Plot with X,Y, and Z axes

[kingofaces]

Essentially I'm trying to make a 3-d plot similar to this:

http://soft.proindependent.com/doc/manual-en/pics/3d-gallery-mesh.png

I have 3 columns of data, one column for each axis. I've been looking through some older posts and they have said there's no straightforward way to do this in excel (at the time at least). Does Excel 2010 support anything like this yet? If not, does anyone have suggestions on programs that will? I've seen a couple, but I'm hoping there's a free one as this is a need that only comes up occasionally. Thanks.

 

[Hap]

This is as close as anything I've found although not simple it works effectively.

http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

 

[kingofaces]

Thanks. I've been tinkering with surface and contour charts a bit in Excel and while they're ok, they look a little cluttered too. I'll have to see what other programs look like.

On that note, does anyone know how you change the colors and range of numbers used in a contour plot? I used to just change the range and major units of the axis for the surface plot and the colors would just fill in automatically. I still want the colors to represent a certain range of numbers on the contour plot, but I don't see anywhere that can be changed since the "z-axis" isn't included. Is there a menu I'm missing (Excel 2010)? I know how to change the color of an already existing band through the format menu, but I don't know how to change the range of numbers that band represents.