Rotating the 3D graph:
1. Click on the 3D plot window and drag the mouse on the plot. This should
rotate the surface in the direction you move the mouse about the focus point
(the origin, by default). To reset the viewpoint to the original one, press the
Home key (or choose Reset 3D View from the View Settings menu).
Using 3D Glasses - Other 3D Viewing Modes
2. There are a variety of 3D viewing modes you can experiment with in
CalcPlot3D. These are found in the Select 3D View submenu of the
View Settings menu in CalcPlot3D. The standard view will always work, but sometimes it is fun
to experience the 3D graphs with more realistic 3D depth. If you have 3D
glasses, there are a number of options (called Anaglyphs) you can try.
Red-Cyan
or Red-Blue 3D glasses can be used for all Anaglyphs but the
Amber-Blue Anaglyph
option. This one can only be viewed with Amber-Blue 3D glasses (distributed
recently for the Super Bowl 2009 half-time special). Red-Green
3D glasses can be
used for the Red-Green Anaglyph option. The other two 3D viewing options (Stereo
Pair and Cross-eyed) do not require 3D glasses, but do take some
practice. The biggest benefit of these two modes is that you get a full color 3D
experience without needing 3D glasses, but it is harder to share this view with
a class full of students who may not have mastered one of these techniques yet. For more information on these modes see 3D View Help (also found on the
Select 3D View submenu).
Using the 2D Trace Plane:
3. Click on the 2D trace plane on the left side of the applet and drag the
cursor around this place. A trace point should appear on the 3D plot and move
around the surface corresponding to the input point (x, y) that you specify in
the trace plane.
4. Choose Show the tangent plane at point on the drop-down menu below the trace plane. Then click and drag on the trace plane. You should see a tangent plane move around on the 3D surface.
5. Now hide the tangent plane (and the trace point) by selecting Show graphs only on the drop-down menu below the trace plane. As you can see, there are more options on this menu to experiment with later.
6. Click on the Graph button to reset the 3D view.
Next → Contour Plots