Viewing Overview :: Defining the View (3-D Visualization)

3-D Visualization

Viewing Overview

The view is the particular orientation you select to display your graph or graphical scene. The term viewing refers to the process of displaying a graphical scene from various directions, zooming in or out, changing the perspective and aspect ratio, flying by, and so on.

This section describes how to define the various viewing parameters to obtain the view you want. Generally, viewing is applied to 3-D graphs or models, although you might want to adjust the aspect ratio of 2-D views to achieve specific proportions or make a graph fit in a particular shape.

MATLAB viewing is composed of two basic areas:

Positioning the viewpoint to orient the scene
Setting the aspect ratio and relative axis scaling to control the shape of the objects being displayed

Positioning the Viewpoint

Setting the Viewpoint -- Discusses how to specify the point from which you view a graph in terms of azimuth and elevation. This is conceptually simple, but does have limitations.
Defining Scenes with Camera Graphics, View Control with the Camera Toolbar, and Camera Graphics Functions -- How to compose complex scenes using the MATLAB camera viewing model.
Dollying the Camera and Moving the Camera Through a Scene -- Programming techniques for moving the view around and through scenes.
Low-Level Camera Properties -- The graphics properties that control the camera and illustrates the effects they cause.

Setting the Aspect Ratio

View Projection Types -- Describes orthographic and perspective projection types and illustrates their use.
Understanding Axes Aspect Ratio and Axes Aspect Ratio Properties -- How MATLAB sets the aspect ratio of the axes and how you can select the most appropriate setting for your graphs.

Default Views

MATLAB automatically sets the view when you create a graph. The actual view that MATLAB selects depends on whether you are creating a 2- or 3-D graph. See Default Viewpoint Selection and Default Aspect Ratio Selection for a description of how MATLAB defines the standard view.

Defining the View Setting the Viewpoint with Azimuth and Elevation