testbed/matplotlib__matplotlib/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d/view_angles.rst

.. _toolkit_mplot3d-view-angles:

*******************
mplot3d View Angles
*******************

How to define the view angle
============================

The position of the viewport "camera" in a 3D plot is defined by three angles:
*elevation*, *azimuth*, and *roll*. From the resulting position, it always
points towards the center of the plot box volume. The angle direction is a
common convention, and is shared with
`PyVista <https://docs.pyvista.org/api/core/camera.html>`_ and
`MATLAB <https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/view.html>`_
(though MATLAB lacks a roll angle). Note that a positive roll angle rotates the
viewing plane clockwise, so the 3d axes will appear to rotate
counter-clockwise.

.. image:: /_static/mplot3d_view_angles.png
   :align: center
   :scale: 50

Rotating the plot using the mouse will control only the azimuth and elevation,
but all three angles can be set programmatically::

    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    ax = plt.figure().add_subplot(projection='3d')
    ax.view_init(elev=30, azim=45, roll=15)


Primary view planes
===================

To look directly at the primary view planes, the required elevation, azimuth,
and roll angles are shown in the diagram of an "unfolded" plot below. These are
further documented in the `.mplot3d.axes3d.Axes3D.view_init` API.

.. plot:: gallery/mplot3d/view_planes_3d.py
   :align: center