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Page: 1 of 14 LastModified:May 15, 2018 10:44 AM

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:May 15, 2018 10:44 AM

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,theMeshBuildupWizardmenuwillshowupinthetopleftofthescreenandyourindividualscanswillbeshowninarowatthebottom.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.IftheyarecomingfromtheArtecEvascanner,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”boxandthenchooseareferencescanfromyourrowatthebottom.Whenchoosingareferencescan,itisbesttochooseonethathasthemostinformationratherthanascanwithlessgeometryinit.

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

• Oncethesetwoscansarechosen,youwillseethempopupintheirownwindowsontheright-handside.

• Next,youmustasigncorrespondingalignmentpointstothesetwoscansbyfirstputtingapointonarecognizablefeatureonthereferencescan.Next,placeapointonthemovingscanonthesamefeature.Place4-5pointsifpossible.

• Onceyouhaveplacedallyourpoints,hitthe“Apply”checkmarkbuttonatthetopofthemenu.

• Theoperationwillmergethescanscreatingabasisforglobalalignment.Gotothenextstepusingthearrow.





• Step4oftheMeshBuildupWizarddealswiththeactualalignmentofallthescans.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 WatertightMesh”isagreatoptionifyouroutputwilleventuallybe3Dprinting.Thiswillcreateameshwithlessholesandmissinggeometryandwillmaketheeditingand3Dprintingpreparationstepsalotfaster.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 Defectsinthatitwillhighlightpotentiallyproblematicareasofyourmeshinacolorcodedmanner.

• Healing wizardgoesastepfurtherandwhenapplied,willactuallyattempttofixtheseareaswhichwillimproveyouroverallsurfacetextureandwillpushthemeshtocloserto3Dprintablevalidity.

• Thisoperationcantakeaverylongtimetoprocessdependingonhowdenseyourmeshisandhowproblematicitis.

Important Mesh Mode Operations:




Mesh Mode: Filling Holes

• Filling HolesinGeomagic,isalengthyandcomplicatedprocess.Sometimes,the“Fill Holes”operationisnotenoughandyoumustuseotheroperationstofirstedittheholesbeforefillingthem.

• Agoodfirststeptofillingholesistoselectyourentiremeshbyusingamarqueeselectiontoolanddraggingitacrosstheentiremodel.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”andchoosethebestfillingmethodwhetheritbefillingagulforaddingacurvedbridge.Thiscantakesomeexpirimentation.

• Intheexampletotheleft,acurvedmethodwasusedalongwithabridgeeditingtool.

• Sometimes,evenattackingeachholeindividuallywillnotfillit.Oddlyshapedholesorholesthatcurveintofigureeightshapeswillneedtobephysicallyeditedbeforeattemptingtofillthem.ForthatwemustjumptoEdit Boundaries.




Mesh Mode: Edit Boundaries

• Edit Boundaries allowsyoutomorphanddistortorshrinkandsmoothholesandcracksinyourmesh.Eachmethodhasitsownsetofoptionstoexpirimentwith.ThemethodsShrink and Fillseemtoworkbestforpreparingoddlyshapedholestobefilledinthe 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,theEnhanceShape operationcanalsobeusefulinapplyingasimilarglobaltexturechange.InEnhanceShape,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” tobegin.

• Theweightcurvedeterminesdifferentcharacteristicsaboutyourbrushstrokesuchasboundaryandweight.Takealookattheexamplesbelowtoseewhatkindofeffectsyoucangetoutofthe Deformbrush.

Default Curve:




Mesh Mode: Smart Brush

• AgoodorderofoperationsfortheSmart Brush wouldmostlikelybetosmooth,thendeform.Then,smoothyourdeformedsectiontobetterintegrateitintotherestofthemesh.Youmayalsowanttotrydecimatingaftersmoothingandbeforedeformingasthiswillallowthemeshtomoveabiteasier.Afteryouaredonesmoothingyourdeformedarea,youmaywanttousecleanorenhance.

BeforeanySmart Brushedtiting AfterdeformingandsmoothingwithSmart Brush

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

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

SmoothinginGeomagic Smoothingina3D sculpting program

• Noticehowthesesculptingprogramscanalsobeusedtoeasilyadd-insmalldetailssuchastheshallowholeinthetail.




Mesh Mode: Preparation for Output

• Nowthatyouaresatisfiedwiththelookofyourmodel,youwillwanttopreparethemeshforoutputwhetheritbeanimation,still-image,oraphysicaloutputsuchas3Dprinting.

• Physicaloutputrequiresamuchmorespecifictypeofmeshasoppoisedtostill-imagerenderingorevenanimation.Animationmayrequire Decimationifyouplanonrigging,butfor3Dprintingyoumodelmustbeaswater-tightaspossible.

Mesh Mode: Decimation

• Decimationisanoperationthatreducesyourpolygoncountandreducesthedensenessofyourmeshwhileretainingfeaturedefinitionandquality.

• Havingamodelwithasimplifiedmeshisimportantwhenmovingyourmodeltoother3Dprograms-amoresparsemeshwillresultinlesslagwithinsoftware.

• Decimationisalsoimportantforanimationifyouplanonriggingyourmodelformovement.

• WithintheDecimationmenu,wewanttodecideonourtargetnumberofpoly-faces.Youcanalsodecideonareductionpercentagetoreducethedensitybythatamount.

• Youcanviewyourmodel’scurrentnumberofpoly-facesunderthe“Properties”menuinthelowerrightcornerofthesoftware.

• 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

chanceoferrorandlaginother3Dprogramsandinvalidationfor3Dprinting.

• Maybeusefulforanimationasamoreuniformmeshiseasiertorig.

• 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 Remeshcanbothfillmissingareas,butasyoucanseefromtheimagesbelow,Rewrapdoesamuchbetterjoboftakingthesurroundingareasintoaccountandthenbuildingupthemissingdata.

Largechunksmissingfrommodel Rewrapped Globalremeshed

• Global Remeshcansometimesobliteratesharpdetailonamodel,soexpirimentwithdifferentedgelengthstocompromisedetailforcleanlinessofyourmesh.

Exporting your model

• Onceyouaresatisfiedwithyourmodel,youmustExportitoutofGeomagic.

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

theExportmenutobringuptheExportwindow.• STL filesareneededfor3DprintingattheAOC.OBJfiles

workwellwithMaya andotheranimationapplications.

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