I work with both Modo 701 and Rhino.
I’d like to know how to set custom settings while converting NURBS to polygons.
I’m looking for both performance (lower poly counts) and quality.
Also, I want to keep the maximum number of quads possible.
Hi Joddy- see if this helps:
http://wiki.mcneel.com/rhino/meshfaq
-Pascal
Two commands which can help in addition to the detailed info on that wiki page are QuadrangulateMesh which makes as many quads in a mesh as Rhino can, and Weld which lets you set an angle for smooth shading across polys in the mesh prior to export. I like to use Mesh to make the meshes directly versus just saving the NURBS model as a mesh format. This allows a little more tweaking and inspection of the mesh before exporting.
Pascal, since I have posted this topic, I’ve tried lots of convertions.
Unfortunately, the Rhino Help doesn’t cover it very well. Too many text, with no practical examples.
My first question is: what Refine mesh that can’t be done with the other settings? The help just tells it makes the mesh process slower.
Brian, correct me if I’m wrong.
For a displacement (a nice one) I must have the most number of quads possible in the mesh. Right?
Raising the initial grid quads in the render mesh settings will help decrease the size of tris in the mesh at trimmed edges. This can also help with detail in displacements but the image used, the displacement settings and the model shape all play a part in the settings to use. Can you post the portion of the model you wish to displace and the image you’re using if you are not getting the effect you want?
@joddys - If Refine is unchecked, then some of the detailed settings are not actually calculated as far as with it on.
-Pascal
Pascal, sorry to bother you again.
As I’m documenting the mesh settings to improve STL accuracy and rendering performance, I’ll keep asking you questions.
About the “Maximum angle”: why higher values, such as 30/35 seems not to affect the mesh anymore? I remember that in old V2 days, I could turn the mesh (with the settings avaliable at the time) into something extremely low-poly.
I’ve tried something simple just for testing purposes.
A B&W image with black squares and triangles, just for achieve some volume in the mesh.
It seems that quads are better than tris for that.
What do you suggest?
I guess it depends on the other settings- for example, if you have a ‘maximum distance edge to surface’ that is small enough to force more subdivision of the mesh than the angle setting would provide, then there is no effect from the angle. If that is not it, please post an example and I’ll take a look.
-Pascal
You’re right. But Maximum edge length also plays a role in it on its own.
Is it just me or is really hard to master it?
Seems that some configurations are nice for some parts of the model, instead of it as a whole.