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Shaded planes to compare several series

The Cloud chart is essentially a scatter-plot in 3 dimensions (maybe you are running an experiment in which you vary pressure and temperature, and are interested in the yield of the result). Rather than fitting a line to show the relationship between input and output, you fit a plane (if the data is linear in both x and y) or a curved surface.

This diagram shows the cloud-chart being used in a similar way to the Excel Ribbon chart to compare series. This is generally done for visual effect rather than as a serious attempt to compare the data values. However it does illustrate the versatility of the Cloudchart when used as a general-purpose 3D drawing tool. If you start by setting fixed ranges on all 3 axes, you can draw any number of lines of filled shapes in the rctangular co-ordinate system within the chart walls.

This chart is also drawn with a slightly modified viewpoint. The best viewing angle for any particular dataset is obviously a matter of experiment.

SharpPlot sp = new SharpPlot;
sp.SetMargins(24,24,18,6);

series1 = new int[] {5,6,7,4,3,6,5,4};
series2 = new int[] {4,5,4,7,4,5,5,3};
xdata = new int[] {4,5,7,8,9,11,12,15};

sp.Heading = "Shaded\nPlanes";
sp.HeadingStyle = HeadingStyles.Right;

sp.SetViewpoint(33,18,54);
sp.SetColors(new Color[]{Color.OrangeRed,Color.ForestGreen});
sp.SetFillStyles(FillStyle.Opacity66);
sp.CloudChartStyle = CloudChartStyles.NoMarkers|CloudChartStyles.SurfaceShading|
         CloudChartStyles.Lines|CloudChartStyles.GridLines;
sp.SetYRange(0.5,2.5);
sp.YAxisStyle = YAxisStyles.PlainAxis;
sp.ZAxisStyle = ZAxisStyles.ForceZero;

sp.DrawCloudChart(xdata,new int[]{2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2},series2);  // First plane
sp.DrawCloudChart(xdata,new int[]{1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1},series1);

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