Simulating data smoothing on a 2D matrix. New to Octave/Matlab platforms

[Nuno Santos]

Hi,

I knew about Octave because I was looking for an open source utility to 
make the same as Matlab.

I need to simulate data smoothing on a matrix before actually coding an 
algorithm to avoid the time cost of implementing thing without knowing 
the results.

First I would like to see the 2D matrix drawn on a 3D graphic, where 
each value of the 2D matrix is a Z value on the 3D graphic.

Then I would like to apply several smoothing function (and if anyone 
could point me some functions), to the data in order to visually see the 
results.

I know these are two question with a huge scope of Octave knowledge. I'm 
not explictly asking for an answer, but some info on how to get there 
without stumble on things that I don't need.

With my best regards,

Nuno