Texture mapping: a new tool for molecular graphics.

The real-time texture mapping capabilities of modern graphics workstations are explored with respect to their applications in a variety of relevant scenarios in interactive molecular modeling techniques. The common usage of texture mapping to reduce geometric complexity while enhancing realism is extended, opening new ways to visualize large amounts of molecular data in a comprehensive fashion. Thus, texture mapping may be employed to (1) display and filter multichannel information of structural properties on molecular surfaces, (2) improve the quality and accuracy of highly complex isodensity contours, (3) increase the rendering speed of space-filling atomic representations by two orders of magnitude and (4) apply volume-rendering techniques to large, three-dimensional density distributions in real time. Implementation of these novel techniques requires only moderate modifications or extensions to existing molecular modeling applications.