A method and system are provided for generating transfer functions for use in volume rendering of three-dimensional data of an object volume. The method comprises obtaining the three-dimensional data of the object volume, evaluating selected characteristics for a plurality of samples of the three-dimensional data and computing a transfer function range for volume rendering the three-dimensional data based on the selected characteristics. The system comprises an imaging device and an image processing device. The image processing device is adapted to generate at least one three-dimensional image data set of the object volume based on obtained image data and is further adapted to compute a transfer function range for use in volume rendering.