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Surface Statistics

The Surface Statistics button provides access to surface mesh analysis tools through a dropdown menu. These tools calculate geometric and topological statistics for surface mesh objects.

Accessing the Tools

  1. Navigate to the Measure tab in the ribbon
  2. Click the Surface Statistics dropdown button in the Statistics section
  3. Select one of the available options

Available Tools

Whole Surface Mesh Statistics

Calculate statistics for the active or all visible surfaces. Select an individual triangle in the 3D view to inspect its properties.

Options

ControlDescription
TargetSelect the analysis target
Select statisticsOpen dialog to choose which statistics to calculate

Target Options

OptionDescription
Active surface objectCalculate statistics for the active surface
Visible surface object(s)Calculate statistics for all visible surfaces
Triangle selectionCalculate statistics for a selected triangle in the 3D view
Triangle Selection Mode

Left-click on the surface in the 3D view to select a triangle. Hold the Alt key to enable spinning, zooming, and panning while in selection mode.

Output Tables

TableDescription
StatisticsCalculated statistics for the target
Individual visible surface statisticsPer-surface breakdown when multiple surfaces are visible

Per-Region Surface Mesh Statistics

This tool calculates and displays statistics for the connected regions within the active surface. Each region is presented with its associated statistics, 3D visualization, and a histogram of the target metric.

Connected regions are spatially separate parts of a surface mesh that are not connected by shared edges or vertices.

Options

ControlDescription
Select statisticsOpen dialog to choose which statistics to calculate
Target metricSelect the metric for histogram analysis
Lookup tableColor lookup table for visualization

Histogram

ControlDescription
Y-axisLinear or Logarithmic scale
Number of binsTotal bins for the histogram (2–100,000, default: 10)

Output Tables

TableDescription
Individual region statisticsPer-region statistics breakdown
Overall descriptive statisticsSummary statistics across all regions
Whole mesh statisticsCombined statistics for the entire mesh

Annotation

ControlDescription
Show annotationDisplay annotations in the 3D view at region centroid or picked position
Copy annotation to MeasurementConvert annotation to a measurement object

Annotation Behavior:

  • If Centroid X, Y, and Z statistics are selected, the annotation anchor aligns with the region centroid
  • If centroid statistics are not selected, the picked position determines the anchor point

Available Statistics

Surface mesh statistics include:

Geometric Statistics

  • Surface Area (mm²)
  • Volume (mm³) — for closed surfaces
  • Bounding Box dimensions
  • Centroid position (X, Y, Z)
  • Principal Axes orientation

Shape Metrics

  • Elongation
  • Flatness
  • Sphericity
  • Roundness
  • Equivalent Spherical Radius
  • Feret Diameter

Topological Statistics

  • Number of Points
  • Number of Triangles
  • Number of Edges
  • Number of Connected Regions
  • Euler Characteristic
  • Genus

Quality Metrics

  • Minimum Edge Length
  • Maximum Edge Length
  • Average Edge Length
  • Triangle Area (min, max, mean)
  • Aspect Ratio statistics

Workflow

Basic Surface Analysis

  1. Select a surface mesh object or make it visible
  2. Open Surface Statistics > Whole Surface Mesh Statistics
  3. Select the target (Active surface or Visible surfaces)
  4. Click Select statistics to choose metrics
  5. View results in the statistics table

Per-Region Analysis

  1. Open Surface Statistics > Per-Region Surface Mesh Statistics
  2. Select a target metric for histogram visualization
  3. Choose a lookup table for color coding
  4. Review individual region statistics in the table
  5. Enable Show annotation to visualize regions in 3D

Export

Click Export... to save statistics and histogram to disk.