotate the view by mouse or shift it by right-mouse. The mouse wheel serves for zooming.

    Special Options

    Default View

    Displays the object in default rotation and zoom.

    Z-zoom

    Adjusts the sequence height for more credible look.

    Top/Bottom First

    Sets whether the first frame in the sequence is the lowest or the highest one.

    Clear Measurement

    If the Length 3D tool is used for measuring this button clears all the measurements made.

    See 3D.

    Select background Color

    Chooses the color of the background.

    Show Box

    Toggles the model outlines visibility.

    Surface Grid

    Shows a grid copying the surface topography. Adjust the line colors and density of the grid in Options found in the drop-down menu.

    Show Crop Plane

    Enables you to virtually cut the surface by a plane. Press Ctrl to display the cropping plane and the axis of rotation. Hold the Ctrl key down and drag the cropping plane or the axis of rotation with primary mouse button to a new position. Press Ctrl and drag the plane by right mouse button to rotate the cropping plane.

    Toggle Scene Lighting

    Switches on/off the lighting of surface view.

    Export to VRML

    Exports the surface to VRML (Virtual reality modeling language). Two files will be saved. One that contains the 3D information (WRL) and the other is a 2D texture (JPG). Mind, that both files must be distributed (e.g. placed on the web) together! To view files in VRML format some VRML viewer is needed. The viewer is a plugin to your web browser. There are several viewers available for free:

    Export to STL

    Exports the surface to STL (stereolithography file format) importable by CAD softwares for modeling, 3D printing, etc.

    Fullscreen

    Press this button to display the current view in fullscreen mode. Exit the fullscreen mode by pressing Escape.

    Show help

    Opens the help describing the Extended Depth of Focus.

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