Surface

Figure D-14: Visualization Browser with Surface Properties Displayed

These properties control surface object visualizations. For each property, the type of control and the values that can be assigned are listed, along with the property identifier and allowed values for use by the iTools Procedural Interface. For a description of how a particular control is used, refer to Property Controls.

Table D-44: Surface Properties
Interface: Property Name	Control Type: Values	API: Property Identifier	API: Allowed Values
Color	Color: Color of the surface visualization. Click to choose from the default color palette, or specify RGB values. Default = `[255,184,0]` (gold)	COLOR	3D integer array of the form: [R, G, B] Each color value may range from 0 to 255.
Use color on bottom	Boolean: Display a color for the bottom of the surface. Choose True or False. Default = False	USE_DEFAULT_COLOR	0 (Do not display color) 1 (Display color)
Transparency	Number: Percent transparency. Move slider to change value. Default = `0`	TRANSPARENCY	Integer between 0 and 100.
Image palette	User Defined: By selecting Edit Color → Table Edit access the color table to manipulate surface color values.	None	None
Bottom color	Color: Color to be used for the bottom of the surface. Click to choose from the default color palette, or specify RGB values. Default = `[255,255,255]` (white)	BOTTOM	3D integer array of the form: [R, G, B] Each color value may range from 0 to 255.
Minimum value	Number: Minimum Z-Axis value of the surface plot. Edit the number to change the value.	MIN_VALUE	Floating point value
Maximum value	Number: Maximum Z-Axis value of the surface plot. Edit the number to change the value.	MAX_VALUE	Floating point value
Surface style	String List: Style used for rendering the surface. Select a style from the list. Choose from these values: Points: Data points in the surface are rendered as points. Wire mesh: Data points in the surface are connected with lines, forming a mesh. Filled: Data points in the surface are connected with filled quadrangles or triangles, forming a solid surface. Ruled XZ: Data points in the surface are connected with horizontal (Z-direction) lines, forming a grid. Ruled YZ: Data points in the surface are connected with vertical (Y-direction) lines, forming a grid. Lego: Stacked histogram-style plot in which each data value is rendered as an outline box covering the XY extent of the cell and with a height proportional to the Z value. Lego filled: Same as Lego, but the boxes are filled. Default = Filled	STYLE	0 (Points) 1 (Wire mesh) 2 (Filled--default) 3 (Ruled XZ) 4 (Ruled YZ) 5 (Lego) 6 (Lego filled)
Fill shading	String List: Method used for shading the surface polygons. Select a shading method from the list. Choose from these values: Flat: Shades polygons with a uniform fill. Gouraud: Interpolates intensities from each vertex along each edge. Then, when the polygons are converted, interpolates the shading along each scan line from the edge intensities. Results in a more natural appearance. Default = Flat	SHADING	0 (Flat--default) 1 (Gouraud)
Draw method	String List: Method used for drawing the surface. Select a method from the list. Choose from these values: Quads: Draw a surface composed of quadrangles. Triangles: Draw a surface composed of triangles. Default = Quads	USE_TRIANGLES	0 (Quads--default) 1 (Triangles)
Line style	Line Style: Style of lines used for constructing the surface. Select a style from the list. Default = (solid line)	LINESTYLE	An integer value specifying a predefined line style, or a two-element vector specifying a stippling pattern. The predefined line styles are: 0 (Solid line--the default) 1 (Dotted) 2 (Dashed) 3 (Dash dot) 4 (Dash dot dot dot) 5 (Long dash) 6 (No line drawn) To define your own stippling pattern, specify a two-element vector [repeat, bitmask], where repeat indicates the number of times consecutive runs of 1's or 0's in the bitmask should be repeated. (That is, if three consecutive 0's appear in the bitmask and the value of repeat is 2, the line will have six consecutive bits turned off.) The value of repeat must be in the range 1 <= repeat <= 255. The bitmask indicates which pixels are drawn and which are not along the length of the line. Bitmask is most conveniently specified as a 16-bit hexadecimal value. For example, LINESTYLE = [2, 'F0F0'X] describes a dashed line (8 bits on, 8 bits off, 8 bits on, 8 bits off).
Line thickness	Line Thickness: Thickness of lines used for constructing the surface. Select a thickness from the list. Default = `1`	THICK	A floating-point value between 1.0 (the default) and 10.0.
Remove hidden lines	Boolean: Hide lines that show through the surface mesh or grid. Choose True or False. Default = False	HIDDEN_LINES	0 (Do not hide lines) 1 (Hide lines)
Show skirt	Boolean: Display the edges of the surface as a filled skirt? Choose True or False. Default = False	SHOW_SKIRT	0 (Do not display the edges of the surface as a filled skirt) 1 (Display the edges of the surface as a filled skirt)
Skirt edge height	Number: Set bottom of displayed skirt to this height. Edit the number to change the value. Default = `0`	SKIRT	Floating point
Texture interpolation	String List: Method used for interpolating selected texture map. Select a method from the list. Choose from these values: Nearest Neighbor: Assign the value of the nearest pixel to the pixel in the output image. Fastest method, but may cause jagged edges. Bilinear: Create a weighted average based on the nearness and brightness of the closest four pixels, and assign that value to the pixel in the output image. Default = Nearest Neighbor	TEXTURE_INTERP	0 (Nearest neighbor--default) 1 (Bilinear)
Texture hires	String List: Method used for tiling the selected high-resolution texture map. Select a tiling method from the list. Choose from these values: No tiling: Do not use tiling LOD tiling: Use level of detail tiling Tiling: Use tiling Default = No tiling	TEXTURE_HIGHRES	0 (No tiling--default) 1 (LOD tiling) 2 (Tiling)
Skip zero opacity	Boolean: Skip zero opacity for surface? Choose True or False. Default = True	ZERO_OPACITY_SKIP	0 (Do not skip zero opacity) 1 (Skip zero opacity)
Vertex Color Scale	User Defined: Select vertex color scale bottom/top.	None	None
Texture Map Scale	User Defined: Select texture map scale bottom/top.	None	None