Helpers¶

The pyvista module contains several functions to simplify the creation and manipulation of meshes or interfacing with VTK datasets.

Wrap a VTK Dataset¶

helpers.wrap()¶

Wrap any given VTK data object to its appropriate PyVista data object.

Other formats that are supported include: * 2D numpy.ndarray of XYZ vertices * 3D numpy.ndarray representing a volume. Values will be scalars. * 3D trimesh.Trimesh mesh.

Parameters: dataset (numpy.ndarray, trimesh.Trimesh, or VTK object) – Dataset to wrap.
Returns: wrapped_dataset – The pyvista wrapped dataset.
Return type: pyvista class

Examples

Wrap a numpy array representing a random point cloud

>>> import numpy as np
>>> import pyvista
>>> points = np.random.random((10, 3))
>>> cloud = pyvista.wrap(points)
>>> cloud  
PolyData (0x7fc52db83d70)
  N Cells:  10
  N Points: 10
  X Bounds: 1.123e-01, 7.457e-01
  Y Bounds: 1.009e-01, 9.877e-01
  Z Bounds: 2.346e-03, 9.640e-01
  N Arrays: 0

Wrap a Trimesh object

>>> import trimesh
>>> import pyvista
>>> points = [[0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1], [0, 1, 0]]
>>> faces = [[0, 1, 2]]
>>> tmesh = trimesh.Trimesh(points, faces=faces, process=False)
>>> mesh = pyvista.wrap(tmesh)
>>> mesh  
PolyData (0x7fc55ff27ad0)
  N Cells:  1
  N Points: 3
  X Bounds: 0.000e+00, 0.000e+00
  Y Bounds: 0.000e+00, 1.000e+00
  Z Bounds: 0.000e+00, 1.000e+00
  N Arrays: 0

Wrap a VTK object

>>> import pyvista
>>> import vtk
>>> points = vtk.vtkPoints()
>>> p = [1.0, 2.0, 3.0]
>>> vertices = vtk.vtkCellArray()
>>> pid = points.InsertNextPoint(p)
>>> _ = vertices.InsertNextCell(1)
>>> _ = vertices.InsertCellPoint(pid)
>>> point = vtk.vtkPolyData()
>>> _ = point.SetPoints(points)
>>> _ = point.SetVerts(vertices)
>>> mesh = pyvista.wrap(point)
>>> mesh  
PolyData (0x7fc55ff27ad0)
  N Cells:  1
  N Points: 3
  X Bounds: 0.000e+00, 0.000e+00
  Y Bounds: 0.000e+00, 1.000e+00
  Z Bounds: 0.000e+00, 1.000e+00
  N Arrays: 0

Simplified Triangular Mesh Construction¶

helpers.make_tri_mesh(faces)¶

Construct a pyvista.PolyData mesh using points and faces arrays.

Construct a mesh from an Nx3 array of points and an Mx3 array of triangle indices, resulting in a mesh with N vertices and M triangles. This function does not require the standard VTK “padding” column and simplifies mesh creation.

Parameters

points (np.ndarray) – Array of points with shape (N, 3) storing the vertices of the triangle mesh.
faces (np.ndarray) – Array of indices with shape (M, 3) containing the triangle indices.

Returns

tri_mesh – PolyData instance containing the triangle mesh.

Return type

pyvista.PolyData

Examples

This example discretizes the unit square into a triangle mesh with nine vertices and eight faces.

>>> import numpy as np
>>> import pyvista as pv
>>> points = np.array([[0, 0, 0], [0.5, 0, 0], [1, 0, 0], [0, 0.5, 0],
...                    [0.5, 0.5, 0], [1, 0.5, 0], [0, 1, 0], [0.5, 1, 0],
...                    [1, 1, 0]])
>>> faces = np.array([[0, 1, 4], [4, 7, 6], [2, 5, 4], [4, 5, 8],
...                   [0, 4, 3], [3, 4, 6], [1, 2, 4], [4, 8, 7]])
>>> tri_mesh = pyvista.make_tri_mesh(points, faces)
>>> tri_mesh.plot(show_edges=True) 

Lines from Points¶

helpers.lines_from_points(close=False)¶

Make a connected line set given an array of points.

Parameters

points (np.ndarray) –
Points representing the vertices of the connected segments. For example, two line segments would be represented as:

np.array([[0, 0, 0], [1, 0, 0], [1, 1, 0]])
close (bool, optional) – If True, close the line segments into a loop

Returns

lines – PolyData with lines and cells.

Return type

pyvista.PolyData

Line Segments from Points¶

helpers.line_segments_from_points()¶

Generate non-connected line segments from points.

Assumes points are ordered as line segments and an even number of points are

Parameters

points (np.ndarray) –

Points representing line segments. An even number must be given as every two vertices represent a single line segment. For example, two line segments would be represented as:

np.array([[0, 0, 0], [1, 0, 0], [1, 0, 0], [1, 1, 0]])

Returns

lines – PolyData with lines and cells.

Return type

pyvista.PolyData

Examples

This example plots two line segments at right angles to each other line.

>>> import pyvista
>>> import numpy as np
>>> points = np.array([[0, 0, 0], [1, 0, 0], [1, 0, 0], [1, 1, 0]])
>>> lines = pyvista.lines_from_points(points)
>>> lines.plot() 

Convert to and from VTK Datatypes¶

helpers.convert_array(name=None, deep=0, array_type=None)¶

Convert a NumPy array to a vtkDataArray or vice versa.

Parameters

arr (ndarray or vtkDataArry) – A numpy array or vtkDataArry to convert
name (str) – The name of the data array for VTK
deep (bool) – if input is numpy array then deep copy values

Returns

the converted array (if input is a NumPy ndaray then returns vtkDataArray or is input is vtkDataArray then returns NumPy ndarray). If pdf==True and the input is vtkDataArry, return a pandas DataFrame.

Return type

vtkDataArray, ndarray, or DataFrame

Fit Plane to Points¶

helpers.fit_plane_to_points(return_meta=False)¶

Fit a plane to a set of points.

Parameters

points (np.ndarray) – Size n by 3 array of points to fit a plane through
return_meta (bool) – If true, also returns the center and normal used to generate the plane