3-D Visualization - The MathWorks - #51

• Camera Motion Controls — These tools select which camera motion function to enable. You can also access the camera motion controls from the Tools menu.

• Principal Axis Selector — Some camera controls operate with respect to a particular axis. These selectors enable you to select the principal axis or to select nonaxis constrained motion. The selectors are grayed out when not applicable to the currently selected function. You can also access the principal axis selector from the Tools menu.

• Scene Light — The scene light button toggles a light source on or off in the scene (one light per axes).

• Projection Type — You can select orthographic or perspective projection types.

• Reset and Stop — Reset returns the scene to the standard 3-D view. Stop causes the camera to stop moving (this can be useful if you apply too much cursor movement). You can also access an expanded set of reset functions from the Tools menu.

The principal axis of a scene defines the direction that is oriented upward on the screen. For example, a MATLAB^® surface plot aligns the up direction along the positive z-axis.

Principal axes constrain camera-tool motion along axes that are (on the screen) parallel and perpendicular to the principal axis that you select. Specifying a principal axis is useful if your data is defined with respect to a specific axis. Z is the default principal axis, because this matches the MATLAB default 3-D view.

Two of the camera tools (Orbit and Pan/Tilt) allow you to select a principal axis as well as axis-free motion. On the screen, the axes of rotation are determined by a vertical and a horizontal line, both of which pass through the point defined by the CameraTarget property and are parallel and perpendicular to the principal axis.

For example, when the principal axis is z, movement occurs about