MATLAB: Creating a 3D surface plot from a matrix

3d plots

I am trying to create a 3D surface plot with a 50 x 3 matrix. The first 2 columns represent an x and y location and the 3rd column represents a value for the xy point. I am unable to figure out how to create the plot without errors. Thanks.

Best Answer

That would only be possible if your data are gridded (so the x and y data are in regular patterns).

Probably the easiest way to determine that is to plot it with stem3. If the (x,y) data appear to regularly-spaced so the z data approximates a surface, use the reshape function on each of the vectors to form the required matrices.

If your data are scattered, use the griddata (link) function or one of its friends (linked to at the end of that page) to create your requisite gridded data to use with surf.

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Your data may already be gridded. I would first plot it using stem3, for example:

figure
stem3(X, Y, Z)
grid on

If it appears that the data are regularly spaced with respect to ‘X’ and ‘Y’, then you only need to use reshape to create matrices from your vectors. If you then want to interpolate it, the griddata function may be easiest to use.

MATLAB: How to turn x,y,counts data into a surface map

Plot your data using the stem3 (link) function. You can easily see if your data are gridded, since the intervals between the stem lines will be regular. If so, use the reshape (link) function to create the matrices to use with surf.

If instead your data are scattered, you will likely need to use the griddata (link) or related interpolation functions to create the necessary matrices.

Best Answer

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