general information - art institute of chicagocrit.artic.edu/aoc/pdfs/aoc_geomagicguide.pdfaoc also...

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Guidefor Geomagic Design X

GeneralInformation

3D Scan Data Cleanup and Editing

• Geomagic Design X(formerlyRapidformXOR)isanextremelypowerfulreverseengineeringand3Dmodelingsoftwarethatcombines3Dscandataprocessingwithhistory-basedCAD.GeomagicisnotpartofSAIC’ssoftwaretemplateandisveryexpensive;however,itisinstalledonalloftheAOC’slabcomputersinthefrontroomandcanbeusedatanytime.

• Geomagic workflow beyond scan data/STL cleanup and editing must beexplored through online tutorials on your own or with your professor. TheAOC also has checkout material on Geomagic that you can borrow.

Overview

This guide will cover:• Importingfiles• AlignmentofscansthroughMeshBuildupWizard• Outlierdeletion• Holefillingandhealingdefects• BuildingupGeometry• Surfacetreatments• Meshsplitting• Meshdecimation• Globalremeshingandrewrapping• Exporting

*Note: Beforeyoubeginthisworkflow,makesureyouhaveenoughtimetodedicatetothesoftware-lotsoftimeisrequiredofyouaseachoperationcantakealongtimetoprocess.ItisagoodideatocloseoutasmanyotherprogramsasyoucanbeforeopeningGeomagic.

ThroughGeomagic,wecanprepareincompleteandmessyscandatatobeoutputfor3Dprintingandotherapplicationssuchasstillimagerendersandanimation.



Page:2of14 LastModified:February18,20153:04PM

Importing files:

• Geomagicwillacceptmeshdata,pointdata,anykindofmodelfile(STL,OBJ,etc.),andindividualscanmeshestobealigned.Thefollowingworkflowwilltakeyouthroughimportingmultiplescanfiles,aligning,fusing,andediting.ThefirststepistogetourmultiplescansintoGeomagic.

• ThescansthatwereusedforthistutorialweredoneontheAOC’sNextEngine HD3DscannerandwereexportedasindividualSTLs.

• OnceinGeomagic,gouptothetopleftofthescreenandclick“Insert” andthen“Import”.

• Whentheimportscreenpopsup,selectallyourscanfilesbyholdingdowntheShiftkey.Ifyourfilesarenotshow-ingupinyourfolder,makesureyouchoose“All Supported Files”inthe“FilesofType”box.Next,forourpurposes,unchecktheboxfor“Points only”.Youcanalsosetyourunits intheunitbox.

• IfyouarejustimportingasingleSTLthatwon’tneedalignment,youcanchoose“Import Only”andskiptheMeshBuildupWizard.Forourpurposes,andforaligningmultiplescansfromNextEngineorArtecStudio,choose“Run Mesh Buildup Wizard”.




Mesh Buildup WIzard:

• Onceyourfileshaveloadedin,theMeshBuildupWizardmenuwillshowupinthetopleftofthescreenandyour individualscanswillbeshowninarowatthebottom.Youwillalsoseearainbowpreviewofyourscansfusedtogether.

• Thenextstepinvolvesdeletingunwanteddata-forexample:theplatformortabletheobjectwasscannedon.Youcansimplyuseaselectiontool(foundatthebottomleftofthesoftware)toselecttheseareas.Whenyouletgoofthemousewhileselecting,theselectionwillturnblueandbelockedin.Youcanthenhitthedeletekeyonyourkey-boardtoridthedataoftheunwantedarea.

• YoucanalsouseoneofthebuttonsundertheDataEditingmenushowntotherightsuchas“Find Floor” (helpfulforquicklyselectingthetableyouscannedon)or“Find Noisy Cluster”(willfindabnormaloutliersautomatically)

• Whenyouarereadyremovingunwantedareas,youcanmoveontostep3bypressingthearrowbutton.• Remember,youcanalwaysdeleteunwanteddatalateronintheeditingprocessthroughselectionanddeletion.

• MeshBuildupWizardisbrokeninto5separateoperations,thefirstbeing“Data Preparation”.Forthesesettings,choose“small/medium size object scanner”ifyouareworkingwithscansfromanyoftheAOC’s3Dscanners.

• Under“Data Condition”,youcanchoosetochecktheboxnextto“IsPre-Aligned”ifyourscansarealignedandonlyneedtobefused.IftheyarecomingfromtheArtecEva scanner,theywillmostlikelyrequirealignment.Evenifyourscansappearaligned,itisagoodideatorunalignmentforbetteracuracy.

• Whenready,youmaymoveontothenextstageoftheMeshBuildupWizardbypressingthearrowbutton.

• Ifyoudonotseethesettingspicturedtotheleft,makesuretoclickthewhitetriangletodopdownthemenu.Pressthepushpiniconabovethistriangletokeepthemenuvisible.





• Thenextstepinthemeshbuildupwizardis“Data Pre-Aligning” andisbrokendowninto3mainprocesses:selectingareferenceandamovingmesh,assigningalignmentpoints,andapplyingthatalignment.

• Under“Method”itisidealtochoose“local based on picked point” insteadofrelyingallthetimeonauto-alignment.TheautoprocessesinGeomagicasawholeareimpressive,butitisalwaysgoodtoberesponsibleforyourowneditingasitcancomeinhandyinotherprogramsandwhenauto-processesfail-whichtheyoftendo.

• Under“Select” Clickthe“Reference”boxandthenchoosea referencescanfromyourrowatthebottom.Whenchoosinga referencescan,itisbesttochooseonethathasthemostinformationratherthanascanwithlessgeometryinit.

• Next,clickthe“Moving” boxandselectasinglescanyouwillalignwiththereferencescantocreateabasisforglobalalignment.Again,chooseascanwithlotsofinformationinitandwithinformationthatoverlapsthe“Reference”scan.

• Oncethesetwoscansarechosen,youwillseethempopupintheirownwindowsontheright-handside.

• Next,youmustasigncorrespondingalignmentpointstothesetwoscansbyfirstputtingapointonarecognizablefeatureonthe referencescan.Next,placeapointonthemovingscanonthesame feature.Place4-5pointsifpossible.

• Onceyouhaveplacedallyourpoints,hitthe“Apply”checkmark buttonatthetopofthemenu.

• Theoperationwillmergethescanscreatingabasisforglobal alignment.Gotothenextstepusingthearrow.





• Step4oftheMeshBuildupWizarddealswiththeactual alignmentofallthescans.Muchlikethelaststep,youmustfirstclickthe“Reference” boxandchooseyourreferencescan-choosethereferencescanfromthelaststep.

• Next,clickthe“Moving”boxandselectalloftherestofthescansbyholdingdowntheshiftkey.

• Toacceptthisselectionandrunthealignmentoperation,pressthe “Apply”checkmarkbutton.Whenthishascompleted,pressthenextarrowtomoveontothefinalstepoftheMeshBuildupWizard.

• The5thandfinalstepoftheMeshBuildupWizardwilltakeallofyouralignedscansandcombinethemintoasinglefusedmesh.Thereareafewoptionstothinkaboutbeforerunningthiscommand.Considerifyouwillneedaloosermeshoramoreaccuratetight/densemesh.

• Also, “Remesh and Fill All Holes To Create Watertight Mesh”isagreatoptionifyouroutputwilleventuallybe3Dprinting.Thiswillcreateameshwithlessholesandmissinggeometryandwillmaketheeditingand3D printingpreparationstepsalotfaster.Thisoptionmaynotbeappropriateifthescansaremissinglargechunksofdata.

• Withyouroptionschosen,hittheappycheckmarknextto the “Data Merging”titletoruntheprocess.Thiscantakeaverylongtimetocompletesobepatient.

• Oncethiscompletes,youmayfinishtheMeshBuildupWizardbyhittingtheapplycheckmarknexttothemain“Mesh Buildup Wizard” header.Thiswillapplyallyourprocesses.Finally,togetthemodelreadyforthenexteditingsteps,makesurethepressthelargebluecheckmarkatthebottomrightofthesoftwaretolockinallthechanges.

• Now,ifyoulookonthelefthandsideofthescreenunderthe“Tree” menu,youshouldseeanewmeshwithabluecirclenexttoit.ItwillprobablybenamedsomethingsimilartoyourSTLnames.Clickonthismeshandthenclickonthelarge“Mesh”buttonatthetoptohopintoMesh Mode,whichwewilldotherestofoureditingin.

• *Note:SavingyourprogressinGeomagiccanbealittlebitconfusing.Tosaveyourworkasyougo,makesureyouacceptthechangesinthemenufortheoperationyouareworkinginandapplythechangesinthelowerrightcornerwiththelargebluecheckmark.Onceyouhaveapprovedtheseoperations,goto “File“and“Save”.




• Theiconsstarredaboveindicateeithertheoperationsthatwillbeoutlinedinthefollowingstepsorthosethatareveryeffectiveinclean-upbutareveryself-explainatory.

Mesh Mode: Find Defects

• Find Defectisanoperationthat,onceappliedwiththecheckmarkbutton,willshowyoumessyareasofgeometrythatyoumaywanttofocusonasyoubeginediting.Theseareasincludeintersectingandjaggedpoly-faces.Theprocesswillhighlighttheseareasinyellow.

Mesh Mode: Healing Wizard

• Healing wizardissimilartoFind Defectsinthatitwill highlightpotentiallyproblematicareasofyourmeshinacolorcodedmanner.

• Healing wizardgoesastepfurtherandwhenapplied,willactuallyattempttofixtheseareaswhichwillimproveyouroverallsurfacetextureandwillpushthemeshtocloserto3Dprintablevalidity.

• Thisoperationcantakeaverylongtimetoprocess dependingonhowdenseyourmeshisandhow problematicitis.

Important Mesh Mode Operations:




Mesh Mode: Filling Holes

• Filling HolesinGeomagic,isalengthyand complicatedprocess.Sometimes,the“Fill Holes” operationisnotenoughandyoumustuseother operationstofirstedittheholesbeforefillingthem.

• Agoodfirststeptofillingholesistoselectyourentiremeshbyusingamarqueeselectiontoolanddraggingitacrossthe entiremodel.Next,doaglobalholefillattemptbysimplycheckingthecheckmarkbuttonnexttothe“Fill Holes”title.Thisoperationwilllookatalltheholesanditwillfillasmanyaspossible.

• Youwilllikelygetanerrormessagestatingthesoftware“Failed to fill some holes”andwilllisttheholesunabletobefilled.Thisistobeexpected.Hit“OK”.

• Findtheholesthesoftwarecouldnotfillgloballybypressingtheforwardarrow.Thiswillzoomtoindividualholesatatime.

• Selectasingularholeandthinkabouthowitsitsonthemodel.Ifitiscurved,changethe“Method” to “Curvature”.Alsotakealookatthe “Editing Tools”andchoosethebestfilling methodwhetheritbefillingagulforaddingacurvedbridge.Thiscantakesomeexpirimentation.

• Intheexampletotheleft,acurvedmethodwasusedalongwithabridgeeditingtool.

• Sometimes,evenattackingeachholeindividuallywillnotfillit.Oddlyshapedholesorholesthatcurveintofigureeightshapeswillneedtobephysicallyeditedbeforeattemptingtofillthem.ForthatwemustjumptoEdit Boundaries.




Mesh Mode: Edit Boundaries

• Edit Boundaries allowsyoutomorphanddistortorshrinkandsmoothholesandcracksinyourmesh.Eachmethodhasitsownsetofoptionstoexpirimentwith.ThemethodsShrink and Fill seemtoworkbestforpreparingoddlyshapedholestobefilledinthe Fill Holesoperation.

• Fortheholeshownonthebottomofpage7,theShrinkmethodwasusedtoeliminatetwistedboundaries.Thoughtheholehasincreasedinsize,itwillbeeasiertofillnowasGeomagiccanhandlelargeholes,butgetsconfusedwithsmallerholesthatintersectthemselves.

AfterShrinkinginEdit Boundaries AfterFill Holesoperation

• Remember,youcanalsouseholefillinginconjunctionwithdeletionofdata.Ifyouarenotsatisfiedwithpartofameshandwanttodeleteit,goaheadandthenfilltheremainingholesoyoucansmoothit. Splittingthemeshcanalsohelpwiththis.

Mesh Mode: Splitting the mesh

• Splittingyourmeshisagoodwaytogetridofunwanteddata.Itisalsoaneffectivewayofcappingoffpartsofyourmesh.

• Therearethreewaysofdefiningyoursplittingarea-entity(definedpartofamodel),polyline(adrawncutline),oraplane (acuttingplanesimilartoacut-offplaneinmanyothermodelingsoftwares).

• Drawyourpolylineandmakesurenottochangetheviewbytumblingorpanningyourmodel.Hitthearrowbuttontosplitthemesh.

• Theoperation,Sew Boundaries,canalsobehelpfulforstubbornoblongholesorcracks.




Mesh Mode: Various Surface Treatments

Mesh Mode: Splitting the mesh

• Onceyourmeshhasbeensplit,theoperationwillaskyoutodefinetheareayouwanttoremainastheotherareawillbedeleted.Onceyouhavechosentheareaofthemeshyouwanttokeep,hitthecheckmarkbutton.

• Aholewillbeleftwhereyousplityourmesh,butaholefillingoperationwithaflatmethodwillmostlikelycapitwithoutanyissues.

Aftersplittingthemesh Afterfillingthehole

• Youmayfindyourselfunsatisfiedwiththeoverallsurfacetextureofyourmodel.GeomagicMeshModehasmanydifferentoperationstosmooth,sharpen,andformyourmeshbothgloballyandthroughfinedetail.AgoodfirstmovetobegintosmoothyourmeshistheSmooth operation.

Mesh Mode: Smooth

• The Smooth operationappliesaglobalsmoothingeffectaccordingtoyourselection.Selecttheentiremeshandrunthecommandwith“Feature Preservation” ontocreateasmoothbasetothengointowithfinedetailbrush-basedoperations.

BeforeGlobal Smooth AfterGlobalSmooth

• AftertheSmoothoperation,theEnhance Shape operationcanalsobeusefulin applyingasimilarglobaltexturechange.In EnhanceShape,youcanbegingtoexpirimentwithsharpnessaswell.




Mesh Mode: Smart Brush

• Smart Brushisatoolthatallowsyoutointeractivelyfine-tuneyourmesh’ssurface.• Smart Brushhas5mainfunctions:

• Smooth:evensoutmeshrougness.• Decimate: simplifiesthemeshmakeupandreducesdensenessofmesh.• Clean:Reducessharpanglesofintersectingpolyfacesandstabilizesthemesh.• Enhance: Sharpensandsmoothsthemeshandboostsdetail.• Deform: Youcanbuilduppartsofyourmeshwiththisbrushasitpushesandpullsgeometry.

• Allofthesedifferentfunctionshaveadifferentsetofoptionsyoucanexpirimentwith.Forthemostpart,theyareselfexplainatory.However,whenitcomestotheDeformbrush,youmaywanttotryeditingyourWeight Curve. Press“Set Weight Curve” to begin.

• Theweightcurvedeterminesdifferentcharacteristicsaboutyourbrushstrokesuchasboundaryandweight.Takealookattheexamplesbelowtoseewhatkindofeffectsyoucangetoutofthe Deformbrush.

Default Curve:




Mesh Mode: Smart Brush

• AgoodorderofoperationsfortheSmart Brush wouldmostlikelybetosmooth,thendeform.Then,smoothyourdeformedsectiontobetterintegrateitintotherestofthemesh.Youmayalsowanttotrydecimatingafter smoothingandbeforedeformingasthiswillallowthemeshtomoveabiteasier.Afteryouaredonesmoothingyourdeformedarea,youmaywanttousecleanorenhance.

BeforeanySmart Brushedtiting AfterdeformingandsmoothingwithSmart Brush

• *Note: Gettinganewlybuilt-updeformedareatocompletelysmoothoutandblendwiththemeshisverydifficultandtime-consuminginGeomagic.Ifaparticularareamustbebuiltup,youmaywanttogetasinglescanofthemissingareaandfusethemtogether.Ifthisisnotpossible,followtheworkflowaboveandlateronyoucanbringtheexportedmeshinto3DsculptingprogramssuchasMesh MixerandSculptris toachieveamore well-blendedmesh.

• Both SculptrisandMesh Mixerarefreeprogramswithaveryuser-friendlyinterface.MeshMixerhasaveryeffective “Shrink”toolthatcanshrinkdownunwantedblobbygeometry.

SmoothinginGeomagic Smoothingina3D sculpting program

• Noticehowthesesculptingprogramscanalsobeusedtoeasilyadd-insmalldetailssuchastheshallow holeinthetail.




Mesh Mode: Preparation for Output

• Nowthatyouaresatisfiedwiththelookofyourmodel,youwillwanttopreparethemeshforoutputwhetheritbeanimation,still-image,oraphysicaloutputsuchas3Dprinting.

• Physicaloutputrequiresamuchmorespecifictypeofmeshasoppoisedtostill-imagerenderingoreven animation.Animationmayrequire Decimationifyouplanonrigging,butfor3Dprintingyoumodelmustbeaswater-tightaspossible.

Mesh Mode: Decimation

• Decimationisanoperationthatreducesyourpolygoncountandreducesthedensenessof yourmeshwhileretainingfeaturedefinitionandquality.

• Havingamodelwithasimplifiedmeshisimportantwhenmovingyourmodeltoother 3Dprograms-amoresparsemeshwillresultinlesslagwithinsoftware.

• Decimationisalsoimportantforanimationifyouplanonriggingyourmodelformovement.

• WithintheDecimationmenu,wewanttodecideonourtargetnumberofpoly-faces.Youcanalsodecideonareductionpercentagetoreducethedensitybythatamount.

• Youcanviewyourmodel’scurrentnumberof poly-facesunderthe“Properties”menuinthe lowerrightcornerofthesoftware.

• Tobetterviewyourmesh,usetheviewtoolsatthetoptoviewyourmodelinwireframe (1).Youcanswitchbacktoshadedview (2)atanytime.

1 2




Mesh Mode: Rewrap Vs. Global Remesh

• WithinMesh Mode,therearetwoveryeffectivemodesofglobalpreparationforoutput.ThoughIammentioningtheseastheendofthisguide,notethatyoucanperformtheseoperationsatanypointduringyourediting.

• Rewrap inparticularcanbeusedinsteadtofillholesgloballyiftheholefillingiseithertakingtoolongornotgivingyoutheresultsyouwant.

Global Remesh

Rewrap• Retriangulatesentiremeshandcreatesa

brandnewmeshmakeup.• Improvedmeshqualitythrough

globalmeshcleanup.• Acleaneruniformmeshwillcreateless

chanceoferrorandlaginother3D programsandinvalidationfor3Dprinting.

• Maybeusefulforanimationasamore uniformmeshiseasiertorig.

• Shrinkwrapstheentiremeshandcanfillinlargemissingareas.

• Recreatesthemeshbasedonunderlyingpoints.

• Fixesdefectsandroughareas.• Agreatoperationtoprepareyourmeshfor

3Dprinting.

Mesh Mode: Decimation

Different levels of Decimation:

500,000poly-faces 100,000poly-faces 30,000poly-faces




Mesh Mode: Rewrap Vs. Global Remesh

• Both RewrapandGlobal Remesh canbothfill missingareas,butasyoucanseefromtheimagesbelow,Rewrapdoesamuchbetterjoboftakingthesurroundingareasintoaccountandthenbuildingupthemissingdata.

Largechunksmissingfrommodel Rewrapped Globalremeshed

• Global Remeshcansometimesobliteratesharpdetailonamodel,soexpirimentwithdifferentedgelengthstocompromisedetailforcleanlinessofyourmesh.

Exporting your model

• Onceyouaresatisfiedwithyourmodel,youmust ExportitoutofGeomagic.

• HopoutofMeshModebyclickingthelargebluemeshicon.• Next,goto“File”andthen“Export”.Clickthecheckmarkin

theExportmenutobringuptheExportwindow.• STL filesareneededfor3DprintingattheAOC.OBJfiles

workwellwithMaya andotheranimationapplications.

general information - art institute of chicagocrit.artic.edu/aoc/pdfs/aoc_geomagicguide.pdfaoc also...

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