Line charts display data as a continuous 3D line connecting data points, where each point's vertical position represents a numeric value and its horizontal position represents a category or sequential index. Hydrant renders lines as 3D tubes or beams with configurable thickness, color, animation, and cross-section shape.
A line chart scene is built from one or more dataset selections. Each selection produces a single line entity — a polyline connecting all data points in order. Multiple selections create multiple lines that can share the same X-axis through alignment settings.
Line chart scenes use the following entity structure:
These settings are configured per dataset selection in the Data panel under Line Settings.
Line Width — Thickness of the line (0.01 – 0.5). Controls the tube radius or beam size in world units.
Line Color — Color of the line. Each selection can have its own color.
Line Style — Cross-section shape of the line:
Point Spacing — Distance between data points along the X-axis (0.01 – 3.0). Smaller values create compact lines; larger values spread data points apart. This setting is hidden when multi-dataset alignment is enabled, since the global alignment spacing takes precedence.
Line color is set per selection in the Data panel under Line Settings. Unlike bar charts (which can assign colors per data point), each line is rendered as a single continuous color.
Per-line color overrides can be applied via the Scene Tree (Object Inspector) on the line entity.
The graph block is an optional L-shaped container configured in the Scene panel. It provides spatial context for the line and serves as a mounting surface for the scale.
Grid lines and scale numbers provide visual reference for reading values. These are configured in the Scene panel.
The Y-axis scale determines how data values map to vertical positions on the line. Scale settings are configured in the Data panel and work identically to bar charts.
Scale Mode:
When multiple selections share a scene, the scale is computed globally so all lines use the same value range, making them directly comparable.
Line charts use a draw-on animation where the line progressively reveals from left to right, as if being drawn by an invisible pen.
Animation timing is configured per selection in the Data panel under Animation Timing.
Animation Type:
Delay Before — Pause before the line begins drawing (0.0 – 5.0 seconds).
Delay After — Pause after the line finishes drawing (0.0 – 5.0 seconds).
The draw-on animation uses arc-length based progress, meaning the line reveals at a uniform visual speed along its path regardless of how data points are spaced. At 50% progress, exactly half the total line length is visible — not half the data points. This ensures smooth, consistent animation even when data points are unevenly distributed.
Labels for line charts are configured in the Labels panel. Line charts support all standard label types:
Value and category labels can be anchored to specific positions relative to each data point:
During animation, labels for data points that have not yet been drawn remain hidden and appear as the line reaches each point.
In the 3D editor, line chart scenes support the following interactions:
Line charts excel at comparing multiple datasets. A single scene can display multiple lines from different selections, overlaid on the same axes.
When multiple selections are present, the Multi-Dataset Alignment section in the Data panel controls how lines are positioned relative to each other.
Enable Alignment — Toggle alignment mode. Enabled by default when multiple selections exist.
Matching Axis — The column used to align data points across datasets (e.g., "Year", "Date"). Set to "Auto" by default, which detects the shared column. When alignment is enabled, data points with the same category value across different selections are placed at the same X position.
Point Spacing — Distance between aligned data points (0.01 – 3.0). This global spacing overrides per-selection point spacing.
Sync Animation — Synchronize animation timing across all datasets so all lines draw on at the same pace. Enabled by default.
The alignment section also displays match statistics showing unique categories, per-selection stats, and overlap percentage between datasets.
When alignment is disabled, each line group uses its own X-axis spacing and can be positioned independently using the per-selection Transform settings (position, rotation).
Line groups and individual line entities can be customized through the Object Inspector in the Scene Tree:
Overrides persist across data reprocessing.