From Meshes to Solids: Empowering 3D Editing with Automesher Plugin
Automesher Application is a plugin for AutoCAD / BricsCAD / ZWCAD that unlocks powerful functionality for manipulating 3D models. Its core feature lies in converting a polyface mesh, polygon mesh, or a set of 3D faces into a true 3D solid entity type. This transformation unlocks a range of benefits:
- Standard Solid Editing: Automesher empowers you to leverage the full suite of standard solid editing commands available within your chosen CAD software. This grants you precise control over your 3D models, allowing for modifications, refinements, and detailed adjustments.
- Boolean Operations: Once converted to solids, your meshes become eligible for powerful boolean operations. These operations, including union, subtraction, and intersection, enable you to combine, carve away, or merge multiple solid objects, creating complex and intricate designs with greater ease.
Addressing Meshing Limitations for Complex Solids
While Automesher offers a robust solution for mesh conversion, it's important to consider potential limitations when dealing with highly complex solids. Here's how Automesher tackles this:
- FACETRES Variable and Mesh Facet Limits: The FACETRES system variable controls the meshing precision within your CAD software. For intricate solids and high FACETRES values, the number of mesh facets and vertices can exceed the polyface mesh limit of 32,767.
- Automesher's Workaround: To circumvent this limitation, Automesher intelligently creates several polyface meshes. These meshes connect seamlessly, effectively closing the entire solid body. This group of polyface meshes can then be effortlessly converted back into a standard 3D solid using the commands provided within the Automesher add-on.
By understanding both the core functionalities and potential limitations of Automesher, you can leverage this plugin to its full potential, streamlining your 3D modeling workflow for both simple and complex designs.
Update: Recently we made an effort to improve our Automesher plugin with functionality to convert polyface into a polygon mesh entity. This allows Automesher to recreate a polygon mesh from any triangular data, e.g. 3D drawing entity or external 3D file format.