A 3D wireframe plot displays a mathematical surface as a mesh of lines connecting grid points in three-dimensional space. Unlike solid surface plots, wireframes render only the edges between grid points, creating a see-through visualization that reveals the underlying structure and allows viewing parts of the surface that would otherwise be hidden. This makes wireframes ideal for understanding the topology and shape of 3D functions.
#' anyplot.ai
#' wireframe-3d-basic: Basic 3D Wireframe Plot
#' Library: ggplot2 3.5.1 | R 4.4.1
#' Quality: 89/100 | Created: 2026-08-24
library(ggplot2)
library(ragg)
set.seed(42)
# --- Theme tokens -------------------------------------------------------------
THEME <- Sys.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG <- if (THEME == "light") "#FAF8F1" else "#1A1A17"
INK <- if (THEME == "light") "#1A1A17" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_SOFT <- if (THEME == "light") "#4A4A44" else "#B8B7B0"
BRAND <- "#009E73"
# --- Camera: orthographic projection (elevation 30, azimuth 45) ---------------
# ggplot2 has no 3D grammar, so the mesh is projected to 2D screen coordinates
# ourselves (the same technique any static 3D renderer uses under the hood),
# then drawn with plain geom_path/geom_segment/geom_text.
elev <- 30 * pi / 180
azim <- 45 * pi / 180
view_dir <- c(cos(elev) * cos(azim), cos(elev) * sin(azim), sin(elev))
world_up <- c(0, 0, 1)
right_axis <- c(
view_dir[2] * world_up[3] - view_dir[3] * world_up[2],
view_dir[3] * world_up[1] - view_dir[1] * world_up[3],
view_dir[1] * world_up[2] - view_dir[2] * world_up[1]
)
right_axis <- right_axis / sqrt(sum(right_axis^2))
up_axis <- c(
right_axis[2] * view_dir[3] - right_axis[3] * view_dir[2],
right_axis[3] * view_dir[1] - right_axis[1] * view_dir[3],
right_axis[1] * view_dir[2] - right_axis[2] * view_dir[1]
)
z_lift <- 3.5 # visual height exaggeration so the shallow ripple reads clearly
project_x <- function(x, y, z) x * right_axis[1] + y * right_axis[2] + z * z_lift * right_axis[3]
project_y <- function(x, y, z) x * up_axis[1] + y * up_axis[2] + z * z_lift * up_axis[3]
# --- Data: ripple surface z = sin(sqrt(x^2 + y^2)) -----------------------------
grid_n <- 15
x_vals <- seq(-6, 6, length.out = grid_n)
y_vals <- seq(-6, 6, length.out = grid_n)
surface <- expand.grid(x = x_vals, y = y_vals)
surface$z <- sin(sqrt(surface$x^2 + surface$y^2))
surface$px <- project_x(surface$x, surface$y, surface$z)
surface$py <- project_y(surface$x, surface$y, surface$z)
z_min <- min(surface$z)
z_max <- max(surface$z)
floor_z <- z_min - 0.3
ceil_z <- z_max + 0.3
# --- Axis box: three edges meeting at the front-left-bottom corner ------------
axis_lines <- data.frame(
x = c(-6, -6, -6),
y = c(-6, -6, -6),
z = c(floor_z, floor_z, floor_z),
xend = c(6, -6, -6),
yend = c(-6, 6, -6),
zend = c(floor_z, floor_z, ceil_z)
)
axis_lines$px <- project_x(axis_lines$x, axis_lines$y, axis_lines$z)
axis_lines$py <- project_y(axis_lines$x, axis_lines$y, axis_lines$z)
axis_lines$pxend <- project_x(axis_lines$xend, axis_lines$yend, axis_lines$zend)
axis_lines$pyend <- project_y(axis_lines$xend, axis_lines$yend, axis_lines$zend)
x_breaks <- c(-6, -3, 0, 3, 6)
y_breaks <- c(-6, -3, 0, 3, 6)
z_breaks <- c(-1, 0, 1)
ticks <- rbind(
data.frame(x = x_breaks, y = -9.6, z = floor_z, label = x_breaks),
data.frame(x = -9.6, y = y_breaks, z = floor_z, label = y_breaks)
)
ticks$px <- project_x(ticks$x, ticks$y, ticks$z)
ticks$py <- project_y(ticks$x, ticks$y, ticks$z)
# Z ticks sit on the vertical axis line itself; nudge the label text
# (not the axis line) sideways into the open gap left of the mesh, well past
# the Y-axis tick column so the two label groups don't merge into one line.
z_ticks <- data.frame(x = -6, y = -6, z = z_breaks, label = z_breaks)
z_ticks$px <- project_x(z_ticks$x, z_ticks$y, z_ticks$z) - 13
z_ticks$py <- project_y(z_ticks$x, z_ticks$y, z_ticks$z)
axis_labels <- data.frame(
x = c(9.4, -6, -6),
y = c(-6, 9.4, -6),
z = c(floor_z, floor_z, ceil_z + 1.0),
label = c("X", "Y", "Z")
)
axis_labels$px <- project_x(axis_labels$x, axis_labels$y, axis_labels$z)
axis_labels$py <- project_y(axis_labels$x, axis_labels$y, axis_labels$z)
# --- Plot -----------------------------------------------------------------
p <- ggplot() +
geom_path(data = surface, aes(px, py, group = y),
color = BRAND, linewidth = 0.3, alpha = 0.35, lineend = "round") +
geom_path(data = surface, aes(px, py, group = x),
color = BRAND, linewidth = 0.3, alpha = 0.35, lineend = "round") +
geom_segment(data = axis_lines, aes(x = px, y = py, xend = pxend, yend = pyend),
color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.6) +
geom_text(data = ticks, aes(px, py, label = label),
color = INK_SOFT, size = 3.3) +
geom_text(data = z_ticks, aes(px, py, label = label),
color = INK_SOFT, size = 3.3) +
geom_text(data = axis_labels, aes(px, py, label = label),
color = INK, size = 3.6, fontface = "bold") +
labs(title = "wireframe-3d-basic · r · ggplot2 · anyplot.ai") +
coord_fixed(ratio = 1, clip = "off") +
theme_void(base_size = 8) +
theme(
plot.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = PAGE_BG),
panel.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = NA),
plot.title = element_text(color = INK, size = 12, hjust = 0.5, margin = margin(b = 14)),
plot.margin = margin(t = 20, r = 30, b = 10, l = 30)
)
# --- Save -----------------------------------------------------------------
ggsave(
filename = sprintf("plot-%s.png", THEME),
plot = p,
device = ragg::agg_png,
width = 8,
height = 4.5,
units = "in",
dpi = 400
)
Part of Basic 3D Wireframe Plot on anyplot.ai.