Isosurface

Overview

The isosurface trace type is used to create 3D isosurface visualizations, which represent a 3D volume using surfaces of constant values. Isosurfaces are commonly used in scientific visualization, such as fluid dynamics, medical imaging, or geospatial data, to show regions of interest within a 3D space.

You can customize the colors, opacity, and surface rendering to visualize 3D data effectively.

Common Uses

Scientific Visualization: Representing surfaces of constant values in a 3D volume.
Medical Imaging: Displaying 3D representations of structures, such as in MRI or CT scans.
Geospatial and Engineering Data: Visualizing 3D volumes and their properties.

Check out the Attributes for the full set of configuration options

Examples

Common Configurations

Simple Isosurface PlotComplex Isosurface Plot with Slice

Here's a simple isosurface plot showing a constant value surface within a 3D grid:

You can copy this code below to create this chart in your project:

models:
  - name: isosurface-data-simple
    args:
      - echo
      - |
        idx,x,y,z,value
        0,0,0,1,1
        1,0,1,1,2
        2,0,0,0,3
        3,0,1,0,4
        4,1,0,1,5
        5,1,1,1,6
        6,1,0,0,7
        7,1,1,0,8

traces:
  - name: Simple Isosurface Plot Trace
    model: ${ref(isosurface-data-simple)}
    props:
      type: isosurface
      x: ?{x}
      y: ?{y}
      z: ?{z}
      value: ?{value}
      isomin: 2 
      isomax: 6 
      colorscale: "Reds"
    order_by: 
      - ?{ idx asc }
charts:
  - name: Simple Isosurface Chart
    traces:
      - ${ref(Simple Isosurface Plot Trace)}
    layout:
      title:
        text: Simple Isosurface Plot<br><sub>3D Volume Visualization</sub>

This example demonstrates a more complex isosurface plot with a slice and custom camera angle:

Here's the code:

models:
  - name: isosurface-data
    args:
      - curl
      - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/visivo-io/data/refs/heads/main/fractal-cubic.csv

traces:
  - name: Complex With Slice Isosurface Plot
    model: ${ref(isosurface-data)}
    props:
      type: isosurface
      x: ?{x}
      y: ?{y}
      z: ?{z}
      value: ?{value}
      isomin: -100
      isomax: 100
      surface: 
        show: true 
        count: 1 
        fill: .8
      slices: 
        z: 
          show: true
          locations: [-0.1]
      caps: 
        x: 
          show: false 
        y: 
          show: false 
        z: 
          show: false
    order_by: 
      - ?{idx asc}

charts:
  - name: Complex With Slice Isosurface Chart
    traces:
      - ${ref(Complex With Slice Isosurface Plot)} 
    layout:
      title:
        text: Complex With Slice Isosurface Plot<br><sub>3D Volume Visualization</sub>
      margin: 
        t: 50
        b: 20
      camera: 
        eye: 
          x: 1.86
          y: 0.61
          z: 0.98

A schema to validate plotly trace properties

Attributes

These attributes apply to traces where trace.props.type is set to isosurface. You would configure these attributes on the trace with the trace.props object.

autocolorscale: boolean
caps:
  x:
    fill: number
    show: boolean
  y:
    fill: number
    show: boolean
  z:
    fill: number
    show: boolean
cauto: boolean
cmax: number
cmid: number
cmin: number
coloraxis: string
colorbar:
  bgcolor: any
  bordercolor: any
  borderwidth: number
  exponentformat: any
  len: number
  lenmode: any
  minexponent: number
  nticks: integer
  orientation: any
  outlinecolor: any
  outlinewidth: number
  separatethousands: boolean
  showexponent: any
  showticklabels: boolean
  showtickprefix: any
  showticksuffix: any
  thickness: number
  thicknessmode: any
  tickangle: number
  tickcolor: any
  tickfont:
    color: any
    family: 'string' #(1)!
    lineposition: any
    shadow: 'string' #(2)!
    size: number
    style: any
    textcase: any
    variant: any
    weight: integer
  tickformat: 'string' #(3)!
  tickformatstops: array
  ticklabeloverflow: any
  ticklabelposition: any
  ticklabelstep: integer
  ticklen: number
  tickmode: any
  tickprefix: 'string' #(4)!
  ticks: any
  ticksuffix: 'string' #(5)!
  ticktext: array
  ticktextsrc: 'string' #(6)!
  tickvals: array
  tickvalssrc: 'string' #(7)!
  tickwidth: number
  title:
    font:
      color: any
      family: 'string' #(8)!
      lineposition: any
      shadow: 'string' #(9)!
      size: number
      style: any
      textcase: any
      variant: any
      weight: integer
    side: any
    text: 'string' #(10)!
  x: number
  xanchor: any
  xpad: number
  xref: any
  y: number
  yanchor: any
  ypad: number
  yref: any
colorscale: any
contour:
  color: any
  show: boolean
  width: number
customdata: array
customdatasrc: 'string' #(11)!
flatshading: boolean
hoverinfo: array
hoverinfosrc: 'string' #(12)!
hoverlabel:
  align: array
  alignsrc: 'string' #(13)!
  bgcolor: array
  bgcolorsrc: 'string' #(14)!
  bordercolor: array
  bordercolorsrc: 'string' #(15)!
  font:
    color: array
    colorsrc: 'string' #(16)!
    family: 'string | array' #(17)!
    familysrc: 'string' #(18)!
    lineposition: array
    linepositionsrc: 'string' #(19)!
    shadow: 'string | array' #(20)!
    shadowsrc: 'string' #(21)!
    size: array
    sizesrc: 'string' #(22)!
    style: array
    stylesrc: 'string' #(23)!
    textcase: array
    textcasesrc: 'string' #(24)!
    variant: array
    variantsrc: 'string' #(25)!
    weight: array
    weightsrc: 'string' #(26)!
  namelength: array
  namelengthsrc: 'string' #(27)!
hovertemplate: 'string | array' #(28)!
hovertemplatesrc: 'string' #(29)!
hovertext: 'string | array' #(30)!
hovertextsrc: 'string' #(31)!
ids: array
idssrc: 'string' #(32)!
isomax: number
isomin: number
legend: string
legendgroup: 'string' #(33)!
legendgrouptitle:
  font:
    color: any
    family: 'string' #(34)!
    lineposition: any
    shadow: 'string' #(35)!
    size: number
    style: any
    textcase: any
    variant: any
    weight: integer
  text: 'string' #(36)!
legendrank: number
legendwidth: number
lighting:
  ambient: number
  diffuse: number
  facenormalsepsilon: number
  fresnel: number
  roughness: number
  specular: number
  vertexnormalsepsilon: number
lightposition:
  x: number
  y: number
  z: number
metasrc: 'string' #(37)!
name: 'string' #(38)!
opacity: number
reversescale: boolean
scene: string
showlegend: boolean
showscale: boolean
slices:
  x:
    fill: number
    locations: array
    locationssrc: 'string' #(39)!
    show: boolean
  y:
    fill: number
    locations: array
    locationssrc: 'string' #(40)!
    show: boolean
  z:
    fill: number
    locations: array
    locationssrc: 'string' #(41)!
    show: boolean
spaceframe:
  fill: number
  show: boolean
stream:
  maxpoints: number
  token: 'string' #(42)!
surface:
  count: integer
  fill: number
  pattern: any
  show: boolean
text: 'string | array' #(43)!
textsrc: 'string' #(44)!
type: isosurface
uid: 'string' #(45)!
value: array
valuehoverformat: 'string' #(46)!
valuesrc: 'string' #(47)!
visible: any
x: array
xhoverformat: 'string' #(48)!
xsrc: 'string' #(49)!
y: array
yhoverformat: 'string' #(50)!
ysrc: 'string' #(51)!
z: array
zhoverformat: 'string' #(52)!
zsrc: 'string' #(53)!

HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
Sets the tick label formatting rule using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format. And for dates see: https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format. We add two items to d3's date formatter: %h for half of the year as a decimal number as well as %{n}f for fractional seconds with n digits. For example, 2016-10-13 09:15:23.456 with tickformat %H~%M~%S.%2f would display 09~15~23.46
Sets a tick label prefix.
Sets a tick label suffix.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for ticktext.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for tickvals.
HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
Sets the title of the color bar.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for customdata.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for hoverinfo.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for align.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for bgcolor.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for bordercolor.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for color.
HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for family.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for lineposition.
Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for shadow.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for size.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for style.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for textcase.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for variant.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for weight.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for namelength.
Template string used for rendering the information that appear on hover box. Note that this will override hoverinfo. Variables are inserted using %{variable}, for example "y: %{y}" as well as %{xother}, {%xother}, {%_xother}, {%xother_}. When showing info for several points, xother will be added to those with different x positions from the first point. An underscore before or after (x|y)other will add a space on that side, only when this field is shown. Numbers are formatted using d3-format's syntax %{variable:d3-format}, for example "Price: %{y:$.2f}". https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format for details on the formatting syntax. Dates are formatted using d3-time-format's syntax %{variable|d3-time-format}, for example "Day: %{2019-01-01|%A}". https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format for details on the date formatting syntax. The variables available in hovertemplate are the ones emitted as event data described at this link https://plotly.com/javascript/plotlyjs-events/#event-data. Additionally, every attributes that can be specified per-point (the ones that are arrayOk: true) are available. Anything contained in tag <extra> is displayed in the secondary box, for example "{fullData.name}". To hide the secondary box completely, use an empty tag <extra></extra>.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for hovertemplate.
Same as text.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for hovertext.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for ids.
Sets the legend group for this trace. Traces and shapes part of the same legend group hide/show at the same time when toggling legend items.
HTML font family - the typeface that will be applied by the web browser. The web browser can only apply a font if it is available on the system where it runs. Provide multiple font families, separated by commas, to indicate the order in which to apply fonts if they aren't available.
Sets the shape and color of the shadow behind text. auto places minimal shadow and applies contrast text font color. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/text-shadow for additional options.
Sets the title of the legend group.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for meta.
Sets the trace name. The trace name appears as the legend item and on hover.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for locations.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for locations.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for locations.
The stream id number links a data trace on a plot with a stream. See https://chart-studio.plotly.com/settings for more details.
Sets the text elements associated with the vertices. If trace hoverinfo contains a text flag and hovertext is not set, these elements will be seen in the hover labels.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for text.
Assign an id to this trace, Use this to provide object constancy between traces during animations and transitions.
Sets the hover text formatting rulefor value using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format.By default the values are formatted using generic number format.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for value.
Sets the hover text formatting rulefor x using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format. And for dates see: https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format. We add two items to d3's date formatter: %h for half of the year as a decimal number as well as %{n}f for fractional seconds with n digits. For example, 2016-10-13 09:15:23.456 with tickformat %H~%M~%S.%2f would display 09~15~23.46By default the values are formatted using xaxis.hoverformat.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for x.
Sets the hover text formatting rulefor y using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format. And for dates see: https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format. We add two items to d3's date formatter: %h for half of the year as a decimal number as well as %{n}f for fractional seconds with n digits. For example, 2016-10-13 09:15:23.456 with tickformat %H~%M~%S.%2f would display 09~15~23.46By default the values are formatted using yaxis.hoverformat.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for y.
Sets the hover text formatting rulefor z using d3 formatting mini-languages which are very similar to those in Python. For numbers, see: https://github.com/d3/d3-format/tree/v1.4.5#d3-format. And for dates see: https://github.com/d3/d3-time-format/tree/v2.2.3#locale_format. We add two items to d3's date formatter: %h for half of the year as a decimal number as well as %{n}f for fractional seconds with n digits. For example, 2016-10-13 09:15:23.456 with tickformat %H~%M~%S.%2f would display 09~15~23.46By default the values are formatted using zaxis.hoverformat.
Sets the source reference on Chart Studio Cloud for z.