# Visualise a given surface in 3D **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [February 3, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://vapor.discourse.group/t/visualise-a-given-surface-in-3d/482 "2026-02-03T17:16:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aqua159](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@aqua159](https://vapor.discourse.group/u/aqua159)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://vapor.discourse.group/t/visualise-a-given-surface-in-3d/482/1 "2026-02-03T17:16:42Z")
I have a 3D data (vx - velocity) and I want to visualize a particular surface whose z coordinates I can provide using python. I cant use isosurface in this case as vx has different values at different regions in the surface including flipping signs. What I tried so far is to create a 3D array with zeros, replace the values with vx only at the particular surface I want. Then I tried using a volume renderer to visualize it. On adjusting the transfer function I can see the surface but it is not exactly the way I want it. Attached is an image of the above trial. So, is there any way of plotting user defined surfaces in VAPOR 3.8? ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/vapor/original/1X/fd437ab77439dc97423a62724b54d94f677072d7.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![pearse](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/vapor.discourse.group/pearse/32/177_2.png) [@pearse](https://vapor.discourse.group/u/pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://vapor.discourse.group/t/visualise-a-given-surface-in-3d/482/2 "2026-02-09T17:09:19Z")
Hi, I’m not entirely clear on the problem and have a few questions. 1. Why provide the Z coordinates using python? Are they not embedded in the dataset itself, and do you have multiple datastets that have different grids? 2. Could you provide a sample file that I can test out? Let me know if you’d like to do a screen-share and we can talk about it interactively. -Scott