Clipping with Planes & Boxes

Clip/cut any dataset using planes or boxes.

from __future__ import annotations

import pyvista as pv
from pyvista import examples

Clip with Plane

Clip any dataset by a user defined plane using the pyvista.DataSetFilters.clip() filter

dataset = examples.download_bunny_coarse()
clipped = dataset.clip('y', invert=False)

p = pv.Plotter()
p.add_mesh(dataset, style='wireframe', color='blue', label='Input')
p.add_mesh(clipped, label='Clipped')
p.add_legend()
p.camera_position = [(0.24, 0.32, 0.7), (0.02, 0.03, -0.02), (-0.12, 0.93, -0.34)]
p.show()

Clip with Bounds

Clip any dataset by a set of XYZ bounds using the pyvista.DataSetFilters.clip_box() filter.

dataset = examples.download_office()

bounds = [2, 4.5, 2, 4.5, 1, 3]
clipped = dataset.clip_box(bounds)

p = pv.Plotter()
p.add_mesh(dataset, style='wireframe', color='blue', label='Input')
p.add_mesh(clipped, label='Clipped')
p.add_legend()
p.show()

Clip with Rotated Box

Clip any dataset by an arbitrarily rotated solid box using the pyvista.DataSetFilters.clip_box() filter.

mesh = examples.load_airplane()

# Use `pv.Box()` or `pv.Cube()` to create a region of interest
roi = pv.Cube(center=(0.9e3, 0.2e3, mesh.center[2]), x_length=500, y_length=500, z_length=500)
roi.rotate_z(33, inplace=True)

p = pv.Plotter()
p.add_mesh(roi, opacity=0.75, color="red")
p.add_mesh(mesh, opacity=0.5)
p.show()

Run the box clipping algorithm

extracted = mesh.clip_box(roi, invert=False)

p = pv.Plotter(shape=(1, 2))
p.add_mesh(roi, opacity=0.75, color="red")
p.add_mesh(mesh)
p.subplot(0, 1)
p.add_mesh(extracted)
p.add_mesh(roi, opacity=0.75, color="red")
p.link_views()
p.view_isometric()
p.show()

Crinkled Clipping

Crinkled clipping is useful if you don’t want the clip filter to truly clip cells on the boundary, but want to preserve the input cell structure and to pass the entire cell on through the boundary.

This option is available for pyvista.DataSetFilters.clip(), pyvista.DataSetFilters.clip_box(), and pyvista.DataSetFilters.clip_surface(), but not available when clipping by scalar in pyvista.DataSetFilters.clip_scalar().

# Input mesh
mesh = pv.Wavelet()

Define clipping plane

normal = (1, 1, 1)
plane = pv.Plane(i_size=30, j_size=30, direction=normal)

Perform a standard clip

clipped = mesh.clip(normal=normal)

Perform a crinkled clip

crinkled = mesh.clip(normal=normal, crinkle=True)

Plot comparison

p = pv.Plotter(shape=(1, 2))
p.add_mesh(clipped, show_edges=True)
p.add_mesh(plane.extract_feature_edges(), color='r')
p.subplot(0, 1)
p.add_mesh(crinkled, show_edges=True)
p.add_mesh(plane.extract_feature_edges(), color='r')
p.link_views()
p.show()