Hi, Just wondering if anyone can recommend a free mesh editor and maybe knows of the current best free one.
Having tried the photographic capture method (Agisoft Photoscan) on some objects and turned the result into a mesh it needs some gap filling and tidying up.
Steve
I’ve just done the same thing myself - 3D scanned my back yard with Agisoft and cleaned it up in Blender (www.blender.org)
Hi, try MeshMixer and ReCap they are pretty good, but probably the best one is MeshLab, it has a great library of algorithms, while you are doing that you could search to for CloudCompare.
For Grasshopper there is s a plugin call Mesh+ that Close Holes on meshes.
Among the tools mentioned you should also look at OpenFlipper (based on OpenMesh).
If you have “bad meshes” then OpenFlipper may well surprise you with its stability. Using isotropic remesh removes much crap. A bit strange GUI (as will most Qt based UIs) but it’s worth it. Supports both textual and visual scripting (grasshopper style).
I have used MeshMixer which is next best for manual editing among free tools, and MeshLab (good for scripting & automation) and why not Instant Mesher for quad meshes (good also at isotropic meshing).
Don’t under estimate Rhino’s mesh tools, which actually are useful for automating fixing, cleaning and segmentation of meshes.
// Rolf
Hi,
exploring each of the suggestions by way of internet reviews, you tube etc.
Blender said to be deliberately designed to make it repel newbies !
I search on intro to Rhino mesh tools and get
Steve
If the question is “which is best”, then the question follows, “for exactly what”.
All the mentioned tools are “best”, but on different operations.
For example, I use Rhino to automagically load messy meshes (with say 10000 stray mesh splinters) and only a few objects (most often only two) which I want to keep and further refine. I’m using GrassHopper for this. Gain: an endless number of manual steps are eliminated.
I then automagically export the roughly “pre-cleaned” mesh to disk (.obj) and open it in OpenFlipper or MeshMixer (or Instant Meshes) to remesh (isotropically) and close holes.
If MeshLab Server hadn’t be so buggy (it often crashes when executing from commandline from whithin Rhino/GH) I would perform all my cleaning and remeshing from within GrassHopper (I have a component for this). Thus no other manual interaction would be needed, other than importing the mesh to Rhino while my dedicated “CleanMeshes” GH definition is open. I’d then lean back and wait until finnished. Unfortunately MeshLab Server crashes, though, so I have to do these steps manually. For now at least.
But as said, different tools are “best” for different operations involved in cleaning, which are numerous (just look in the manues of MeshLab the you see how many mesh repair operations there really is. Apart from all the segementation strategies (which is a major thing in mesh preparation from point clouds, like from CT scans and MRI etc)
Depending on your problem, try the tools I mentioned and run FIRST remeshing (Isotropic in OpenMesher, Traingulated in Instant Meshes, Remesh (with specific edge length) in MeshMixer and se what happens. SOmetimes it is better to close holes before remshing, sometimes not (depending on how bad the mesh is).
All these commands in different order and combination is a n^2 thing. This is why you have to try, try, try.
The quality of your mesh most often determines what is a “good” tool and what is a “bad” tool for the task needed.
// Rolf
I have a 3D mesh from Agisoft Photoscan of a human which needs some repair work and tidying up for example, my first step into such territory, wondering what prog is best, intuitive, etc. newbie proof !
MeshMixer I am warming to seeing videos but not see one of Rhino doing such or similar.
Steve