TractView

A VS Code Extension for 3D Tractography Visualization

View tractography files (.trk, .tck, .trx) directly in VS Code with interactive 3D visualization powered by Three.js.

Features • Installation • Configuration • Author

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👤 Author

Marco Tagliaferri — PhD Candidate in Neuroscience 🏛️ Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy

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✨ Features

Multi-Format Support TRK — TrackVis format TCK — MRtrix format TRX — Modern ZIP-based format	Interactive Visualization WebGL-powered 3D rendering Orbit, zoom, and pan controls Real-time brightness adjustment Dark/light background toggle 3D orientation cube with anatomical labels (R/L, A/P, S/I)
Rendering Modes Lines — Fast wireframe rendering Tubes — High-quality 3D tubes	Coloring Modes Direction — RGB based on orientation (X=red, Y=green, Z=blue) Length — Color gradient by streamline length Scalar — Color by per-point scalar values (TRK only)
Smart Performance Automatic skip sampling for large datasets Configurable streamline limits Optimized GPU rendering	Export Options Screenshot — Save current view as PNG Download — Export original file to new location

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📦 Installation

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/marcotag93/tractview.git
cd tractview

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile the extension
npm run compile

Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

From VSIX

1. Download the .vsix release file
2. Open VS Code → Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Click ... → Install from VSIX...
4. Select the downloaded file

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⚙️ Configuration

Access settings via File → Preferences → Settings → Extensions → TractView

Setting	Default	Description
tractview.maxStreamlines	100000	Maximum streamlines to render
tractview.skipThreshold	15000	Threshold for enabling skip sampling
tractview.backgroundColor	#2d2d2d	Default background color
tractview.defaultRenderMode	lines	Initial render mode
tractview.tubeRadius	0.3	Tube radius in tube mode

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📂 Supported Formats

Format	Extension	Description
TrackVis	.trk	Binary format with 1000-byte header
MRtrix	.tck	Text header + binary float triplets
TRX	.trx	ZIP archive with JSON metadata

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• Three.js — Powerful 3D rendering library
• TrackVis — TRK format specification
• MRtrix3 — TCK format specification
• TRX Specification — TRX format specification

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