Data Parallel Visualization and Rendering on the RAMSES Supercomputer with ANARI

Abstract

3D visualization and rendering in HPC are very heterogenous applications, though fundamentally the tasks involved are well-defined and do not differ much from application to application. The Khronos Group's ANARI standard seeks to consolidate 3D rendering across sci-vis applications. This paper makes an effort to convey challenges of 3D rendering and visualization with ANARI in the context of HPC, where the data does not fit within a single node or GPU but must be distributed. It also provides a gentle introduction to parallel rendering concepts and challenges to practitioners from the field of HPC in general. Finally, we present a case study showcasing data parallel rendering on the new supercomputer RAMSES at the University of Cologne.