A screenshot of the main window, with an example visualization
Developer(s)	Enthought
Initial release	2019 (2019)
Stable release	4.8.1 / October 18, 2022 (2022-10-18)[1]
Written in	Python, VTK, wxPython/Qt
Operating system	Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows
Available in	English
Type	Data visualization
License	BSD License
Website	docs.enthought.com/mayavi/mayavi/

MayaVi is a scientific data visualizer written in Python, which uses VTK and provides a GUI via Tkinter. MayaVi was developed by Prabhu Ramachandran, is free and distributed under the BSD License. It is cross-platform and runs on any platform where both Python and VTK are available (almost any Unix, Mac OS X, or Windows). MayaVi is pronounced as a single name, "Ma-ya-vee", meaning "magical" in Sanskrit. The code of MayaVi has nothing in common with that of Autodesk Maya or the Vi text editor.^[2]

The latest version of MayaVi, called Mayavi2, is a component of the Enthought suite of scientific Python programs. It differs from the original MayaVi by its strong focus on making not only an interactive program, but also a reusable component for 3D plotting in Python. Although it exposes a slightly different interface and API than the original MayaVi, it now has more features.^[3][4]

Major features

• visualizes computational grids and scalar, vector, and tensor data
• an easy-to-use GUI
• can be imported as a Python module from other Python programs or can be scripted from the Python interpreter
• supports volume visualization of data via texture and ray cast mappers
• support for any VTK dataset using the VTK data format
• support for PLOT3D data
• multiple datasets can be used simultaneously
• provides a pipeline browser, with which objects in the VTK pipeline can be browsed and edited
• imports simple VRML and 3D Studio scenes
• custom modules and data filters can be added
• exporting to PostScript files, PPM/BMP/TIFF/JPEG/PNG images, Open Inventor, Geomview OOGL, VRML files, Wavefront .obj files, or RenderMan RIB file

Examples

Spherical harmonics

The spherical harmonic function ${\displaystyle Y_{3}^{0}(\theta ,\varphi )}$

from numpy import linspace, meshgrid, array, sin, cos, pi, abs
from scipy.special import sph_harm
from mayavi import mlab

theta_1d = linspace(0,   pi,  91) 
phi_1d   = linspace(0, 2*pi, 181)

theta_2d, phi_2d = meshgrid(theta_1d, phi_1d)
xyz_2d = array([sin(theta_2d) * sin(phi_2d),
                sin(theta_2d) * cos(phi_2d),
                cos(theta_2d)]) 
l = 3
m = 0

Y_lm = sph_harm(m, l, phi_2d, theta_2d)
r = abs(Y_lm.real) * xyz_2d

mlab.figure(size=(700, 830))
mlab.mesh(r[0], r[1], r[2], scalars=Y_lm.real, colormap="cool")
mlab.view(azimuth=0, elevation=75, distance=2.4, roll=-50)
mlab.savefig("Y_%i_%i.jpg" % (l, m))
mlab.show()

References

External links

• mayavi on GitHub
• MayaVi on SourceForge