# ListPlot3D keeps crashing

I have some data, and I want to plot it by ListPlot3D:

image1 = Import["image1.dat", "TSV"];
image1 // Dimensions
(* -> {150000, 3} *)


I used:

ListPlot3D[image1[[1 ;; 50000]], MaxPlotPoints -> 5, PerformanceGoal -> "Speed"]


Although I tried to plot just one third of the whole data, the kernel crashes--let alone when I want to plot all of it.

If I use:

ListPlot3D[image1[[1 ;; 10000]], MaxPlotPoints -> 5, PerformanceGoal -> "Speed"]


it returns an empty plot.

Can somebody tell me if they reproduce the crashing by plotting the data? How can I stop the kernel crashing when I plot my data? Does this happen because there are so many points?

The plot is actually consisted of fifteen 2 dimensional decay curves which I want in 3D, and each decay curve is consisted of 10000 points. I added to each point two other coordinates to be able to plot it in 3D.

I use Windows 7, 64 bit and Mathematica 9. I have enough RAM too, so I don't think it is because of RAM shortage.

It seems the solution in this post works for me, but I want each of those 15 decay curve to be plotted separately, and by using the proposed solution the plot looks like a surface. Also, I want to know the reason for the crash.

Here is a sample of what I'm looking for:

I used ListPointPlot3D to get this, however, it is extremely slow if I rotate the plot to inspect it more. That's why I tried ListPlot3D.

• Obligatory question, what os and what version of mathematica are you using? – rcollyer Jan 12 '15 at 13:01
• I use Windows 7, 64 bit and MMA 9. – MOON Jan 12 '15 at 13:04
• Yes, I can reproduce the crash. – Oleksandr R. Jan 12 '15 at 13:20
• @yashar, ListPlot3D will give you a surface rather than 15 separate curves. Why not stick with ListPointPlot3D but only plot every 20th data point? – Simon Woods Jan 12 '15 at 13:49
• I would go with @SimonWoods's suggestion. Use ArrayResample to pick every nth datapoint from each list and use ListPointPlot3D on the list of lists – gpap Jan 13 '15 at 17:37