Truncating a surface plot in Matlab

[ballzac]

Hi,
My thesis involves several surface plots. Most of the interesting features of these plots (and also the region I am interested in) are between z=0 and z=0.2, but there are a few points that have values as high as z=4. I want to view only the region of interest, so I use

zlim([0 0.2])

This works fine in the sense that it zooms in on the region of interest, but it does not truncate parts of the plot above z=0.2. This means that the surface extends above the axes, all the way up to the top of the figure when viewed from an oblique angle. Cosmetically, I feel this is unacceptable for a thesis, and I would like the plot to be truncated at the axis limits without affecting the location of the points.

I am okay with it either 'cutting' the top off, or flattening it at the top, but would probably prefer the former. Unfortunately, changing the actual values in this region (by setting any point with a value greater that z=0.2 to 0.2) changes the actual shape of the surface between these points and the neighbouring points.

There must be simple solution for this, but I can't find one. Hopefully someone has some ideas. Thanks in advance.

 

[mmwave]

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your issue with us. I understand your concerns about the visual presentation of your surface plots in your thesis. One possible solution to achieve the desired truncation without altering the shape of the surface between points would be to use the "hold on" and "hold off" commands in conjunction with the "zlim" command.

First, use the "hold on" command to hold the current plot and then use the "zlim" command to set the desired limits for the z-axis. Next, use the "hold off" command to release the hold and plot the surface again, which should now be truncated at the desired z-axis limit without affecting the shape of the surface between points. This can be repeated for each surface plot in your thesis.

I hope this helps and best of luck with your thesis. Let me know if you have any further questions or need any additional assistance.