Combining volume rendering with line and surface rendering

Volume Data is discrete sampled data in the three-dimensional space. Volume rendering is defined as volume visualization directly from volume primitives and not via surface primitives. Geometric objects are represented as a list of vertices and connecting lines or surface patches. Independend algorithms for rendering the two different categories of data are used. The system, I propose, combines the results of the different algorithms in one image. A set of common parameters influencing both rendering algorithms and ensuring the consistency of the resulting merged image is identified. A volume rendering algorithm capable to produce the information for merging is described in detail. The system is able to handle opaque and translucent objects by merging lists of "image space elements". The independence of the both rendering modules allowes to employ a wide range of algorithms for rendering of geometric objects, even rendering in hardware.