Create, display and save meshes

How to create, select, visualize, and store meshes.

Create a mesh

How to create mesh objects

Unlike curves or surfaces, meshes cannot be built directly in AliasStudio. They are typically obtained by opening an existing file that contains them, or by converting a polyset or NURBS object.

Retrieve a mesh from a file

Choose File > Open

or File > Import > File

to open a file containing polygonal data. The following file types can import mesh objects into AliasStudio:

Wire files (if they were saved with meshes)

STL files (binary or ASCII)

OBJ files

For Wire and STL files, a progress bar is displayed while the file loads. Identical vertices are merged automatically, leading to improved performance during subsequent operations.

Those file types can store large meshes of about 3 million polygons. Wire files are the most efficient format. However, as an interchange format, binary STL is much faster than OBJ.

Polygonal models created in Spider or EvalViewer will automatically be imported as meshes.

Convert polysets into meshes

Select all the polysets you want to convert.

Choose Utilities > Mesh/Polyset > Polyset to mesh

The selected polysets are converted to mesh objects.

Create meshes from NURBS surfaces or shells

Select all the NURBS surfaces and shells for which you want to create meshes.

Choose Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Nurbs to mesh

New mesh objects are created by tessellating the surfaces and shells you selected.

If you want to control how the objects are tessellated, use the parameters within the option window.

Create meshes from clouds

Import the cloud data into AliasStudio (File > Import > Cloud

Select the cloud.

Choose Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Cloud to mesh

Create meshes from displacement maps

Assign the displacement map to a shader, then apply the shader onto the desired object(s).

Pick the object(s) with the displacement map to be converted.

Choose Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Displacement Map to mesh

A mesh is calculated from the displacement map, and made active. The original object is made inactive, but remains in its original location. It may be obscured until it, or the mesh, is moved.

The example below shows NURBS geometry with a procedural displacement map applied to create a "hob-nail" pattern on the outside of the plastic waterglass. Using the Displacement Map to mesh tool, the displacement tessellation is used to develop a mesh.

Tessellation settings

In order to create a good, workable mesh from the displacement process, you can control the quality of the tessellation by adjusting the Mesh Tolerance and Displacement Detail parameters either from Render > Globals , or from the option box of Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Displacement Map to mesh .

Pick meshes

How to pick meshes.

Pick meshes

Use Pick > Object

Set up the Pick component tool to pick only meshes

Choose Pick > Component

Turn off all the pickable types except Meshes, then click Go.

Once you have set the options, you can drag the tool onto a shelf to have a custom tool that only picks meshes.

It is not possible to pick individual vertices or edges in mesh objects.

Adjust the mesh display

How to reduce mesh display density for faster response time, and adjust transparency for display purposes.

Change the mesh display density

Toggle on the Control Panel by using Windows > Control panel

, if it is not already open.

In the Quality section, adjust the Mesh Density slider to determine which percentage of the polygons will be displayed.

Perform viewing (tumble, etc) or positioning (Move, Rotate, etc) operations on the model.

If needed, continue adjusting the Mesh Density value until you reach an acceptable compromise between performance speed and display detail.

By default, the slider is set to 1.0 (all the triangles are drawn). The density setting applies to both shaded and wire frame modes.

You may want to adjust the Mesh Density to a smaller value before opening your model.

Change the mesh transparency

In the Transparency section of the Control Panel, adjust the Meshes slider to control the level of transparency of the mesh wireframe. A value of 0.0 means the mesh is completely opaque. A value of 1.0 means the mesh is completely transparent (i.e. invisible).

This is particularly useful when displaying the mesh in a shaded mode. (See Shade a mesh).

By default, the slider is set to 0.0. The transparency setting applies to both shaded and wire frame modes.

Shade a mesh

How to apply shading to a mesh object

Shade a mesh

Pick the mesh.

Orient the model for best viewing.

Set Mesh Density to 1.0 in the Quality section of the Control Panel.

Choose WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade

or any of the Diagnostic Shading modes from the Control Panel.

Use the Meshes slider in the Transparency section of the Control Panel to fade out or hide the mesh wireframe.

Save meshes

How to save mesh objects

Save selected meshes in an STL file

Select one or more mesh objects.

Choose File > Export > STL

The Accept button appears in the lower right corner.

Click Accept.

The Export STL browser is displayed.

Choose a name for the file and click Save. Only the selected meshes are saved.

Save meshes in a wire file

Select File > Save

from the menu as usual.

Meshes saved in wire files in AliasStudio 11.0 cannot be retrieved in earlier versions of AliasStudio, since those versions do not provide mesh support.

Save meshes in OBJ format

Select File > Save as

Choose OBJ from the File Formats lister.

Other formats (such as IGES and STEP) do not have translators that allow them to store meshes. You must convert the meshes to polysets with Utilities > Mesh/Polyset > Mesh to polyset to save your model.

Convert meshes to polysets

Select all the meshes to convert.

Choose Utilities > Mesh/Polyset > Mesh to polyset

The selected meshes are converted to polysets.