3-D Visualization

Making Objects Transparent

Making graphics objects semi-transparent is a useful technique in 3-D visualization to make it possible to see an object, while at the same time, see what information the object would obscure if it was completely opaque. You can also use transparency as another dimension for displaying data, much the way color is used in MATLAB.

The transparency of a graphics object determines the degree to which you can see through the object. You can specify a continuous range of transparency varying from completely transparent (i.e., invisible) to completely opaque (i.e., no transparency).

Objects that support transparency are:

• Image
• Patch
• Surface

The following picture illustrates the effect of transparency. The green isosurface (patch object) reveals the coneplot that lies in the interior.

Note    You must have OpenGL available on your system to use transparency. MATLAB automatically uses OpenGL if it is available. See the figure RendererMode property for more information.

Transparency

Specifying Transparency