# Volume Model has Black box around it

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054>\
**Category:** Support\
**Tags:** segmentation, volume-rendering\
**Created:** [September 10, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054 "2018-09-10T19:51:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Jay](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Jay)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054/1 "2018-09-10T19:51:35Z")

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Operating system: Windows 7  
Slicer version:Nightly Build 2018-09-08  
Expected behavior: I’m trying to use the scissors and mask volume tools to erase the table a patient’s scan was taken on. I’m following this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZwyW6SaoM4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZwyW6SaoM4). I would like my rendered volume to show just the sections of anatomy and not the black “background”  
Actual behavior: My rendered volume has a black box surrounding the anatomy of interest. I’m assuming it’s the empty space from the scan being rendered. How do I remove this? For instance, in the above video, the scan shows the head only being rendered.

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**Author:** ![cpinter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/cpinter/32/7995_2.png) [@cpinter](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/cpinter)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054/2 "2018-09-10T20:07:43Z")

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Are you saying that the volume appears as a black box in volume rendering?  
If yes, then you’ll probably need to change the preset and adjust the shift to get a proper 3D visualization of your volume. There are presets for different kinds of CTs and MRIs etc. What modality is your volume?

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**Author:** ![Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Jay](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Jay)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054/3 "2018-09-10T20:26:42Z")

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It’s a CT image. When I change over to CT-SoftTissue, the surrounding box turns grey instead of black. I’ve attached the image to help clarify

 ![Untitled](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/4/5/45a773b7509308a70c724bae509d533157a42002.png)

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**Author:** ![cpinter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/cpinter/32/7995_2.png) [@cpinter](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/cpinter)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054/4 "2018-09-10T20:42:45Z")

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> [@cpinter](#):
>
> adjust the shift

Have you tried this?

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**Author:** ![Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Jay](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Jay)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054/5 "2018-09-11T11:43:40Z")

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Yes. Adjusting the shift enough to remove it removes some of the soft tissue I’m after as well

This is my original preset and shift

 ![%231](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/b/0/b0a429a7d60fcfad88f7f925b06e1515d665763a.jpeg)  
I’m happy with this as a starting point and there is nothing surrounding it. But I want to try to remove the table before moving on to tougher segmentation is when I get the gray box all of a sudden  
 ![%232](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/b/1/b14a78f01317b03209de779a1d0e5a16ec0f82d9.jpeg)  
This is the same volume with the same preset just after the scissors and masking tool. I’m not sure what other approaches to use to easily crop out

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**Author:** ![cpinter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/cpinter/32/7995_2.png) [@cpinter](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/cpinter)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054/6 "2018-09-11T12:42:53Z")

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You probably mask to the value of 0, which for a CT basically means water. You need to mask it to be -1000, which is more or less air.

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**Author:** ![Jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Jay](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Jay)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/volume-model-has-black-box-around-it/4054/7 "2018-09-11T13:55:22Z")

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You’re right; changing this masking value was my oversight. Thank you Mr. Pinter!