MATLAB® > 3D Charts > 3D Line Plots
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3D Line Plots in MATLAB®

How to make 3D Line Plots in MATLAB® with Plotly.


Plot 3-D Helix

Define t as a vector of values between 0 and 10π. Define st and ct as vectors of sine and cosine values. Then plot st, ct, and t.

t = 0:pi/50:10*pi;
st = sin(t);
ct = cos(t);
plot3(st,ct,t)

fig2plotly(gcf);

Plot Multiple Lines

Create two sets of x-, y-, and z-coordinates.

t = 0:pi/500:pi;
xt1 = sin(t).*cos(10*t);
yt1 = sin(t).*sin(10*t);
zt1 = cos(t);

xt2 = sin(t).*cos(12*t);
yt2 = sin(t).*sin(12*t);
zt2 = cos(t);

Call the plot3 function, and specify consecutive XYZ triplets.

t = 0:pi/500:pi;
xt1 = sin(t).*cos(10*t);
yt1 = sin(t).*sin(10*t);
zt1 = cos(t);

xt2 = sin(t).*cos(12*t);
yt2 = sin(t).*sin(12*t);
zt2 = cos(t);

plot3(xt1,yt1,zt1,xt2,yt2,zt2)

fig2plotly(gcf);

Plot Multiple Lines Using Matrices

Create matrix X containing three rows of x-coordinates. Create matrix Y containing three rows of y-coordinates. 

t = 0:pi/500:pi;
X(1,:) = sin(t).*cos(10*t);
X(2,:) = sin(t).*cos(12*t);
X(3,:) = sin(t).*cos(20*t);

Y(1,:) = sin(t).*sin(10*t);
Y(2,:) = sin(t).*sin(12*t);
Y(3,:) = sin(t).*sin(20*t);

Create matrix Z containing the z-coordinates for all three sets.

t = 0:pi/500:pi;
X(1,:) = sin(t).*cos(10*t);
X(2,:) = sin(t).*cos(12*t);
X(3,:) = sin(t).*cos(20*t);

Y(1,:) = sin(t).*sin(10*t);
Y(2,:) = sin(t).*sin(12*t);
Y(3,:) = sin(t).*sin(20*t);

Z = cos(t);

Plot all three sets of coordinates on the same set of axes.

t = 0:pi/500:pi;
X(1,:) = sin(t).*cos(10*t);
X(2,:) = sin(t).*cos(12*t);
X(3,:) = sin(t).*cos(20*t);

Y(1,:) = sin(t).*sin(10*t);
Y(2,:) = sin(t).*sin(12*t);
Y(3,:) = sin(t).*sin(20*t);

Z = cos(t);

plot3(X,Y,Z)

fig2plotly(gcf);

Specify Equally-Spaced Tick Units and Axis Labels

Create vectors xt, yt, and zt.

t = 0:pi/500:40*pi;
xt = (3 + cos(sqrt(32)*t)).*cos(t);
yt = sin(sqrt(32) * t);
zt = (3 + cos(sqrt(32)*t)).*sin(t);

Plot the data, and use the axis equal command to space the tick units equally along each axis. Then specify the labels for each axis.

t = 0:pi/500:40*pi;
xt = (3 + cos(sqrt(32)*t)).*cos(t);
yt = sin(sqrt(32) * t);
zt = (3 + cos(sqrt(32)*t)).*sin(t);

plot3(xt,yt,zt)
axis equal
xlabel('x(t)')
ylabel('y(t)')
zlabel('z(t)')

fig2plotly(gcf);