I am trying to set an arbitrary viewpoint for an Axes3D object ax using
ax.view_init(azim=a, elev=e)
but this method does the elevation rotating the "z" axis with respect to a horizontal axis co-planar to the screen, rather than the axis "x" or "y". Since the azimuth parameter affects the direction of the x-y plane, it is not possible in this way to achieve an arbitrary orientation (e.g., "x" pointing out of the screen, "y" going upwards and "z" going from the left to the right of the screen).
Is there a way to set up an arbitrary viewpoint?