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Surface Tab Overview

The Surface tab contains tools for working with 3D triangle mesh (surface) objects. Use this tab to create primitive geometries, transform and align surfaces, perform mesh editing operations, analyze surface properties, and convert surfaces to other data types such as masks and volume meshes.

Medical Disclaimer

Surface processing results should be reviewed and validated by qualified professionals. The tools in this tab are intended to assist in 3D model preparation but are not a substitute for expert judgment, particularly in clinical, diagnostic, or manufacturing applications.

Tab Sections​

The Surface tab is organized into the following sections:

General​

Tools for creating and configuring surface objects:

  • Create: Generate primitive surface geometries such as boxes, spheres, cylinders, and more.
  • Render Properties: Adjust visualization settings for the active surface, including representation mode, material properties, and bounding box display.

Transform​

Tools for positioning and aligning surface objects:

  • Transform: Apply rotation, translation, scaling, or mirroring operations using numeric input.
  • Interactive Transform: Manipulate surfaces in 2D/3D views using an interactive gizmo widget.
  • Global Registration: Automatically align surfaces by minimizing the distance field between objects using ICP or feature-based algorithms.

Edit​

Tools for modifying surface mesh geometry:

  • Diagnostics and Fixes: Analyze surface mesh quality and repair common issues such as non-manifold edges, holes, and degenerate triangles.
  • Merge: Combine multiple surface objects into a single mesh.
  • Split: Separate disconnected components (shells) into individual surface objects.
  • Filter Shells: Remove small or unwanted shells based on size criteria.
  • Editor: Interactively edit surfaces by selecting, deleting, adding, or manipulating triangles and vertices.
  • Cut: Remove portions of surfaces using region of interest (ROI) selection tools.
  • Clip: Clip surfaces using ROI selection while preserving the mesh structure.
  • Boolean: Perform union, intersection, or difference operations between surfaces.
  • Voxel Boolean: Execute Boolean operations by converting surfaces to voxels and back, which can handle complex intersections more robustly.
  • Fill Holes: Detect and close holes in the surface mesh.
  • Remesh: Improve triangle quality and uniformity using remeshing algorithms.
  • Voxel Remesh: Remesh surfaces using a voxelization approach for more uniform results.
  • Hollow: Create a hollowed version of surfaces with controlled wall thickness.
  • Smooth: Apply smoothing algorithms to reduce surface noise and irregularities.
  • Reduce: Decrease triangle count while preserving surface shape (decimation).
  • Subdivide: Increase triangle count for finer mesh resolution.
  • Extrude: Extend selected triangles along their normal direction.
  • Project to Plane: Flatten surfaces by projecting points onto a specified plane.
  • Engrave Text: Emboss or deboss text onto surface geometry.

Analyze​

Tools for surface measurement and visualization:

  • Elevation: Analyze and visualize surface elevation relative to a reference plane.
  • Surface Distance: Calculate and display distance from surface points to a reference point.
  • Shortest Path: Measure geodesic distances along the surface between two picked points.
  • Collision Detection: Detect and visualize intersecting triangles between two surfaces.
  • Shells: Calculate shell statistics and visualize individual connected components.
  • Colorize: Apply color mapping to surfaces for region analysis and visualization.

Convert​

Tools for converting surfaces to other data types:

  • Surface To Mask: Convert surfaces to voxelized mask objects.
  • Surface To Volume Mesh: Generate tetrahedral volume meshes from surface boundaries for simulation and FEM analysis.

Common Concepts​

Target Objects​

Many tools allow you to select which surface objects the operation applies to:

OptionDescription
Active surfaceThe currently selected surface in the Object Browser.
Selected surfacesAll surfaces currently selected (multi-select).
Visible surfacesOnly surfaces currently visible in the views.
All surfacesEvery surface object in the project.

Surface Mesh Terminology​

Understanding mesh terminology helps when working with surface tools:

TermDescription
Vertex (Point)A 3D coordinate defining a corner of a triangle.
Triangle (Face)A polygon defined by three vertices.
EdgeA line segment connecting two vertices.
ShellA connected group of triangles forming a distinct component.
ManifoldA watertight mesh where each edge is shared by exactly two triangles.
Non-manifoldMesh topology issues such as edges shared by more than two triangles.
NormalA vector perpendicular to a triangle, indicating its facing direction.

Mesh Quality​

Surface operations may affect mesh quality. Key quality metrics include:

MetricDescription
Triangle countTotal number of triangles in the mesh.
Triangle aspect ratioRatio of the longest to shortest edge; lower is better.
Minimum angleSmallest angle in any triangle; larger minimum angles indicate better quality.
WatertightnessWhether the mesh is closed with no holes or gaps.

Typical Workflows​

Preparing Surfaces for 3D Printing​

  1. Create or import a surface mesh.
  2. Use Diagnostics and Fixes to identify and repair mesh issues.
  3. Apply Smooth to reduce surface roughness if needed.
  4. Use Reduce to optimize triangle count for printing.
  5. Apply Hollow to create a hollow model with appropriate wall thickness.
  6. Export the surface in STL or OBJ format.

Aligning Multiple Surfaces​

  1. Import or generate the surfaces to align.
  2. Use Interactive Transform for manual initial positioning.
  3. Apply Global Registration for automatic fine alignment.
  4. Use Merge to combine aligned surfaces if needed.

Creating CAD-Ready Geometry​

  1. Generate surfaces from segmentation masks.
  2. Apply Remesh for uniform triangle distribution.
  3. Use Smooth for a cleaner surface appearance.
  4. Convert to volume mesh using Surface To Volume Mesh for FEM analysis.

Scripting Support​

Surface operations can be automated using Python scripting. See the Surface Operations API for available functions.