Axes Objects

PyVista has many axes objects which can be used for plotting. This example highlights many of these objects and shows how to use them with related plotting methods.

import pyvista as pv
from pyvista import examples

Cube Axes

Show axes bounds as a cube with CubeAxesActor.

mesh = examples.download_bunny_coarse()

pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
axes = pv.CubeAxesActor(camera=pl.camera)
axes.bounds = mesh.bounds
pl.add_actor(axes)
pl.background_color = pv.Color('paraview')
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

Adding the axes like this can be a bit cumbersome since the camera, bounds, and color must be set manually. Instead, use show_bounds() to add a CubeAxesActor with pre-configured parameters.

pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.show_bounds()
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

Alternatively, use show_grid(). This also adds a CubeAxesActor to the plot but with different default options.

pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.show_grid()
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

See also

remove_bounds_axes() update_bounds_axes() Plotting Bounds

Arrow Axes

Arrow-style axes include AxesActor, AxesAssembly, and AxesAssemblySymmetric.

AxesActor is primarily intended for use as an orientation widget (see next section), but can also be added to a plot as a normal actor. Use add_axes_at_origin() to add AxesActor at the origin.

pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
axes = pl.add_axes_at_origin()
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

The axes are too large and should be scaled down. Transformations with AxesActor are possible, but with some caveats:

• The bounds of AxesActor are hard-coded as +/- 1, which makes it challenging to configure the camera bounds for the plot.

• The user matrix must be used for transformations (scale and position properties do not work).

Create new axes, disable its bounds, and apply a scaling Transform.

trans = pv.Transform().scale(0.25)
axes = pv.AxesActor()
axes.UseBoundsOff()
axes.SetUserMatrix(pv.vtkmatrix_from_array(trans.matrix))

Plot the axes with a mesh. Note that since the bounds of the axes are not used, the tip of the z-axis appears clipped, which is not ideal.

pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.add_actor(axes)
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

Instead of using AxesActor, AxesAssembly is recommended for positioning axes in a scene.

axes = pv.AxesAssembly(scale=0.25)
pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.add_actor(axes)
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

Alternatively, use AxesAssemblySymmetric for adding symmetric axes to a scene.

axes = pv.AxesAssemblySymmetric(scale=0.25)
pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.add_actor(axes)
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

Axes Widgets

Any actor can also be used as an axes orientation widget. Here, we demonstrate using four separate axes widgets:

1. Use add_axes() to add an arrow-style orientation widget. The widget uses AxesActor by default.

2. Use add_box_axes() to add a box-style orientation widget.

3. Use add_north_arrow_widget() to add a north arrow orientation widget.

4. Add AxesAssemblySymmetric as a custom orientation widget using add_orientation_widget().

# Load a dataset
mesh = examples.load_airplane()

# Create a plotter with four linked views.
viewport = (0, 0, 0.5, 0.5)
pl = pv.Plotter(shape=(2, 2))
pl.link_views()

# Add arrow-style axes
pl.subplot(0, 0)
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.add_axes(viewport=viewport)

# Add box-style axes
pl.subplot(0, 1)
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.add_box_axes(viewport=viewport)

# Add north arrow
pl.subplot(1, 0)
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.add_north_arrow_widget(viewport=viewport)

# Add symmetric arrow-style axes
pl.subplot(1, 1)
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
axes = pv.AxesAssemblySymmetric(label_size=25)
pl.add_orientation_widget(axes, viewport=viewport)

pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

Camera Orientation Widget

There is also a specialized camera widget which can added to a plot with add_camera_orientation_widget.

pl = pv.Plotter()
pl.add_mesh(mesh)
pl.add_camera_orientation_widget()
pl.show()

Static Scene

Interactive Scene

Tags: plot