Time dependent data in Mayavi

Question

Assuming I have a 4d numpy array like this: my_array[x,y,z,t].

Is there a simple way to load the whole array into Mayavi, and simply selecting the t I want to investigate for?

I know that it is possible to animate the data, but I would like to rotate my figure "on the go".

Answer 1

It is possible to set up a dialogue with a input box in which you can set t. You have to use the traits.api, it could look like this:

from traits.api import HasTraits, Int, Instance, on_trait_change
from traitsui.api import View, Item, Group
from mayavi.core.ui.api import SceneEditor, MlabSceneModel, MayaviScene

class Data_plot(HasTraits):
  a = my_array
  t = Int(0)
  scene = Instance(MlabSceneModel, ())
  plot = Instance(PipelineBase)

  @on_trait_change('scene.activated')
  def show_plot(self):
    self.plot = something(self.a[self.t]) #something can be surf or mesh or other

  @on_trait_change('t')
  def update_plot(self):
    self.plot.parent.parent.scalar_data = self.a[self.t] #Change the data

  view = View(Item('scene', editor=SceneEditor(scene_class=MayaviScene),
                show_label=False),
                Group('_', 't'),
                resizable=True,
                )

my_plot = Data_plot(a=my_array)
my_plot.configure_traits()

You can also set up a slider with the command Range instead of Int if you prefer this.