Creating a 3D Mesh

You can create a 3D mesh from a cloud of points or regenerate an existing mesh. This fully automatic 3D meshing (c)INRIA, suitable for mechanical parts with blind or through holes, respects details, especially sharp edges. Dense clouds can be meshed with a reduced number of triangles, that respect the shape within a given tolerance.

This task deals with 3D meshes; for information on 2D meshes, see Creating a 2D Mesh.

Before you begin:
  • Meshing requires a complex computation. The computation time increases according to the size and complexity of your model. Filter large clouds before starting the meshing.
  • This command is available in 3D Printing Preparation, not in 3D Printing.
  • Mesh Regeneration is allowed on meshes only, that is, objects whose partially or totally active cells are meshes.
  1. From the 3D Printing section of the action bar, click Mesh Regeneration .

    By default, 3D Mesher is selected. This is a meshing method for complicated shapes (for example mechanical objects, clouds that cannot be projected onto a single plane, or without draft characteristics).

  2. Optional: Select the Sag check box and key in its value.

    Selecting Sag reduces the number of triangles computed on dense clouds, enabling you to mesh large clouds quickly. This option respects the shape of the object.

    Tips:
    • Leave its value to 0 to mesh all the points.
    • You achieve the same result by filtering the cloud with the adaptative option set to the sag value and meshing the output.

  3. Increase or decrease Neighborhood as required.

    The Neighborhood parameter is proposed in compliance with the model, to let you fill holes or leave some areas unmeshed.

    • Its value represents the maximal edge length of the triangles displayed. It is an approximation.
    • Its relevance depends on the distribution of the points in the cloud.
    • It is visualized by a sphere.

    1. Change the value of Neighborhood.
      The size of the sphere is updated.
    2. Change the position of this sphere by a simple mouse click.
    3. Click Apply
    The mesh is computed with the value proposed.
  4. Optional: Select the display options.
    • Triangles: Displays only the mesh.
    • Shading: Simulates the surface of the object:
      • Flat sends the light on the triangles along their normal.
      • Smooth smooths the light over the triangles, giving a better image of the quality of the surface.

    Notes:
    • These display options are applied inside 3D Mesher only. Once you have validated the result with OK, the result is displayed in the default mode defined in the Me > Preferences, even if the input element or the computed mesh were displayed in another mode.
    • Seams may appear on the mesh with the Smooth option:
      • They indicate that the normals to the facets have different directions at this place.
      • In 2D and 3D mode, some triangles may overlap and mesh needs be corrected.
      • In Constrained mode, they show the common boundaries of meshes.
    Tip: To mesh large quantities of points, we recommend the following options:
    • Sag=0mm
    • Triangles not activated
    • Shading activated, with the Smooth option.

Note: Colors (if any) from the original entity are transferred to the new or regenerated mesh, but you cannot see the color unless you have selected the Optimized mode option in Display Modes.