Adding letters to 3D plot data points in Matlab

Question

I am currently working on a 3D representation of a hand fingers moving. You can see on the picture below how it looks like, since it would be too complicated to describe otherwise:

It is an animation, so it's moving constantly. There is one dot for each finger, and one dot for the palm. However, I can't keep track of the fingers. I tried to give them different colors, but it doesn't help a lot.

So the question is:

Is there a way to replace the circles, or any other symbol, with an actual letter, or even short word (3-4 letters)?
Alternatively (and it is quite a stretch, but why not ask?), would there be a way to draw lines joining these dots together? This is optional, and I might open another question regarding it if necessary.

Thanks!

Here is the actual code; I know it is far from being elegant coding, and am sorry about it, but it works, which is already a great step for me:

clear all
clc

csv=csvread('pilot6/maindroite.csv',1,0); %read the values from a csv
both = csv(:,2:19);

ax=axes;
set(ax,'NextPlot','replacechildren');

Dt=0.1; %sampling period in secs

k=1;
hp1=plot3(both(k,1),both(k,2),both(k,3),'ok'); %get handle to dot object
hold on;
hp2=plot3(both(k,4),both(k,5),both(k,6),'og');
hp3=plot3(both(k,7),both(k,8),both(k,9),'ob');
hp4=plot3(both(k,10),both(k,11),both(k,12),'oc');
hp5=plot3(both(k,13),both(k,14),both(k,15),'om');
hp6=plot3(both(k,16),both(k,17),both(k,18),'or');
hold off;

t1=timer('TimerFcn','k=doPlot(hp1,hp2,hp3,hp4,hp5,hp6,both,t1,k)','Period', Dt,'ExecutionMode','fixedRate');
start(t1);

and the function used:

function k=doPlot(hp1,hp2,hp3,hp4,hp5,hp6,pos,t1,k)

k=k+1;
if k<5000%length(pos)
   set(hp1,'XData',pos(k,1),'YData',pos(k,2),'ZData',pos(k,3));
   axis([0 255 0 255 0 255]);
   set(hp2,'XData',pos(k,4),'YData',pos(k,5),'ZData',pos(k,6));
   set(hp3,'XData',pos(k,7),'YData',pos(k,8),'ZData',pos(k,9));
   set(hp4,'XData',pos(k,10),'YData',pos(k,11),'ZData',pos(k,12));
   set(hp5,'XData',pos(k,13),'YData',pos(k,14),'ZData',pos(k,15));
   set(hp6,'XData',pos(k,16),'YData',pos(k,17),'ZData',pos(k,18));

else
    k=1;
    set(hp,'XData',pos(k,1),'YData',pos(k,2),'ZData',pos(k,3));
   axis([0 255 0 255 0 255]);
end

I just want to mention this is based heavily on Jorge's answer on this question, so thanks to him again

Azim J · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-09T19:35:06.907

6

text(x,y,z,'string') instead of plot3 should work in changing the points to text where [x,y,z] is the coordinate of each point you are plotting.
Note: calls to set will need to change from set(hp3,'XData',x,'YData',y,'ZData',z) to set(htext,'pos',[x,y,z]). Where hp3 is the handle to a plot3-handle object and htext is a handle to a text-handle object.
To connect the points with a line use plot3(X,Y,Z) where X=[x_1,x_2,...,x_n], Y=[y_1,y_2,...,y_n] and Z=[z_1,z_2,...,z_n].

edited Jan 09 '12 at 19:35

answered Jan 09 '12 at 18:11

Azim J

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Thanks! Just to be sure, do the $ signs indicate a quote you are making? Also, I am using a *set('X',1,'Y',2,'Z',3)* at some point, which keeps on returning *Bad value for text property: 'XLimInclude'*. I tried setting XLimInclude to 'on' and 'off', with the same results, would you have an idea where it comes from? I will add my code to the question, so you can see where the problem could be. – Cristol.GdM Jan 09 '12 at 18:58
@Mikalichov Yes the $ were formatting (ie LaTeX formatting of the math). I changed the formatting. As for the `set` function, Perhaps change the `'X'` to `'XData'` and similar for `Y` and `Z` in the call to `set`. Not sure what else to suggest. – Azim J Jan 09 '12 at 19:07
Well, I tried first with 'XData', etc, but got returned a *"There is no 'XData' property in the 'text' class."* error, hence the use of 'X', etc, instead. I will keep trying on the text track anyway, thanks! – Cristol.GdM Jan 09 '12 at 19:24
Note that you can also create the text object using `text('Position', [x,y,z], 'String', string)` if you prefer. – Nzbuu Jan 10 '12 at 09:33

Adding letters to 3D plot data points in Matlab

1 Answers1