BetterCameraToolbar

Three extra buttons make a big difference in usability.

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The cameratoolbar is an indispensable tool for investigating 3d data. However, after zooming in, moves of the camera typically become pointless as the region of interest quickly gets out of sight. The BetterCameraToolbar provides three extra buttons to settle this problem and to further enhance usability:

The first button admits to select a new camera target on the surface by simply clicking on it. This point is now at the center of the figure window and stays there no matter how you orbit or roll the camera. Thus, the region around the selected point can be explored conveniently.

The second button provides an axes marker attached to the camera target showing the coordinate directions. This helps greatly to stay oriented, in particular in the case of close-ups, when plot box boundaries are not visible.

The third button offers a change of the perspective effect in your 3d scenery. To this end, the camera distance and the zoom factor are modified simultaneously such that objects in the projection plane keep their size.

Cite As

Ulrich Reif (2026). BetterCameraToolbar (https://au.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/70605-bettercameratoolbar), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

General Information

MATLAB Release Compatibility

  • Compatible with any release

Platform Compatibility

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
Version Published Release Notes Action
1.4

Fixed problem with 2d plots.
Fixed problem with axes marker size.

1.3

New option DEFAULT, replacing the standard cameratoolbar in the VIEW menu in all current and future figures.

1.2

Clicking into background restores default camera target.

1.1

No more error message when clicking target into nowhere.
Stop perspective warp when mouse outside window.

1.0.0