3D surface with a 2D projection using R

Question

I need to plot a 3D surface with 2D projections like the one below using R.

3D plot

It features a 3D density plot, something easy to do in R using plotly, for example. The 2D surfaces on the other hand I've had no luck so far in my search for how to draw them. The best I've found is this example, but it uses Python instead of R.

I have also found that package RSM (Response Surface Methods) may have the tools to draw this graph, but I've studied the package documentation and looked for online examples and so far I have not been able to find anything close to this graph in quality.

Base R function persp looks like it could offer some answer too, but I've had no success using it to draw the 2D projections so far. Package plot3D may also offer clues to the solution.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

This question is interesting, but you should [make it reproducible](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5963269/how-to-make-a-great-r-reproducible-example) by adding some data and code. — alistaire, Nov 07 '18 at 01:43
Perhaps overkill, but some aspects of this display should be possible using https://github.com/tylermorganwall/rayshader/ — Jon Spring, Nov 07 '18 at 04:19
@alistaire I do not have any data nor code since I do not know what package would be able to draw such a graph. The specific surface and 2D projections are also not important. — thomasvconti, Nov 07 '18 at 12:27
Making [a reprex](https://reprex.tidyverse.org/) is not an option for an SO question; it's a requirement without which this question is likely to get closed. Open-ended questions get a more favorable response over at [RStudio Community](https://community.rstudio.com/). — alistaire, Nov 07 '18 at 13:44
The `rgl` package might of a possible solution for the 3D plot, but you may need to manually create the 2D projections. Good luck. — Dave2e, Nov 07 '18 at 20:01

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 08 '19 at 17:41

Well I do not know how your data looks like but if you don't have an specific data you can use this reference of r-plotly surface.

Here is some example using volcano's data of R.

The trick is use contours()

The code:

# volcano is a numeric matrix that ships with R
plot_ly(z = ~volcano) %>% add_surface(
  contours = list(
    z = list(
      show=TRUE,
      usecolormap=TRUE,
      highlightcolor="#ff0000",
      project=list(z=TRUE)
    ),
    y = list(
      show=TRUE,
      usecolormap=FALSE, # Projection without colormap
      highlightcolor="#ff0000",
      project=list(y=TRUE)
    ),

    x = list(
      show=TRUE,
      usecolormap=TRUE,
      highlightcolor="#ff0000",
      project=list(x=TRUE)
    )

  )
)

The output:

3D surface with a 2D projection using R

1 Answers1