3-D Visualization

Volume Visualization Functions

MATLAB provides functions that enable you to apply a variety of volume visualization techniques. The following tables group these functions into two categories based on the type of data (scalar or vector) each is designed to work with. The reference page for each function provides examples of the intended use.

Functions Used with Scalar Volume Data

Functions	Purpose
contourslice	Draw contours in volume slice planes
isocaps	Compute isosurface end-cap geometry
isocolors	Compute the colors of isosurface vertices
isonormals	Compute normals of isosurface vertices
isosurface	Extract isosurface data from volume data
patch	Create a patch (multipolygon) graphics object
reducepatch	Reduce the number of patch faces
reducevolume	Reduce the number of elements in a volume data set
shrinkfaces	Reduce the size of each patch face
slice	Draw slice planes in volume
smooth3	Smooth 3-D data
surf2patch	Convert surface data to patch data
subvolume	Extract subset of volume data set

Functions Used with Vector Volume Data

Functions	Purpose
coneplot	Plot velocity vectors as cones in 3-D vector fields
curl	Compute the curl and angular velocity of a 3-D vector field
divergence	Compute the divergence of a 3-D vector field
interpstreamspeed	Interpolate streamline vertices from vector-field magnitudes
streamline	Draw stream lines from 2-D or 3-D vector data
streamparticles	Draw stream particles from vector volume data
streamribbon	Draw stream ribbons from vector volume data
streamslice	Draw well-spaced stream lines from vector volume data
streamtube	Draw stream tubes from vector volume data
stream2	Compute 2-D stream line data
stream3	Compute 3-D stream line data
volumebounds	Return coordinate and color limits for volume (scalar and vector)

Overview of Volume Visualization

Visualizing Scalar Volume Data