Hidden Line Removal now available in VTK and ParaView
![](https://www.kitware.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/default_featured_image-scaled.jpg)
There has been a long-standing issue in the ParaView bug tracker to enable a more visually-appealing way to render wireframe objects. Since wireframes are mostly transparent by definition, geometry behind a wireframe surface can show through. This is often distracting and can obscure details that a user wishes to visualize.
![wireframe](https://www.kitware.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/without.png)
A new feature in VTK and ParaView, through work funded by Sandia, allows wireframes to be rendered in a way that still shows the object’s topology, but without the distraction of background wireframe surfaces:
![hlr](https://www.kitware.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/with.png)
This is achieved using a technique called Hidden Line Removal, which uses the OpenGL depth buffer to hide lines that are behind the closest wireframe surface. In VTK, this is enabled by calling vtkRenderer::SetUseHiddenLineRemoval. In ParaView, there is a new per-renderview option that toggles this on/off for the current view:
![option](https://www.kitware.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/option-189x300.png)