Set_xlim and set_ylim not working for contourf in 3d plot

Question

I want to create a 2d slice contour plot in 3d with the range of x and y larger than the given xlim and ylim. However, when I set xlim and ylim the contour seems to be extended outside of the axes. I would be most appreciative if there is a way to limit the contour inside the axes.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import cm
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import axes3d
import numpy as np

ax = plt.figure().add_subplot(projection='3d')
X, Y, Z = axes3d.get_test_data(0.05)

# Plot the 3D surface
#ax.plot_surface(X, Y, Z, rstride=8, cstride=8, alpha=0.3)

# Plot projections of the contours for each dimension.  By choosing offsets
# that match the appropriate axes limits, the projected contours will sit on
# the 'walls' of the graph
cset = ax.contourf(X, Y, Z, zdir='z', offset=-100, cmap=cm.coolwarm)

ax.set_xlim(-20, 20)
ax.set_ylim(-20, 20)
ax.set_zlim(-100, 100)

ax.set_xlabel('X')
ax.set_ylabel('Y')
ax.set_zlabel('Z')

plt.show()

Figure:

Answer 1

You could filter Z with numpy.where:

Z = np.where((X > 20) | (X < -20), None, Z)
Z = np.where((Y > 20) | (Y < -20), None, Z)

Example:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib import cm
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import axes3d
import numpy as np

ax = plt.figure().add_subplot(projection='3d')
X, Y, Z = axes3d.get_test_data(0.05)

Z = np.where((X > 20) | (X < -20), None, Z)
Z = np.where((Y > 20) | (Y < -20), None, Z)

# Plot the 3D surface
#ax.plot_surface(X, Y, Z, rstride=8, cstride=8, alpha=0.3)

# Plot projections of the contours for each dimension.  By choosing offsets
# that match the appropriate axes limits, the projected contours will sit on
# the 'walls' of the graph
cset = ax.contourf(X, Y, Z, zdir='z', offset=-100, cmap=cm.coolwarm)

ax.set_xlim(-20, 20)
ax.set_ylim(-20, 20)
ax.set_zlim(-100, 100)

ax.set_xlabel('X')
ax.set_ylabel('Y')
ax.set_zlabel('Z')

plt.show()