Apply colormap of one surface to another

Hello! I have made some graphs and I want to be able to analyze the relationship between each other. As far as I can tell, the surfaces generate their coloring based on the value of the data that they plot. I would like to take the coloring (i.e z-value) and map it onto a different graph.

I am trying to minimize the actuation tube force while maximimizing flap force, and I would like to apply the colormapping of the flap graph to the actuation tube graph.

I figured if I can "see" the value of the flap force (i.e the colorscale) and then match that up with the height of the tube force that I can see by nature of the 3D surface then I can find a reasonable approximation for an optomized system. Additionally, this will be a very useful graphic for my report.

If you know how to do this, please let me know. Thank you!

Answer 1

[Voss]

You can specify the color of a surface separately from the z-values, using the fourth input argument C.

First, the default: coloring according to Z:

[X,Y] = meshgrid(1:0.5:10,1:20);
Z = sin(X) + cos(Y);
figure();
surf(X,Y,Z);
colorbar();

Second, specify the colors explicitly instead:

[X,Y] = meshgrid(1:0.5:10,1:20);
Z = sin(X) + cos(Y);
C = X.*Y;
figure();
surf(X,Y,Z,C);
colorbar();

So perhaps you can specify the colors of your second surface to be the z-values of your first surface.