How do I make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel?

I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y, and z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" John W. schrieb im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y, and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis. Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" John W. schrieb im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y, and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

John -

I don't know if you'll call it a "true" 3D plot, but here's one way to do
it.

The x and y axes are category (label) axes, and the labels will be equally
spaced, so your x and y data values (used as labels) should be equally
spaced. The z axis is the only true "value" (numerical) axis.

Arrange the data in a rectangular range of cells. The top left cell is
empty. The rest of the top row contains x values. The rest of the left
column contains y values. The z values are in the body of the range at the
intersection of the x column and y row. Select the entire range, including
the empty cell. Click the ChartWizard, and choose the Surface chart type.

- Mike

www.mikemiddleton.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"John W. Mordosky" wrote in
message ...
Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the
contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis.
Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" John W. schrieb
im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I
cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but
that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y,
and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

Thanks for the suggestion! My x and y aren't equally spaced, but I think the
chart tells the story I was hoping for. Thanks again!

John

"Michael R Middleton" wrote:

John -

I don't know if you'll call it a "true" 3D plot, but here's one way to do
it.

The x and y axes are category (label) axes, and the labels will be equally
spaced, so your x and y data values (used as labels) should be equally
spaced. The z axis is the only true "value" (numerical) axis.

Arrange the data in a rectangular range of cells. The top left cell is
empty. The rest of the top row contains x values. The rest of the left
column contains y values. The z values are in the body of the range at the
intersection of the x column and y row. Select the entire range, including
the empty cell. Click the ChartWizard, and choose the Surface chart type.

- Mike

www.mikemiddleton.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"John W. Mordosky" wrote in
message ...
Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the
contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis.
Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" John W. schrieb
im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I
cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but
that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y,
and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

John -

You can, of course, insert sufficient extra rows and columns, and interpolate values
to the inserted X and Y values, so that it mimics equally spaced data. In addition,
you can adjust the interpolation to give a smoother surface, with a better
representation of features like saddle points, which Excel's surface charts are
pretty poor at constructing.

I have written an article about surface and contour charts:

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/P...cle.asp?ID=447

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______

John W. Mordosky wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion! My x and y aren't equally spaced, but I think the
chart tells the story I was hoping for. Thanks again!

John

"Michael R Middleton" wrote:


John -

I don't know if you'll call it a "true" 3D plot, but here's one way to do
it.

The x and y axes are category (label) axes, and the labels will be equally
spaced, so your x and y data values (used as labels) should be equally
spaced. The z axis is the only true "value" (numerical) axis.

Arrange the data in a rectangular range of cells. The top left cell is
empty. The rest of the top row contains x values. The rest of the left
column contains y values. The z values are in the body of the range at the
intersection of the x column and y row. Select the entire range, including
the empty cell. Click the ChartWizard, and choose the Surface chart type.

- Mike

www.mikemiddleton.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"John W. Mordosky" wrote in
message ...

Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the
contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis.
Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:


Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" John W. schrieb
im
Newsbeitrag ...

I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I
cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but
that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y,
and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky