Example -- Displaying Cross-Sections of Surfaces :: Defining the View (3-D Visualization)

3-D Visualization

Example -- Displaying Cross-Sections of Surfaces

Sometimes projecting a 3D surface onto an x-, y-, or z-axis can aid visualization. To do this, you might change the aspect ratio, in order to make space for the projection. The following example illustrates how to do this:

Create an x-y grid and z-values for it:

[x,y] = meshgrid([-2:.2:2]); 
Z = x.*exp(-x.^2-y.^2);

Plot the surface in 3-D; annotate with a colorbar and axis labels:

surf(x,y,Z,gradient(Z))
colorbar 
xlabel('X-AXIS') 
ylabel('Y-AXIS') 
zlabel('Z-AXIS')

Use axis to change the Ymax value in to 3, stretching the plot in one direction:

```
axis([-2 2 -2 3 -0.5 0.5]) % 
```

Regrid the surface, setting all Y-values equal to 3:

```
y = 3*ones(21);
```

Plaster a plot of the surface onto the Y-axis:

```
hold on 
surf(x,y,Z,gradient(Z))
```

Effects of Setting Aspect Ratio Properties Example -- Displaying Real Objects