Alpha mapping using 'surf'

Hey,

I'm trying to make part of a surface, created using the 'surf' function, transparent. Its a 300x300 image that is surfed as following:

    % --- AZ-PLANE ---
    Y = linspace(-boxSize/2, boxSize/2, viewInf.resolution);
    Z = linspace(0, boxSize, viewInf.resolution);

    Y = repmat(Y , [viewInf.resolution 1]);
    Z = repmat(Z', [1 viewInf.resolution]);

    X     = xPush*ones(viewInf.resolution);

    % Draw plane
    azSurf = surf(X,Y,Z, azPlane.Image);

    % Set properties
    set(azSurf, 'EdgeColor', 'none');

Since some of the values are NaN, they are already transparent, but i need more than that. The code below has a constant alpha map, but that's just for testing purposes, its gonna be changed later on. The alpha map is made and applied like this

alphaMapAz = 0.1*ones(size(azPlane.Image));
set(azSurf, 'AlphaData', alphaMapAz, 'AlphaDataMapping', 'none');

Yet no transparency occurs. What the duck am I doing wrong here?

[Daniel Shub]

It would be helpful if you included a MWE, what you see, and what you expect to see. That way we could easily run your example and see what is happening. In this case it is probably useful to know what OS and renderer (e.g., OPEN GL or painters) you are using.

Answer 1

[Daniel Shub]

From the MWE add

set(azSurf, 'FaceAlpha', 'flat');

you may also want to look at

doc alpha

[Jakob Sørensen]

I could have sworn I already tried that... But thanks!

Answer 2

[Jakob Sørensen]

OS is Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. And it can do opacity using a single fixed value, its only when trying to use a map, that im struggling.

Minimal working example inc:

% --- AZ-PLANE ---
Y = linspace(-5, 5, 500);
Z = linspace(0, 10, 500);

Y = repmat(Y , [500 1]);
Z = repmat(Z', [1 500]);

X     = -2*ones(500);

% Draw plane
azSurf = surf(X,Y,Z, magic(500));

% Set properties
set(azSurf, 'EdgeColor', 'none');

% Set alpha map
alphaMapAz = 0.1*ones(size(azPlane.Image));
set(azSurf, 'AlphaData', alphaMapAz, 'AlphaDataMapping', 'none');

[Daniel Shub]

you need to change azPlane.Image to X