Matplotlib – Wrong overlapping when plotting two 3D surfaces on the same axes

This behavior is documented in matplotlib FAQ here. The same page suggests to install Mayavi which works OK with 3D plots.

• Its interface is quite similar to matplotlib.
• Its main problem is that it’s still tricky to install it on python 3. (got much easier now)

---

Here’s a demo “matplotlib vs mayavi” comparison:

# generate data
import numpy as np

x = np.arange(-2, 2, 0.1)
y = np.arange(-2, 2, 0.1)
mx, my = np.meshgrid(x, y, indexing='ij')
mz1 = np.abs(mx) + np.abs(my)
mz2 = mx ** 2 + my ** 2

# A fix for "API 'QString' has already been set to version 1"
# see https://github.com/enthought/pyface/issues/286#issuecomment-335436808
from sys import version_info
if version_info[0] < 3:
    import pyface.qt


def v1_matplotlib():
    from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
    from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D

    fig = plt.figure()
    ax = fig.gca(projection='3d')
    surf1 = ax.plot_surface(mx, my, mz1, cmap='winter')
    surf2 = ax.plot_surface(mx, my, mz2, cmap='autumn')
    ax.view_init(azim=60, elev=16)
    fig.show()


def v2_mayavi(transparency):
    from mayavi import mlab
    fig = mlab.figure()

    ax_ranges = [-2, 2, -2, 2, 0, 8]
    ax_scale = [1.0, 1.0, 0.4]
    ax_extent = ax_ranges * np.repeat(ax_scale, 2)

    surf3 = mlab.surf(mx, my, mz1, colormap='Blues')
    surf4 = mlab.surf(mx, my, mz2, colormap='Oranges')

    surf3.actor.actor.scale = ax_scale
    surf4.actor.actor.scale = ax_scale
    mlab.view(60, 74, 17, [-2.5, -4.6, -0.3])
    mlab.outline(surf3, color=(.7, .7, .7), extent=ax_extent)
    mlab.axes(surf3, color=(.7, .7, .7), extent=ax_extent,
              ranges=ax_ranges,
              xlabel="x", ylabel="y", zlabel="z")

    if transparency:
        surf3.actor.property.opacity = 0.5
        surf4.actor.property.opacity = 0.5
        fig.scene.renderer.use_depth_peeling = 1


v1_matplotlib()
v2_mayavi(False)
v2_mayavi(True)

# To install mayavi, the following currently works for me (Windows 10):
#
#   conda create --name mayavi_test_py2 python=2.7 matplotlib mayavi=4.4.0
#    (installs pyqt=4.10.4 mayavi=4.4.0 vtk=5.10.1)
#    * the `use_depth_peeling=1` got no effect. Transparency is not correct.
#    * requires `import pyface.qt` or similar workaround
#
# or
#
#   conda create --name mayavi_test_py3 python=3.6 matplotlib
#   conda activate mayavi_test_py3
#   pip install mayavi