# Plot Ellipses in Paraview (HELP!)

**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Tags:** vtk
**Created:** [January 4, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169 "2021-01-04T23:59:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![cesardaniel](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@cesardaniel](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cesardaniel)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169/1 "2021-01-04T23:59:51Z")

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Dear Community,

I am trying to plot a set of ellipses in Paraview, but I am a beginner user. My goal is to have something like this:

 ![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/1/16c29f0c2d6a475c1edab243030fbd23a4604f2b.png)

I have tried using the Tensor Glyph Filter and the vtkwrite.m MATLAB function, but as I do not understand how to build the tensor, I am not getting success. What I usually know about the ellipses is the magnitude (length/size) of the semiaxis (major and minor) and also a rotation angle. Besides that, the ellipses are a 2-D representation in the XY plane:

![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/c/c83d45052557a78885eebdec1a2ecedeb4b35fbf.png)

Can somebody please help me or explain to me how to represent them or how to build the tensor in terms of the minor axis, major axis, and rotation angle? At this point I am just getting success with the color code of the ellipses ☹

 ![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/0/094aac2833dc69e1eedd94a7899a4d537d80064a.jpeg)

Regards,

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169/2 "2021-01-05T15:21:53Z")

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[https://vtk.org/doc/nightly/html/classvtkTensorGlyph.html#details](https://vtk.org/doc/nightly/html/classvtkTensorGlyph.html#details)

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### Author: ![cesardaniel](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@cesardaniel](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cesardaniel)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2021, 6:59am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169/3 "2021-01-06T06:59:07Z")

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Dear Mathieu,

Thanks for your help, the link you posted was useful for me to understand how to build the tensor structures. Here you can see some images of the results:

2-D (MATLAB):

 ![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/c/cc98ad0d2fa53585c8d186a348508d472052c759.png)

3-D (Paraview):

 ![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f3a64a0bcf9426df154bed31d915d64b4ebdcc34.jpeg)

Regards,

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### Author: ![cory.quammen](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/cory.quammen/32/11193_2.png) [@cory.quammen](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cory.quammen)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169/4 "2021-01-06T15:09:12Z")

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Wow, that’s great! Very visually appealing.

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169/5 "2022-07-25T15:20:17Z")

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Is it possible for the ellipses to be 3D?

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### Author: ![jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@jkim](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/jkim)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-ellipses-in-paraview-help/6169/6 "2022-07-26T00:49:56Z")

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Hello,

I am also a beginner using the vtk write MatLab program. Could you explain how you implemented the Tensor Glyph?