viewer3d

Create viewer for 3-D image display

Since R2022b

Syntax

viewer = viewer3d

viewer = viewer3d(parent)

viewer = viewer3d(___,Name=Value)

Description

viewer = viewer3d creates a Viewer object in a new figure window that is configured for 3-D image display. Use viewer to query and modify properties of the Viewer object after you create the object. For a list of properties, see Viewer Properties.

viewer = viewer3d(parent) creates a Viewer object in the specified parent container.

viewer = viewer3d(___,Name=Value) creates a Viewer object and sets properties of the object using one or more name-value arguments, in addition to any of the input arguments from previous syntaxes.

For example, viewer3d(BackgroundColor="green",BackgroundGradient=false) creates a Viewer object in a new figure window with a green background and no background gradient.

Examples

Change Appearance of 3-D Scene

Create a 3-D viewer window, and specify the appearance of the background and lighting using name-value arguments.

viewer = viewer3d(BackgroundColor="white", ...
    GradientColor=[0.5 0.5 0.5],Lighting="on")

viewer = 
  Viewer with properties:

                Parent: [1×1 Figure]
              Position: [1 1 560 420]
              Children: [0×0 GraphicsPlaceholder]

       BackgroundColor: [1 1 1]
    BackgroundGradient: on
         GradientColor: [0.5000 0.5000 0.5000]
       OrientationAxes: on
        ClippingPlanes: [0×4 single]
              Lighting: on
         LightPosition: [0 0 0]

        CameraPosition: [1 1 1]
          CameraTarget: [0 0 0]
        CameraUpVector: [0 0 1]
            CameraZoom: 1

  Show all properties

Display a volumetric image in the scene.

load(fullfile(toolboxdir("images"),"imdata", ...
    "BrainMRILabeled","images","vol_001.mat"));
mriVol = volshow(vol,Parent=viewer);

Change the camera perspective of the scene by setting scene properties using dot notation.

viewer.CameraPosition = [120 120 200];
viewer.CameraTarget = [120 120 -10];
viewer.CameraUpVector = [0 1 0];
viewer.CameraZoom = 1.5;

Add a title and scale bar within the viewer window.

viewer.Title = "Brain MRI";
viewer.ScaleBar = "on";

Create Scene in UI Container

Create a grid layout manager whose parent is a figure created using the uifigure function.

fig = uifigure(Name="MRI Volume");
g = uigridlayout(fig,[1 1],Padding=[0 0 0 0]);

Create a scene with the default appearance in the grid layout manager.

viewer = viewer3d(g);

Display a volumetric image in the scene.

load(fullfile(toolboxdir("images"),"imdata", ...
    "BrainMRILabeled","images","vol_001.mat"));
mriVol = volshow(vol,Parent=viewer);

Input Arguments

parent — Parent of 3-D viewer

Figure object (default) | Panel object | GridLayout object | Tab object

Parent of the 3-D viewer, specified as a Figure object created using the uifigure function, or a Panel, GridLayout, or Tab object whose parent is a figure created using the uifigure function. You can use the uipanel, uigridlayout, and uitab functions to create the corresponding objects.

Tip

A GridLayout object is the recommended parent when you want to build an app in App Designer, or when you want to add and position other UI components in a figure with the 3-D viewer.

When the parent is a GridLayout object, you can adjust the layout of the 3-D viewer using the Layout property.

Example: parent = uifigure; viewer = viewer3d(parent); creates a parent figure using the uifigure function

Example: f = uifigure; parent = uipanel(f); viewer = viewer3d(parent); creates a parent Panel object whose parent is a figure created using the uifigure function.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Example: viewer3d(BackgroundColor="green",BackgroundGradient=false) creates a Viewer object for 3-D display in a new figure with a green background and no background gradient.

Note

The properties listed here are only a subset. For a full list, see Viewer Properties.

BackgroundColor — Color of background

RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | color name | short color name

Color of the background, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short color name. When you select light mode in MATLAB^®, the default color is [0 0.329 0.529]. When you select dark mode in MATLAB, the default color is [0.1 0.1 0.1].

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1], for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes "#FF8800", "#ff8800", "#F80", and "#f80" are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and the hexadecimal color codes.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]	"#FF0000"
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]	"#00FF00"
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]	"#0000FF"
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]	"#00FFFF"
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]	"#FF00FF"
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]	"#FFFF00"
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]	"#000000"
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]	"#FFFFFF"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

Palette	Palette Colors
"gem" — Light theme default Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow" — Dark theme default

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

Example: BackgroundColor="r"

Example: BackgroundColor="green"

Example: BackgroundColor=[0 0.4470 0.7410]

Example: BackgroundColor="#FF8800"

BackgroundGradient — Background gradient is present

"on" (default) | on/off logical value

Background gradient is present, specified as "on" or "off", or as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of "on" is equivalent to true, and "off" is equivalent to false. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type OnOffSwitchState. This property specifies whether the background is shaded with a gradient from GradientColor to BackgroundColor. When this property is false, the GradientColor property has no effect.

GradientColor — Color of background gradient shading

RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | color name | short color name

Color of the background gradient shading, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short color name. When BackgroundGradient is true, the background is shaded as a gradient from GradientColor to BackgroundColor. When you select light mode in MATLAB, the default color is [0.0 0.561 1.0]. When you select dark mode in MATLAB, the default color is [0.3 0.3 0.3].

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1], for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes "#FF8800", "#ff8800", "#F80", and "#f80" are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and the hexadecimal color codes.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]	"#FF0000"
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]	"#00FF00"
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]	"#0000FF"
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]	"#00FFFF"
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]	"#FF00FF"
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]	"#FFFF00"
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]	"#000000"
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]	"#FFFFFF"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

Palette	Palette Colors
"gem" — Light theme default Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow" — Dark theme default

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

Example: GradientColor="r"

Example: GradientColor="green"

Example: GradientColor=[0 0.4470 0.7410]

Example: GradientColor="#FF8800"

Title — Title for viewer

empty string array (default) | string scalar | character vector

Since R2025a

Title for viewer, specified as a string scalar or character vector. The title appears in the top center of the viewer window.

AmbientLight — Strength of ambient light

0.4 (default) | numeric scalar

Strength of ambient light in the scene, specified as a numeric scalar in the range [0, 1]. This property specifies the amount of ambient light in the scene.

DiffuseLight — Strength of diffuse light

0.6 (default) | numeric scalar

Strength of diffuse light, specified as a numeric scalar in the range [0, 1]. This property specifies the amount of diffuse light provided by the light sources in the Lights property of Viewer.

Specify the DiffuseLight name-value argument if you have one light source in a scene, or to update all light sources in a multilight scene to the same value. To adjust an individual light in a multilight scene, set the Intensity property of the corresponding Light object in the Lights property.

Denoising — Apply edge-preserving denoising

"off" (default) | on/off logical value

Since R2023b

Apply edge-preserving denoising, specified as "on" or "off", or as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of "on" is equivalent to true, and "off" is equivalent to false. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type OnOffSwitchState.

When this value is "on", the viewer applies edge-preserving denoising to all objects in the viewer. By default, the value is "off". If the viewer contains a Volume object displayed using cinematic rendering, meaning the RenderingStyle property value is "CinematicRendering", the Denoising value automatically changes to "on".

Output Arguments

viewer — 3-D viewer

Viewer object

3-D viewer, returned as a Viewer object configured for 3-D image display. When you create a Viewer by using the viewer3d function, the function sets certain properties to support 3-D visualization. For details about which properties have different defaults when created by viewer3d instead of viewer2d, see Viewer Properties.

More About

Events

To receive notification from the Viewer object when certain events happen, set up listeners for these events. You can specify a callback function that executes when one of these events occurs. When the Viewer object notifies your application through the listener, it returns data specific to the event. Look at the event class for the specific event to see what is returned.

Event Name	Trigger	Event Data	Event Attributes
AnnotationAdded	A point or line annotation has been interactively added to the viewer. This event does not execute if an annotation is programmatically added.	images.ui.graphics.events.AnnotationAddedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
AnnotationEdited	The label of a point or line annotation has been interactively edited. This event does not execute if an annotation label is programmatically edited.	images.ui.graphics.events.AnnotationEditedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
AnnotationMoved	A point or line annotation has been interactively moved within the viewer. This event does not execute if an annotation is programmatically moved.	images.ui.graphics.events.AnnotationMovedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
AnnotationRemoved	A point or line annotation has been interactively removed from the viewer. This event does not execute if an annotation is programmatically removed.	images.ui.graphics.events.AnnotationRemovedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
CameraMoving	The camera is being interactively moved. This event does not execute if the camera is programmatically moved.	images.ui.graphics.events.CameraMovedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
CameraMoved	The camera stops being interactively moved. This event does not execute if the camera is programmatically moved.	images.ui.graphics.events.CameraMovedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
ClippingPlanesChanging	A global clipping plane is being interactively moved. This event does not execute if the clipping plane is programmatically moved.	images.ui.graphics.events.ClippingPlanesChangedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
ClippingPlanesChanged	A global clipping plane stops being interactively moved. This event does not execute if the clipping plane is programmatically moved.	images.ui.graphics.events.ClippingPlanesChangedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
CropRegionChanged	The crop region stops being interactively changed. This event does not execute if the crop region is programmatically changed.	images.ui.graphics.events.CropRegionChangedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
ViewerRefreshed	The viewer has been refreshed. You can refresh a viewer either by reparenting the viewer or by modifying the ancestor hierarchy of the parent object. When you refresh a viewer, the viewer is cleared and no longer contains any child objects. To recreate the scene, you can listen to this event and reconstruct any objects that were parented to the viewer.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public

Tips

• To clear all objects from the scene and delete all data containers previously added to the 3-D viewer viewer, use the command:

  clear(viewer)

• To delete all objects in the scene and the 3-D viewer viewer, use the command:

  delete(viewer)

Version History

Introduced in R2022b

R2025a: New title, scale bar, and object information options

The 3-D viewer offers new options when displaying volumes, blocked volumes, and surfaces. The viewer now supports:

• Adding a title. Add a title by specifying the new Title property.

• Adding a zoom scale bar by specifying the new ScaleBarStyle property as "zoom".

• Displaying information about the voxel or surface point beneath the pointer. Toggle the visibility of the voxel information display from the viewer context menu or by using the new DisplayInfo property. You can interactively copy voxel coordinates to the clipboard, or export voxel information to the workspace from the viewer context menu.

R2025a: Change in default toolbar visibility

The viewer toolbar is now always visible by default, regardless of whether the pointer is inside or outside the viewer window. To preserve the behavior of previous releases, specify the Toolbar property as "hover", which hides the toolbar when you move the pointer outside the viewer window.

R2024b: Returns Viewer object, new default background color

• The function now returns a Viewer object, because the Viewer3D object has been renamed to reflect support for displaying 2-D images. The Viewer object has the same properties and default behavior as Viewer3D. Existing instances of the Viewer3D object continue to work as expected, and there are no plans to remove support for references to Viewer3D.

• The default background color for a viewer created using viewer3d in light mode has changed from [0 0.329 0.529] to [0 0.251 0.451]. The default background gradient color in light mode has changed from [0.0 0.561 1.0] to [0.0667 0.4431 0.7451].

R2024b: Specify additional cropping options

• Crop the objects in a viewer to a spherical or cylindrical region, in addition to the rectangular crop region supported in prior releases. To add a spherical or cylindrical crop region, specify the CropRegion property as a 4-element or 5-element row vector, respectively. Modify the crop region interactively in the viewer window.

• Specify whether to view the region inside or outside a crop region by specifying the new CropMode property.

R2024a: 3-D point and line annotations

Label 3-D points and lines in a scene using annotations. Add annotations interactively from the Viewer3D toolbar. By default, the viewer labels point annotations with their 3-D coordinates, and line annotations with their length.

Programmatically query or update annotations using the new Annotations property of Viewer3D. The new Point and Line objects and their properties define the position, color, and label of point and line annotations, respectively.

R2023b: New lighting and denoising options, interactive crop box and 3-D scissors tools

The Viewer3D object has new properties and tools to control the lighting and remove objects in a scene. To set any of these property values at object creation, specify them to the viewer3d function as name-value arguments.

• Control the strength of ambient and diffuse light within a viewer using the new AmbientLight and DiffuseLight properties, respectively.

• Apply denoising to the objects in a viewer using the new Denoising property. Specify the amount of smoothing and standard deviation of the Gaussian smoothing kernel using the new DenoisingDegreeOfSmoothing and DenoisingSigma properties, respectively.

• Use a crop box to crop the objects in a viewer to a rectangular subregion. To interactively add a crop box, click the crop box button in the Viewer3D axes toolbar. To crop the display, drag the faces of the crop box. To move the crop box, hold Ctrl while you drag. You can programmatically define the crop region by setting the new CropRegion property.

• Use the 3-D scissors tool to remove regions from of a viewer. To enable the tool, click the scissors button in the Viewer3D axes toolbar. Draw a 2-D polygon that contains the object you want to remove. The tool removes everything from the 3-D cut region, which it defines by extruding the polygon along the axis normal to the drawing plane.