Transparent background color for 3d graph

[hyness]

I would like to display a 3d graph in a spherical coordinate system, i.e. I want to view the theta angles mapped out on the x-y plane and the phi angle shown on the plane perpendicular to the theta angle in the x-y plane. I can't find any functions to do this or any options on the graph property node to do this. So I was thinking of just plotting the surface using the 3d surface graph then have a single vector visually trace out the surface (its speed controlled by a slide bar or something). I could use the 3d curve graph control to create the vector but I need to figure out a way to make the background color of the top graph transparent. This is really easy to do with 2d graphs. Apparently you can overlay as many 2d graphs as you want, but I don't see any way yet to do this with 3d graphs.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sarah

[Rolf Kalbermatter]

I would like to display a 3d graph in a spherical coordinate system, i.e. I want to view the theta angles mapped out on the x-y plane and the phi angle shown on the plane perpendicular to the theta angle in the x-y plane.  I can't find any functions to do this or any options on the graph property node to do this.  So I was thinking of just plotting the surface using the 3d surface graph then have a single vector visually trace out the surface (its speed controlled by a slide bar or something).  I could use the 3d curve graph control to create the vector but I need to figure out a way to make the background color of the top graph transparent.  This is really easy to do with 2d graphs.  Apparently you can overlay as many 2d graphs as you want, but I don't see any way yet to do this with 3d graphs. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sarah

5149[/snapback]

The 3D graph is an Active X control and the LabVIEW implementation of the Active X container does not support transparent or overlay mode. This is partly because ActiveX initially didn't allow for that and many controls don't support it properly anyhow.

If your graphic you want to display is not to complicated you could try to draw it in the Picture Control which is a native LabVIEW control and can be overlaid as desired.

Rolf Kalbermatter

[i2dx]

i do not think overlaying contols is a good idea, because in most cases this leads to a heavy system load ...

[Louis Manfredi]

...but I don't see any way yet to do this with 3d graphs. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sarah

5149[/snapback]

Hi Sarah:

You can have multiple plot items within a single 3D graph object.-- Perhaps rather than overlaying graphs with single plot item in each, overlay the items within a single graph?

The attached image shows a routine I've used to create the references to the multiple items in a single plot in a similar but different application of my own. Should sort of point you in the direction I'm suggesting, hope this helps, I can give more details if you need them and if this seems like a good approach to you.

Good luck & best Regards, Lou

[Louis Manfredi]

i do not think overlaying contols is a good idea, because in most cases this leads to a heavy system load ...

5154[/snapback]

I agree totally with i2dx on this. Bad enough to overlap simple native LabView controls, but overlapping Active X things seems burdensome to the system at best, and likely to be buggy at worst.

Lou