3D Surface Lighting in R

How to add lighting effects in 3D R Plots.

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Ambient

library(plotly)

fig1 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene1', lighting = list(ambient = 0.2)) 
fig1 <- fig1 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig2 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene2', lighting = list(ambient = 0.9)) 
fig2 <- fig2 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig <- subplot(fig1, fig2) 
fig <- fig %>%
  layout(title = "Ambient Lighting",
         grid = list(rows = 1, columns = 2,
                     pattern = 'independent'),
         scene = list(domain=list(column = 0),
                      aspectmode='cube'),
         scene2 = list(domain=list(column = 1),
                       aspectmode='cube'))

fig

Roughness

library(plotly)

fig1 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene1', lighting = list(roughness = 0.1)) 
fig1 <-  fig1 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig2  <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene2', lighting = list(roughness = 0.9)) 
fig2 <-  fig2 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig <- subplot(fig1, fig2) 
fig <- fig %>%
  layout(title = "Roughness",
         grid = list(rows = 1, columns = 2,
                     pattern = 'independent'),
         scene = list(domain=list(column = 0),
                      aspectmode='cube'),
         scene2 = list(domain=list(column = 1),
                       aspectmode='cube'))

fig

Diffuse

library(plotly)

fig1 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene1', lighting = list(diffuse = 0.1)) 
fig1 <- fig1 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig2 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene2', lighting = list(diffuse = 0.9)) 
fig2 <- fig2 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig <- subplot(fig1, fig2) 
fig <- fig %>%
  layout(title = "Diffuse Reflection",
         grid = list(rows = 1, columns = 2,
                     pattern = 'independent'),
         scene = list(domain=list(column = 0),
                      aspectmode='cube'),
         scene2 = list(domain=list(column = 1),
                       aspectmode='cube'))

fig

Specular

library(plotly)

fig1 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene1', lighting = list(specular = 0.1)) 
fig1 <- fig1 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig2 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene2', lighting = list(specular = 1.9)) 
fig2 <- fig2 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig <- subplot(fig1, fig2) 
fig <- fig %>%
  layout(title = "Specular Reflection",
         grid = list(rows = 1, columns = 2,
                     pattern = 'independent'),
         scene = list(domain=list(column = 0),
                      aspectmode='cube'),
         scene2 = list(domain=list(column = 1),
                       aspectmode='cube'))

fig

Fresnel

library(plotly)

fig1 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene1', lighting = list(fresnel = 0.1)) 
fig1 <-  fig1 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig2 <- plot_ly(z = ~volcano, scene='scene2', lighting = list(fresnel = 4.5)) 
fig2 <- fig2 %>%
  add_surface(showscale=FALSE)

fig <- subplot(fig1, fig2) 
fig <- fig %>%
  layout(title = "Fresnel",
         grid = list(rows = 1, columns = 2,
                     pattern = 'independent'),
         scene = list(domain=list(column = 0),
                      aspectmode='cube'),
         scene2 = list(domain=list(column = 1),
                       aspectmode='cube'))

fig

Reference

See https://plotly.com/r/reference/#surface-lighting for more information and options!

What About Dash?

Dash for R is an open-source framework for building analytical applications, with no Javascript required, and it is tightly integrated with the Plotly graphing library.

Learn about how to install Dash for R at https://dashr.plot.ly/installation.

Everywhere in this page that you see fig, you can display the same figure in a Dash for R application by passing it to the figure argument of the Graph component from the built-in dashCoreComponents package like this:

library(plotly)

fig <- plot_ly() 
# fig <- fig %>% add_trace( ... )
# fig <- fig %>% layout( ... ) 

library(dash)
library(dashCoreComponents)
library(dashHtmlComponents)

app <- Dash$new()
app$layout(
    htmlDiv(
        list(
            dccGraph(figure=fig) 
        )
     )
)

app$run_server(debug=TRUE, dev_tools_hot_reload=FALSE)