How to Plot a 3D Wireframe Plot in Python?

In this tutorial, we’ll try to understand how to plot a 3D wireframe plot in python.

What is a wireframe plot?

Wireframe plot takes a grid of values and projects it onto the specified three-dimensional surface, and can make the resulting three-dimensional forms quite easy to visualize.

3D wireframe plot using the matplotlib.Axes.plot_wireframe() method

To plot a 3D wireframe plot in Python, use the matplotlib Axes objects plot_wireframe() method. The following is the syntax –

Basic Syntax:

Axes.plot_wireframe(X, Y, Z, **kwargs)

Parameters:

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• X, Y, Z: Data values.
• rcount, ccount: Maximum number of samples used in each direction.
• rstride, cstride: Downsampling stride in each direction.

For more details about the parameters, refer this.

Now let us understand the usage of the above method with some examples.

Example 1

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# defining variables
x = np.linspace(-1, 2, 10)
y = np.linspace(-1, 2, 10)
x, y = np.meshgrid(x, y)
z = np.sin(np.sqrt(x ** 2 + y ** 2))

#generating the figure and 3d axes
fig = plt.figure(figsize = (6, 6))
ax = plt.axes(projection = '3d')

#plotting the 3D wireframe plot
ax.plot_wireframe(x, y, z)
plt.show()

Output:

The steps followed in the above examples are:

• Import required modules.
• Define the variables.
• Generate the figure and 3d axes.
• Plot the 3D wireframe plot using Axes.plot_wireframe method.

Example 2

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
from mpl_toolkits import mplot3d

# defining variables
x, y, z = mplot3d.axes3d.get_test_data(0.05)

#generating the figure and 3d axes
fig = plt.figure(figsize = (6, 6))
ax = plt.axes(projection = '3d')

#plotting the 3D wireframe plot
ax.plot_wireframe(x,y,z, rstride=2,cstride=2,color='green')
plt.show()

Output:

The steps followed in the above examples are:

• Import required modules.
• Define the variables. Here we used mplot3d from the mpl_toolkits module to generate our 3d data.
• Generate the figure and 3d axes.
• Plot the 3D wireframe plot using Axes.plot_wireframe method.

Example 3

You can customize the wireframe plot with additional parameters to the plot_wireframe() function.

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import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# defining variables
x = np.outer(np.linspace(-2, 4, 8), np.ones(8))
y = x.copy().T
z = np.cos(x ** 3 + y ** 4)

#generating the figure and 3d axes
fig = plt.figure(figsize = (6, 6))
ax = plt.axes(projection = '3d')

#plotting the 3D wireframe plot
ax.plot_wireframe(x, y, z, edgecolor ='orange')
plt.show()

Output:

The steps followed in the above examples are:

• Import required modules.
• Define the variables.
• Generate the figure and 3d axes.
• Plot the 3D wireframe plot using Axes.plot_wireframe method and pass an additional parameter for the edgecolor.

Example 4

You can also modify the viewing angle of the wireframe plot.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# defining variables
x = np.outer(np.linspace(-2, 4, 8), np.ones(8))
y = x.copy().T
z = np.cos(x ** 3 + y ** 4)

#generating the figure and 3d axes
fig = plt.figure(figsize = (6, 6))
ax = plt.axes(projection = '3d')

#plotting the 3D wireframe plot
ax.plot_wireframe(x, y, z, edgecolor ='orange')
ax.view_init(70, 60)
plt.show()

Output:

The steps followed in the above examples are:

• Import required modules.
• Define the variables.
• Generate the figure and 3d axes.
• Plot the 3D wireframe plot using Axes.plot_wireframe method.
• Change the view angle by using Axes.view_init method (refer this).

Example 5

You can also add a contour plot at the base of a wireframe plot.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# defining variables
X = np.linspace(-6, 6, 10)
Y = np.linspace(-6, 6, 10)
x,y = np.meshgrid(X,Y)
z = np.sin(np.sqrt(x ** 2 + y ** 2))

#generating the figure and 3d axes
fig = plt.figure(figsize = (6, 6))
ax = plt.axes(projection = '3d')

#plotting the 3D wireframe plot
ax.plot_wireframe(x, y, z)
ax.contourf(x,y,z)

# ax.view_init(70,60)
plt.show()

Output:

The steps followed in the above examples are:

• Import required modules.
• Define the variables.
• Generate the figure and 3d axes.
• Plot the 3D wireframe plot using Axes.plot_wireframe method.
• Plot the 2D contour plot using Axes.contourf method.
• Change the view angle by using Axes.view_init method (refer this).

To understand more about Contour plots, refer this.

You might also be interested in –

• How to Create a 3D Plot in Python?
• How to plot a 3D surface plot in Python?
• How to Plot a 3D Contour plot in Python?