diff --git a/pymde/experiment_utils.py b/pymde/experiment_utils.py
index 940bb09..889adbe 100644
--- a/pymde/experiment_utils.py
+++ b/pymde/experiment_utils.py
@@ -150,7 +150,6 @@ def _is_discrete(dtype):
 def _plot_3d(
     X, color_by, cmap, colors, edges, s, background_color, figsize, lim
 ):
-    from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
 
     if isinstance(X, torch.Tensor):
         X = X.cpu().numpy()
@@ -159,7 +158,7 @@ def _plot_3d(
     shadowcolor = "gainsboro"
 
     fig = plt.figure(figsize=figsize)
-    ax = Axes3D(fig)
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(projection='3d')
 
     x, y, z = X[:, 0], X[:, 1], X[:, 2]
 
@@ -196,27 +195,26 @@ def _plot_3d(
     ax.set_zlim(lim)
 
     if edges is None:
-        ax.plot(
+        # shadows
+        ax.scatter(
             y,
             z,
-            "g+",
             zdir="x",
             zs=ax.axes.get_xlim3d()[0],
             c=shadowcolor,
             alpha=0.5,
             marker="o",
-            markersize=shadowsize,
+            s=shadowsize,
         )
-        ax.plot(
+        ax.scatter(
             x,
             y,
-            "k+",
             zdir="z",
             zs=ax.axes.get_zlim3d()[0],
             c=shadowcolor,
             alpha=0.5,
             marker="o",
-            markersize=shadowsize,
+            s=shadowsize,
         )
 
     if background_color is not None: