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See Also
- Show
- Plot3D
- ListPlot3D
- ParametricPlot3D
- RegionPlot3D
- ContourPlot3D
- ListContourPlot3D
- Graphics
- DiscretizeGraphics
- BoundaryDiscretizeGraphics
- Printout3D
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- Formats
- PLY
- STL
- X3D
-
- Front End Tokens
- Import
- Related Guides
- Workflows
- Tech Notes
Graphics3D [primitives,options]
represents a three-dimensional graphical image.
Graphics3D
Graphics3D [primitives,options]
represents a three-dimensional graphical image.
Details and Options
- Graphics3D is displayed in StandardForm as a graphical image. In InputForm , it is displayed as an explicit list of primitives.
- The following graphics primitives can be used:
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- The following graphics directives can be used:
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- The following wrappers can be used at any level:
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- The following options can be given:
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PreserveImageOptions Automatic whether to preserve image options when displaying new versions of the same graphicRotationAction "Fit" how to render after interactive rotation
- Nested lists of graphics constructs can be given. Directive specifications such as GrayLevel remain in effect only until the end of the list that contains them.
- Style [obj,opts] can be used to apply the options or directives opts to obj.
- In a notebook front end, ViewPoint , ViewVertical , ViewCenter , and ViewAngle can be changed by direct interactive manipulation.
- Dragging with the mouse rotates a 3D graphic.
- Directives such as RGBColor specify surface colors for objects that follow. Final colors are determined from simulated illumination, including Glow and Specularity components.
- By default, four light sources of different colors are used, arranged at particular fixed locations outside the bounding box.
- By default, ViewAngle is set so that, if possible, the projection of the whole 3D object just fills the 2D viewing area.
- The settings for BaseStyle are appended to the default style typically given by the "Graphics3D" style in the current stylesheet. The settings for BoxStyle , LabelStyle , etc. are appended to the default styles given for "Graphics3DBox", "Graphics3DLabel", etc.
- Settings that can be given through the Method option include "SpherePoints", "CylinderPoints", "RotationControl", and "ShrinkWrap". »
- The following options can be given to Method :
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"AxesDuringInteraction" "Lock" axes layout/display when rotating"EdgeDepthOffset" True draw edges above faces at similar depths"InvertSurfaceNormals" False invert the normals of a BSplineSurface"PerFragmentLighting" True shade faces interpolating between VertexNormals"RelieveDPZFighting" False reduce the effects of Z-fighting"RotationControl" "ArcBall" set the rotation controller"RotationMode" "ClippedRegion" specify the rotation mode"ShrinkWrap" False crop out empty space around rendered content
- Graphics3D [] gives an empty 3D graphic.
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (3)
Use lines, polygons, cylinders, spheres, etc. to build up a 3D graphics scene:
Use plot functions to automatically create Graphics3D from different types of data:
Use built-in polyhedron data:
Scope (14)
Primitives (2)
Three-dimensional planar polygons can fold over themselves:
Vertices can be shared by using GraphicsComplex :
Directives (5)
Directives can specify color, opacity, and specularity of faces:
Specify the specular exponent:
Colors, thickness, and dashing directives affect lines and edges:
Specify different properties for front and back of faces:
Graphics directives normally remain in effect only until the end of the list that contains them:
Coordinates (2)
Use an ordinary coordinate system:
Specify coordinates by fractions of the plot range:
Lighting and Camera (5)
Default lighting on a gray specular sphere:
Different light source for each sphere:
Specify the view point using special scaled coordinates:
Specify orthographic views:
Specify the view vectors using ordinary coordinates:
Options (86)
AlignmentPoint (1)
Specify the position to be aligned in 3D Inset , using coordinates:
AspectRatio (1)
In 3D, the aspect ratio determines the ratio of the final displayed 2D image:
Axes (2)
Draw all the axes:
Draw only the axis:
AxesEdge (3)
Choose the bounding box edges automatically to draw the axes:
Draw the axis edge that is the intersection of the plane and the plane:
Draw the axis edge that is the intersection of the plane and plane:
Four different positions for the axis:
AxesLabel (2)
Place a label for the axis in 3D:
Specify a label for each axis:
AxesStyle (1)
Specify overall axes style, including the ticks and the tick labels:
Specify the style for each axis:
Background (1)
Specify a background color:
BaselinePosition (2)
Align the center of a graphic with the baseline of the text:
Specify the baseline of a graphic as a fraction of the height by using Scaled :
BaseStyle (2)
Set the starting style:
Set multiple starting styles:
Boxed (1)
Draw the edges of the bounding box:
Do not draw the edges of the bounding box:
BoxRatios (2)
Specify the ratios between the bounding box edges:
Use the actual coordinate values for the ratios:
BoxStyle (1)
Use dashed lines for the bounding box:
ClipPlanes (1)
Specify a clipping plane:
ClipPlanesStyle (1)
Visualize the styled clipping plane:
Epilog (1)
Place text at the right bottom corner of the 3D graphic:
FaceGrids (4)
Put grids on every face of a 3D graphic:
Put grids on both ‐ faces:
Put face grids on the plane:
On the plane, put grid lines on , , and :
FaceGridsStyle (1)
Specify the overall style of face grids:
FormatType (2)
By default, expressions are displayed using TraditionalForm in graphics:
Display expressions using StandardForm :
ImageMargins (2)
Have 30-point margins on all sides:
Leave different margins on each side:
ImagePadding (4)
Thick lines and labels outside of the bounding box can be clipped without ImagePadding :
Leave enough padding for labels:
Specify the same padding for all sides in printer's points:
Specify different padding on different sides:
ImageSize (3)
Use predefined symbolic sizes in 3D:
Use an explicit image width:
Use an explicit image width and height:
LabelStyle (1)
Specify overall style of all the label-like elements:
Lighting (4)
Ambient light is uniformly applied to all the surfaces in the scene:
Directional lights with different colors:
Point lights with different colors:
Spotlights with different colors:
Method (14)
"AxesDuringInteraction" (1)
Set the dynamic display layout of axes during 3D rotation.
The default "AxesDuringInteraction"->"Lock" locks axes in place during 3D rotation:
"ContinuousUpdate" causes the axes to move to the best location during 3D rotation:
"Hide" hides the axes instead of moving them:
"ConePoints" (1)
Use the "ConePoints" setting to render cones with fewer polygons:
"CylinderPoints" (1)
Use the "CylinderPoints" setting to render cylinders with fewer polygons:
"EdgeDepthOffset" (1)
"EdgeDepthOffset"->True ensures that edges placed near faces are not obscured:
"InvertSurfaceNormals" (1)
Invert the direction of the surface normals of a BSplineSurface :
"OneLayer" (1)
The rendering system uses layers to order and render polygons:
Specifying {"Color",1} renders the topmost layer as if nothing lay behind it:
Use other numbers to selectively display each layer:
Use {"Depth",layer} to display the depth map of a given layer:
"PerFragmentLighting" (1)
"RelieveDPZFighting" (1)
By default, z-fighting of coplanar polygons is typically resolved by the rendering system:
"RelieveDPZFighting"->False improves rendering performance at the cost of exposing z-fighting:
"RotationControl" (1)
Set different rotation controllers for 3D graphics:
"RotationMode" (1)
Normally, a 3D graphic in rotation changes its apparent size to accommodate its ImageSize :
"SphericalRegion" resizes the graphic to accommodate all orientations during rotation:
"ShrinkWrap" (1)
By default, empty space may appear around a graphical image:
Use "ShrinkWrap" to prevent the inclusion of empty space:
"SpherePoints" (1)
Use the "SpherePoints" setting to render spheres with fewer polygons:
"SplinePoints" (1)
Subdivide each patch between knots using the default of {7,7} sample points:
Reduce the number of samples per patch to {1,1}:
"TubePoints" (1)
Use the "TubePoints" setting to render tubes with fewer polygons:
PlotLabel (2)
Display a label on the top of the graphic in TraditionalForm :
Use Style and other typesetting functions to modify how the label appears:
PlotRange (3)
PlotRangePadding (3)
Include coordinate unit of padding on all sides:
Include of the image size as padding on all sides:
Specify different padding on each side:
PlotRegion (3)
The contents of a graphic use the whole region:
Limit the contents of the graphic to the middle half of the region in each direction:
ImagePadding can also be used to add padding around a graphic:
Prolog (1)
Draw a circumscribing disk that just touches a corner of the bounding box:
SphericalRegion (1)
Make a sequence of images be consistently sized, independent of orientation:
Without SphericalRegion , each image is made as big as possible:
Ticks (2)
Place tick marks automatically:
Draw tick marks at the specified positions:
TicksStyle (2)
Specify the styles of the ticks and tick labels:
Specify the styles of the , , and axis ticks separately:
ViewAngle (1)
Use a specific angle for a simulated camera:
ViewCenter (2)
Place the top-right corner of the object at the center of the final image:
Use the ViewCenter->{vc,vp} to specify that 3D point vc gets mapped to the 2D point vp:
ViewMatrix (1)
Orthographic view of a sphere from the negative direction:
ViewPoint (3)
Specify the view point using the special scaled coordinates:
Use symbolic view points:
Specify orthographic views:
ViewRange (2)
By default, the range is sufficient to include all the objects:
Specify the minimum and maximum distances from the camera to be included:
ViewVector (1)
Specify the view vectors using ordinary coordinates:
ViewVertical (2)
Use the axis direction as the vertical direction in the final image:
Various views of vertical directions:
Properties & Relations (5)
The StandardForm of Graphics3D is its rendered form:
The InputForm is the textual expression form:
Graphics3D can be used as input to functions:
Three-dimensional plot functions return Graphics3D :
Several integrated data sources return Graphics3D :
Many Import and Export formats support Graphics3D :
Neat Examples (1)
The RGB color cube:
See Also
Show Plot3D ListPlot3D ParametricPlot3D RegionPlot3D ContourPlot3D ListContourPlot3D Graphics DiscretizeGraphics BoundaryDiscretizeGraphics Printout3D
Front End Tokens: Import
Function Repository: Stereogram3D
Tech Notes
Related Guides
Related Workflows
- Make a 3D Printout ▪
- Control Interactive Content with a Gamepad
History
Introduced in 1988 (1.0) | Updated in 1996 (3.0) ▪ 2007 (6.0) ▪ 2008 (7.0) ▪ 2010 (8.0) ▪ 2012 (9.0) ▪ 2014 (10.0) ▪ 2017 (11.2) ▪ 2019 (12.0) ▪ 2020 (12.1) ▪ 2024 (14.0)
Text
Wolfram Research (1988), Graphics3D, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Graphics3D.html (updated 2024).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 1988. "Graphics3D." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2024. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Graphics3D.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (1988). Graphics3D. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Graphics3D.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_graphics3d, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Graphics3D}", year="2024", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Graphics3D.html}", note=[Accessed: 24-November-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_graphics3d, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Graphics3D}, year={2024}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Graphics3D.html}, note=[Accessed: 24-November-2025]}