Data Lab node
Plot 3D
A chart inside the 3D Scene, with its camera, depth and lights. Scatter: a Signal’s channels as x, y, z (or any point cloud). Trajectory: a 3-channel Signal over time as a fading line with a head. Surface: a matrix Signal (a spectrogram, a correlation matrix, a multi-channel raster) as a lit heightfield coloured by a ramp. Sphere: a 3-vector on the unit sphere with its trail — the Bloch sphere in real 3D. Put it inside a 3D Scene; Scale is the box’s edge in world units.
Inputs
| Port | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| EnableOff = nothing is drawn. | bool | true |
| SignalScatter / Trajectory: channels 1…3 are x, y, z (one channel = value over time). Surface: any multi-channel or matrix Signal. Sphere: a 3-channel Signal as a vector. | structure | — |
| PointsAny point cloud (Embed, Superformula, Make Point As Array…) drawn as a Scatter in world units × Scale. | structure | — |
| KindScatter (beads), Trajectory (a fading line with a head), Surface (a lit heightfield, rows along x, channels along z, height = value), Sphere (the unit sphere with the vector’s trail — Bloch). | int | 1 |
| StyleSurface only. Shaded: a lit heightfield coloured by the Ramp. Ridgeline: every time row a line in the plot’s Color (or Gradient) over black faces, so the front rows hide the back — the pulsar plot in real 3D; orbit it with an Interactive Camera. | int | 0 |
| ColorThe colour of points and lines (the Surface uses the Ramp). | color | — |
| RampSurface colours by height: Viridis, Magma, Inferno, Plasma, Grayscale, Diverging, Phosphor. | int | 0 |
| GradientA Gradient node’s cable: the trail runs through it (stop 0 = the head, the point and the sphere; stop 1 = the oldest end), a Scatter by point order, a Surface by height instead of the Ramp. | structure | — |
| SizeBead diameter in world units (the head of a trajectory is twice this). | float | 0.02 |
| Line WidthSegment width in world units. | float | 0.01 |
| Position XCentre of the plot box in the scene. | float | 0 |
| Position YCentre of the plot box in the scene. | float | 0 |
| Position ZCentre of the plot box in the scene. | float | 0 |
| ScaleEdge of the plot box in world units (the sphere’s diameter). | float | 1.0 |
| HeightSurface: the box height the value range maps to. | float | 0.5 |
| Time WindowSeconds of the Signal shown; 0 = the whole window. | float | 0 |
| Value AutoAxis ranges follow the data with hysteresis (or the unit’s nominal span). | bool | true |
| Value MinManual range, bottom (every axis). | float | -1 |
| Value MaxManual range, top (every axis). | float | 1 |
| Show AxesThe box (or the sphere’s wireframe and axes). | bool | true |
| FadeTrajectory / Sphere: the trail fades toward the past. | bool | true |
| LabelsAxis names with units (the Signal’s channel names, time in s, a spectrogram’s Hz) and the ruler’s numbers, as flat text along the box edges; on the Sphere the three axis names. | bool | true |
| RulerOff, Ticks (marks with numbers along three edges: x on the front, z on the right, y up the front-left corner) or Grid (the ticks plus grid lines on the floor and the back walls). | int | 1 |
Outputs
| Port | Type |
|---|---|
| PointsAny point cloud (Embed, Superformula, Make Point As Array…) drawn as a Scatter in world units × Scale. | structure |
| Count | int |
How It Works
Plot 3D is a chart inside the 3D Scene, drawn with its camera, its depth and its lights — a child node like 3D Particles and 3D Paths.
Four kinds: Scatter (a Signal's channels as x, y, z, or any point cloud, as lit beads), Trajectory (a 3-channel Signal over time as a line that fades toward the past), Surface (a matrix Signal — a spectrogram, a correlation matrix, a multi-channel raster — as a heightfield coloured by a ramp under the scene's lights, with a Ridgeline style for the pulsar plot in real depth), and Sphere (a 3-vector on the unit sphere with its trail — the Bloch sphere with real geometry).
A Gradient node's cable colours the trail: the first stop is the head, the point and the sphere, and the trail runs from there to the last stop at its oldest end. A Scatter colours by point order, a Surface by height.
Labels and Ruler put axis names with units and tick numbers along the box edges as real geometry in the scene — the channel names of the Signal, time in seconds, a spectrogram's frequency in kHz, a cloud's x y z in units — with Ruler set to Off, Ticks or Grid (floor and back walls). SI prefixes are automatic: a ±0.4 µV axis reads in nV.
Scale is the box's edge in world units, and Position X/Y/Z place it in the scene.
Use Cases
- Data sculpture — A spectrogram as a lit landscape you can orbit with an Interactive Camera.
- The Bloch sphere — Three LFOs today, a qubit later; the trail shows where the state has been.
- Attractors in space — Embed's point cloud as a Scatter, lit and shadowed.
- A chart in a scene — Measurements presented alongside the thing being measured, in the same 3D world.
- Ridgelines with depth — Data Art's matrix as a Surface in Ridgeline style.
Tips
- It must live inside a 3D Scene — drop it in as a child, like Mesh or 3D Particles.
- Use the 3D Scene's wildcard "+" to get a Signal or a Gradient across the container boundary without hand-made ports.
- Scale sets the whole box; Height scales the Surface's relief independently.
- Turn Fade off on a Trajectory when you want the whole history at equal weight.
- Labels are real geometry, so they light and shadow like everything else — keep them thin and cool so they do not shout.
Open Plot 3D in the interactive catalog →
Plot 3D is one of 381 nodes in Grafit Pro.
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