Mathematica
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NormalsFunction

NormalsFunction
is an option for Plot3D and related functions that specifies a function to apply to determine the effective surface normals at every point.

DetailsDetails

  • The following settings can be given:
  • Nonedetermine normals from explicit polygon vertices
    Automaticdetermine normals from overall surface properties
    fdetermine normals by applying a function f
  • With NormalsFunction->f, the arguments supplied to f are as follows:
  • Plot3Dx, y, z
    ParametricPlot3Dx, y, z, u, v
    ContourPlot3Dx, y, z, w
    RegionPlot3Dx, y, z
  • The function f must return a vector of the form . Only the direction of this vector matters; the vector is in effect automatically normalized to unit length.

ExamplesExamplesopen allclose all

Basic Examples (3)Basic Examples (3)

Use automatic methods to compute surface normals:

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Make the effective normals to the surface vary locally:

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Use flat shading for all polygons:

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