Reconstruct 3D graph with surf in matlab? - matlab

Question

I usually use surf function to plot 3D figures in matlab, but now the data is different, so I am using plot3 and I have the below figure. Do you have any idea how I reconstruct this figure to be more understandable even if by using different function.
To be more concise, I have X values, with each X value there is a value of Y and value of Z.
X = [ 1 ;2 ;4; 8; 16; 32; 64];
Z = [ 1; 1.8 ; 3.46 ; 6.74 ; 13.18 ; 24.34 ; 39.33]
Y = [0 ; 56.92 ; 91 ; 109.95 ; 119 ; 123.57 ; 125.51]
fig = plot3(log(X),Y,Z,'b.-');
XLABEL=[ 1 2 4 8 16 32 64];
set(gca,'XTickLabel',XLABEL);
set(gca,'XTick',log(XLABEL));
YLABEL= [ 0 30 60 90 120 150 180];
set(gca,'YTickLabel',YLABEL);
set(gca,'YTick',YLABEL);
ZLABEL= [0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55];
set(gca,'ZTickLabel',ZLABEL);
set(gca,'ZTick',(ZLABEL));
ylim([0 180]);
zlim([0,55]);
grid on

Answer 1

It's difficult to say, because we don't have a context. Common options are:
Plotting x/y and x/z in two separate plots. Precisely readable but difficult to get the connection between y and z. subplot
Plotyy, same as previous but in one plot. Y and Z values which correspond to the same x-value are aligned. plotyy
Use a plot3 as shown above, but connect each point to the x/z plane. (details below)
Project the line on one or multiple planes and draw it there. (Plot the line again, setting x, y or z to 7 0 or 180, which is the location of your axis)
If two axis are of major importance, use a simple 2d plot and represent the third dimension using color/dotsize/annotations etc...
Code for Option 3:
At the end of your code, add the following code:
X2=[X';X';nan(size(X'))];
X2=X2(:);
Y2=[Y';Y';nan(size(Y'))];
Y2=Y2(:);
Z2=[Z';zeros(size(Z'));nan(size(Z'))];
Z2=Z2(:);
hold on
plot3(log(X2),Y2,Z2,'--')
To understand it, you have to know that matlab skips nans while plotting. Thus the code above generates a independent line segment for each point, connecting it to the ground plane.