quiver3d

This function provides an improvement over the QUIVER3 technique for visualizing 3D vector fields.

% QUIVER3d *True* 3D quiver plot.
%
% This function provides an improved technique for visualizing 3D
% vector fields. It relies on the efficient use of a single patch
% call and lighting effects to provide depth cueing.
%
% QUIVER3D(X,Y,Z,U,V,W) plots velocity vectors as arrows with components
% (u,v,w) at the points (x,y,z). The matrices X,Y,Z,U,V,W must all be
% the same size and contain the corresponding position and velocity
% components. QUIVER3D automatically scales the arrows to fit.
%
% QUIVER3D(X,Y,Z,U,V,W,COLOR) provides an input argument for coloring
% the vecotors. The COLOR argument can be a single color ([1x3] or
% [3x1]), and indexed color ([1xN] or [Nx1]), or a true color ([3xN or
% Nx3). Where N is equal to the number of elements in X or Y or Z or...
%
% QUIVER3D(X,Y,Z,U,V,W,COLOR,S) automatically
% scales the arrows to fit and then stretches them by S.
% Use S=0 to plot the arrows without the automatic scaling. S=1
% provides simple autoscaling.
%
% QUIVER3D(X,Y,Z,U,V,W,COLOR,S,N) provides an input that defines the
% density of the tessellation used in generating the arrows. If N is
% high (>15) then the rendering time can be long and interactivity of
% the rendering can be slow. If N<15 the rendering is generally quick
% for ~100s of vectors. The default is N=15;
%
% H = QUIVER3D(...) returns a patch object of the arrow cluster.
%
% Example:
% quiver3d; % Generates a sample output of the function.
%
% DBE 10/17/04