diff --git a/doc/_static/mplot3d_view_angles.png b/doc/_static/mplot3d_view_angles.png
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diff --git a/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d.rst b/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d.rst
index 5b3cb52571bb..19005ddd383d 100644
--- a/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d.rst
+++ b/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d.rst
@@ -20,13 +20,15 @@ more information.
 
 The interactive backends also provide the ability to rotate and zoom the 3D
 scene.  One can rotate the 3D scene by simply clicking-and-dragging the scene.
-Zooming is done by right-clicking the scene and dragging the mouse up and down
-(unlike 2D plots, the toolbar zoom button is not used).
+Panning is done by clicking the middle mouse button, and zooming is done by
+right-clicking the scene and dragging the mouse up and down. Unlike 2D plots,
+the toolbar pan and zoom buttons are not used.
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 2
 
    mplot3d/faq.rst
+   mplot3d/view_angles.rst
 
 .. note::
    `.pyplot` cannot be used to add content to 3D plots, because its function
diff --git a/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d/view_angles.rst b/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d/view_angles.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..10d4fac39e8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/toolkits/mplot3d/view_angles.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+.. _toolkit_mplot3d-view-angles:
+
+*******************
+mplot3d View Angles
+*******************
+
+How to define the view angle
+============================
+
+The position of the viewport "camera" in a 3D plot is defined by three angles:
+*elevation*, *azimuth*, and *roll*. From the resulting position, it always
+points towards the center of the plot box volume. The angle direction is a
+common convention, and is shared with
+`PyVista <https://docs.pyvista.org/api/core/camera.html>`_ and
+`MATLAB <https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/view.html>`_
+(though MATLAB lacks a roll angle). Note that a positive roll angle rotates the
+viewing plane clockwise, so the 3d axes will appear to rotate
+counter-clockwise.
+
+.. image:: /_static/mplot3d_view_angles.png
+   :align: center
+   :scale: 50
+
+Rotating the plot using the mouse will control only the azimuth and elevation,
+but all three angles can be set programmatically::
+
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+    ax = plt.figure().add_subplot(projection='3d')
+    ax.view_init(elev=30, azim=45, roll=15)
+
+
+Primary view planes
+===================
+
+To look directly at the primary view planes, the required elevation, azimuth,
+and roll angles are shown in the diagram of an "unfolded" plot below. These are
+further documented in the `.mplot3d.axes3d.Axes3D.view_init` API.
+
+.. plot:: gallery/mplot3d/view_planes_3d.py
+   :align: center
diff --git a/examples/mplot3d/view_planes_3d.py b/examples/mplot3d/view_planes_3d.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c4322d60fe93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/mplot3d/view_planes_3d.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+"""
+======================
+Primary 3D view planes
+======================
+
+This example generates an "unfolded" 3D plot that shows each of the primary 3D
+view planes. The elevation, azimuth, and roll angles required for each view are
+labeled. You could print out this image and fold it into a box where each plane
+forms a side of the box.
+"""
+
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+
+def annotate_axes(ax, text, fontsize=18):
+    ax.text(x=0.5, y=0.5, z=0.5, s=text,
+            va="center", ha="center", fontsize=fontsize, color="black")
+
+# (plane, (elev, azim, roll))
+views = [('XY',   (90, -90, 0)),
+         ('XZ',    (0, -90, 0)),
+         ('YZ',    (0,   0, 0)),
+         ('-XY', (-90,  90, 0)),
+         ('-XZ',   (0,  90, 0)),
+         ('-YZ',   (0, 180, 0))]
+
+layout = [['XY',  '.',   'L',   '.'],
+          ['XZ', 'YZ', '-XZ', '-YZ'],
+          ['.',   '.', '-XY',   '.']]
+fig, axd = plt.subplot_mosaic(layout, subplot_kw={'projection': '3d'},
+                              figsize=(12, 8.5))
+for plane, angles in views:
+    axd[plane].set_xlabel('x')
+    axd[plane].set_ylabel('y')
+    axd[plane].set_zlabel('z')
+    axd[plane].set_proj_type('ortho')
+    axd[plane].view_init(elev=angles[0], azim=angles[1], roll=angles[2])
+    axd[plane].set_box_aspect(None, zoom=1.25)
+
+    label = f'{plane}\n{angles}'
+    annotate_axes(axd[plane], label, fontsize=14)
+
+for plane in ('XY', '-XY'):
+    axd[plane].set_zticklabels([])
+    axd[plane].set_zlabel('')
+for plane in ('XZ', '-XZ'):
+    axd[plane].set_yticklabels([])
+    axd[plane].set_ylabel('')
+for plane in ('YZ', '-YZ'):
+    axd[plane].set_xticklabels([])
+    axd[plane].set_xlabel('')
+
+label = 'mplot3d primary view planes\n' + 'ax.view_init(elev, azim, roll)'
+annotate_axes(axd['L'], label, fontsize=18)
+axd['L'].set_axis_off()
+
+plt.show()