MENUNew release has an enhanced Fluent loader, expanded PyTecplot APIs, improved SZL Server performance and integrated Q-Criterion calculation.
BELLEVUE, Wash. (April 26, 2017) – Tecplot, Inc., developer of the leading visual data analysis software for engineers and scientists, today announced the general availability of Tecplot 360 2017 Release 2.
Tecplot is committed to improving the power, performance, usability and reliability of its industry-leading flagship data visualization product. Many improvements in Tecplot 360 2017 Release 2 add up to major benefits for Tecplot customers.
Highlights of this release include:
Enhanced Fluent Loader
- Significantly improved performance and reduced memory requirements for data with shared grids (typically time-dependent solutions).
- Fluent Additional Quantities can now be loaded.
- Variables in symmetry zones can now be loaded.
- Fluent variable name map updated to give more variables meaningful names.
- Increased responsiveness and progress feedback while reading Fluent data.
In our test using a transient solution with 30 time steps of about 1 million data points each, time to first image fell from just over 74 seconds to under 4 seconds (a reduction of 95%), and memory use was cut by 93% (both compared to Tecplot 360 2017 R1).
Expanded PyTecplot APIs
PyTecplot, Tecplot’s Python API, has expanded to cover Interpolate, 2D and 3D vectors, Streamlines, View adjustments, Contour and line legends, 3D orientation axis, Auxiliary data, Node map, face map, and face neighbor information, Solution time for transient data and Slice extraction.
Improved SZL Server Performance
SZL Server, Tecplot’s client-server module, supports two-factor authentication and password authentication for SSH connections. Performance for data sets with a large number of zones has also been improved. In our test involving a 681-million-cell simulation with 81 time steps accessed from Tecplot SZL Server over a SSH-tunneled connection, the time needed to open the file and display all time steps in sequence was cut in half, from 1,737 seconds to 834 (compared to Tecplot 360 2017 R1).
Integrated Q-Criterion Calculation
Q-Criterion, a method for vortex identification, is now built into Tecplot 360’s CFD Analyzer. This integration makes the calculations faster, more memory efficient and easier to use. In our test using a Plot3D data set with 5,800 zones and 263 million cells, calculating Q-Criterion using Calculate Variables was more than 6 times (84%) faster than a macro we provide for the calculation (from nearly 47 minutes to 7 minutes and 20 seconds). Using a SZL file format further reduced the time required by 22%.
TecIO Writes Individual Zones in Excess of 2 Billion Nodes
The TecIO library is provided to allow third-party applications to read and write Tecplot file format. The library now includes an easier-to-use API for writing SZL files. The new release of TecIO supports 64-bit indexing which allows individual zones to exceed two billion nodes! The new API is also more flexible in the order in which it accepts data, which can help lower the amount of memory needed to write files.
“If you still think that Tecplot can’t handle big data, take a look at the new TecIO API” said Scott Fowler, Tecplot Product Manager, “TecIO now supports 64-bit indexing, which allows the writing of individual zones in excess of 2 Billion (yes, with a ‘B’) nodes!”
Chorus has Improved Ability to Investigate Trends
Chorus, included in Tecplot 360 2017 for exploring large data sets composed of multiple solutions or experiments, has improved the ability to learn more about data trends by allowing the use of variables to define the line color and symbol shape.
About Tecplot 360
Tecplot 360 is the fastest, most memory-efficient CFD post-processor available for desktop computers. The software’s industry-leading speed – both computational and rendering — is achieved through Tecplot’s proprietary SZL technology, which is a combination of deferred data loading, exhaustive parallelization, and many other code optimizations. When loading modern high-fidelity CFD solutions, benchmarks show 94% less memory usage, 6.75 times faster time to first image, and 50% smaller file sizes compared to earlier versions of Tecplot 360. Results vary depending on the size and type of data.
CFD engineers are now able to load and analyze data once reserved for only the largest high-performance computing centers.
In January 2017, three powerful modules were integrated into Tecplot 360:
- Tecplot Chorus, an analytics tool for exploring large data sets composed of multiple solutions or experiments.
- PyTecplot, a Python API for automating workflows.
- SZL Server, a client-server module for accessing data remotely.
These modules are available for customers on TecPLUS maintenance service and anyone who downloads a free trial of the software.
Tecplot 360 users with current TecPLUS maintenance can upgrade to Tecplot 360 2017 Release 2 at no additional cost.
Special pricing is available for Academic users upon request, see Tecplot for academics.
About Tecplot, Inc.
Tecplot, an operating company of Toronto-based Constellation Software, Inc. (CSI), is the leading developer of Visual Data Analysis software for engineers and scientists.
CSI is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:CSU). CSI acquires, manages and builds software businesses that provide mission-critical solutions in specific vertical markets.
Tecplot’s products allow customers using desktop computers and laptops to quickly analyze and understand information hidden in complex data, and communicate their results to others via brilliant images and compelling animations. The company’s products are used by more than 47,000 technical professionals around the world.
Since its founding in 1981, Tecplot has consistently delivered category-leading innovation to the engineering and scientific communities. Examples of this never-ending innovation include Tecplot 360 for lightning-fast analysis of CFD simulation and test data, and Tecplot RS for oil & gas reservoir visualization.
Tecplot has been awarded numerous Small Business Innovation Research contracts from DOD, NASA, DARPA, and the National Science Foundation. In 2012, the company was named a Red Herring Top 100 Americas Award winner.
Tecplot, which is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., has been named one of Seattle Business magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” four times in the past five years.
Contact: pr@tecplot.com