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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Call ax.view_init(elev=..., azim=..., roll=...) on the 3D axes to change the camera view. The angles are in degrees: elevation tilts the camera up or down, azimuth moves it around the plot, and roll spins the view around the viewing direction.
Set the view angle in Python
Create a 3D axes, draw the scatter plot on that axes, then set its view with view_init before displaying or saving the figure:
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import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(projection="3d")
ax.scatter(x, y, z)
ax.view_init(elev=25, azim=45)
plt.show()Here, x, y, and z are your data arrays or sequences. The call affects the specific axes object ax; use the same object for both scatter and view_init. Matplotlib’s Axes3D.view_init API documents the available angles and their behavior.
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- Elevation (
elev): Raises or lowers the camera relative to the horizontal plane. With the default z-axis vertical, a positive elevation looks down from above the x-y plane. - Azimuth (
azim): Moves the camera around the vertical axis. With the default z-axis vertical, positive azimuth rotates from the camera’s +x direction toward +y. - Roll (
roll): Spins the camera around its viewing direction. Positive roll turns the camera clockwise, making the scene appear to rotate counter-clockwise. It is optional for ordinary view adjustments.
Supply angles in degrees, not radians. You can omit an argument when you want to retain its initially specified value. For example, ax.view_init(elev=25, azim=45) leaves roll at its existing setting. The view-angle guide explains the camera controls and interactive rotation.
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Use reference angles for top and side views
For the default z-vertical axes, the Matplotlib 3.10.9 API reference lists these settings for views aligned with the main coordinate planes:
| View | Elevation | Azimuth |
|---|---|---|
| XY plane (top) | 90° | −90° |
| XZ plane (side) | 0° | −90° |
| YZ plane (side) | 0° | 0° |
These reference settings come from the Matplotlib 3.10.9 view_init API reference. They are useful starting points when you need to inspect a projection onto a particular coordinate plane.
Choose an angle that reveals the data
There is no universally best camera position. Change elevation and azimuth in small increments and inspect whether the view separates overlapping points, clarifies a planar relationship, or makes depth easier to judge. For example, Matplotlib’s 3D scatter plot example uses ax.view_init(elev=20., azim=-35, roll=0) to make it easier to see that the points lie on the plane y=0. Treat those values as an illustration for that plot, not a general best setting.
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Rotate the plot interactively
You can also drag a 3D axes with the mouse while exploring a figure. The current stable view-angle guide documents arcball as the default mouse-rotation style and allows changing it through rcParams["axes3d.mouserotationstyle"]. Mouse behavior changed in Matplotlib 3.10: before 3.10, mouse position mapped directly to azimuth and elevation; newer trackball-style behavior can also involve roll. For reproducible figures, record the final angles and set them explicitly with view_init.
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Use 3D axes methods for 3D content
Matplotlib’s mplot3d toolkit presents a 3D scene through a 2D projection. Create the 3D axes with fig.add_subplot(projection="3d"), then use its methods such as ax.scatter and ax.view_init. The mplot3d overview notes that pyplot functions for adding plot content are strictly 2D; the explicit 3D axes methods are the controls for a 3D scatter plot.
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