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
- Navigate to the Measure tab in the ribbon
- Click the Surface Statistics dropdown button in the Statistics section
- 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
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Target | Select the analysis target |
| Select statistics | Open dialog to choose which statistics to calculate |
Target Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Active surface object | Calculate statistics for the active surface |
| Visible surface object(s) | Calculate statistics for all visible surfaces |
| Triangle selection | Calculate statistics for a selected triangle in the 3D view |
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
| Table | Description |
|---|---|
| Statistics | Calculated statistics for the target |
| Individual visible surface statistics | Per-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
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Select statistics | Open dialog to choose which statistics to calculate |
| Target metric | Select the metric for histogram analysis |
| Lookup table | Color lookup table for visualization |
Histogram
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Y-axis | Linear or Logarithmic scale |
| Number of bins | Total bins for the histogram (2–100,000, default: 10) |
Output Tables
| Table | Description |
|---|---|
| Individual region statistics | Per-region statistics breakdown |
| Overall descriptive statistics | Summary statistics across all regions |
| Whole mesh statistics | Combined statistics for the entire mesh |
Annotation
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Show annotation | Display annotations in the 3D view at region centroid or picked position |
| Copy annotation to Measurement | Convert 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
- Select a surface mesh object or make it visible
- Open Surface Statistics > Whole Surface Mesh Statistics
- Select the target (Active surface or Visible surfaces)
- Click Select statistics to choose metrics
- View results in the statistics table
Per-Region Analysis
- Open Surface Statistics > Per-Region Surface Mesh Statistics
- Select a target metric for histogram visualization
- Choose a lookup table for color coding
- Review individual region statistics in the table
- Enable Show annotation to visualize regions in 3D
Export
Click Export... to save statistics and histogram to disk.
Related Tools
- Volume Mesh Statistics — Statistics for volume meshes
- Mesh Quality Analyzer — Analyze mesh quality metrics
- Mask Statistics — Statistics for mask objects