I need to make a 3D graph i.e. x,y,z axes and animate behaviours in that space with the passage of time. I assumed this would be doable via Excel or similar just by putting numbers in columns then outing it as a 3D graph, but turns out Excel doesn't accommodate a z axis.Does anybody encounter this and would they be able to recommend a freeware bit of software that would do the job? At a push I could just draw and animate the whole thing but it would be nice if it could be generated directly from figures.

A\_Man\_Who\_Tries wrote:I need to make a 3D graph i.e. x,y,z axes and animate behaviours in that space with the passage of time. I assumed this would be doable via Excel or similar just by putting numbers in columns then outing it as a 3D graph, but turns out Excel doesn't accommodate a z axis.Does anybody encounter this and would they be able to recommend a freeware bit of software that would do the job? At a push I could just draw and animate the whole thing but it would be nice if it could be generated directly from figures.You could try this:https://plot.ly/create/https://plot.ly/javascript/3d-charts/

Thanks for this. I'll have a play with it.

I'm really grateful for this, but it's a degree of code language I'm not great with. I know someone I can run it by as a start point though so thanks again. I appreciate it.

And I'd love to, but health means I have to partition my workload very carefully and there isn't much space left for added things. Thanks again though, I know I'll be able to work this out if my ex-colleague can hop on for a few moments.

Facundo wrote:A\_Man\_Who\_Tries wrote:I need to make a 3D graph i.e. x,y,z axes and animate behaviours in that space with the passage of time. I assumed this would be doable via Excel or similar just by putting numbers in columns then outing it as a 3D graph, but turns out Excel doesn't accommodate a z axis.Does anybody encounter this and would they be able to recommend a freeware bit of software that would do the job? At a push I could just draw and animate the whole thing but it would be nice if it could be generated directly from figures.Some months ago I had to generate .docx and .pptx for a data parser which needed to generate documents to report. Previous version the parser used a bitmap generator to plot of the data array and embedded or imported it in png format for the documents. That pre-reports we needed to generate were susceptible of changes to make the reports more accurate and adapted to the customer with a bit of human logic, so i decided to implement native word graphs which are available in python-docx. We used python-docx and python-pptx, graphs were implemented only in python-pptx so I had to include python-pptx also for the docx generator.http://python-pptx.readthedocs.io/en/la ... harts.htmlI don't have an ounce of python in me (cue camp laughter offscreen), but the XY and bubble chart thing here could do the trick as a 2D solution at least. Is there an easy way to set up the axis so they run from -n to n, with the zero point in the centre?

A\_Man\_Who\_Tries wrote:I need to make a 3D graph i.e. x,y,z axes and animate behaviours in that space with the passage of time. I assumed this would be doable via Excel or similar just by putting numbers in columns then outing it as a 3D graph, but turns out Excel doesn't accommodate a z axis.Does anybody encounter this and would they be able to recommend a freeware bit of software that would do the job? At a push I could just draw and animate the whole thing but it would be nice if it could be generated directly from figures.You can also try Highcharts.https://www.highcharts.com/docs/chart-c ... /3d-charts

More of a question.....Is re-formating your hard drive necessary in this day and age?I did this one on an old laptop maybe 10 years ago and it felt like it kicked some life into it

absolutely.especially if you're using windows. I think mostly it's the logs getting jammed up, and reinstalling the os fixes that. and since you're reinstalling, including the user accounts, you may as well reformat the harddrive. opinion, but founded in many installs.worked on macs running posters/fierys for a bunch of years, same deal. laggy lag and weird behavior could many times be fixed by reinstall (and reformatting)currently ubuntu and flavors(gallium) on cheap chromebook laptops has been working well for me and my family, but after a couple years, lag and lag make me reinstall (including, especially, user accounts). fixes the problem.I think my argument is yes, reinstall the operating system, and reformat the hard drive while you're at it. may not be what you were asking.tony

icing wrote:absolutely.especially if you're using windows. I think mostly it's the logs getting jammed up, and reinstalling the os fixes that. and since you're reinstalling, including the user accounts, you may as well reformat the harddrive. opinion, but founded in many installs.worked on macs running posters/fierys for a bunch of years, same deal. laggy lag and weird behavior could many times be fixed by reinstall (and reformatting)currently ubuntu and flavors(gallium) on cheap chromebook laptops has been working well for me and my family, but after a couple years, lag and lag make me reinstall (including, especially, user accounts). fixes the problem.I think my argument is yes, reinstall the operating system, and reformat the hard drive while you're at it. may not be what you were asking.tonyIf operating systems need to be continually reinstalled, you're doing it wrong. User error exists. Older versions of Windows will need a bit of maintenance if still on HDD (defrag) and an application like Disk Cleanup or Ccleaner can take care of logs and dead-end registry items. OSX, Chrome, and Android will defrag on their own as a background process. All three OSes should be able to run for the life of the system without a new installation. Installing and removing applications can gum up the works, as can having a bunch of garbage installed. Be aware of what is running in the background.Fiery RIPs don't like a lot of jobs in the queue. Clearing that out will speed up the system.Needing to perpetually format a HDD might be a sign there is something physically wrong with the drive. It should not be necessary either.If you are booting from an SSD, make sure TRIM is enabled.