Using the Mesh Doctor to fix a mesh

Mesh Doctor analyzes and fixes faults in the selected mesh in four stages. The Initial Fixing Stage detects topological faults, such as duplicate vertices and impossible edges, and automatically applies fixes to make the mesh usable in PowerShape. The subsequent stages detect gaps, holes and intersections in the mesh. You can use Mesh Doctor to attempt to fix the faults automatically, or you can select a specific fixing method.

To analyze a mesh for faults using Mesh Doctor:

1. Select the mesh you want to check for faults.
2. Click Mesh Tools tab > Fix panel > Mesh Doctor to display the Mesh Doctor dialog:

   

   The Initial Fixing Stage analyzes and fixes topological faults to ensure the mesh can be used in PowerShape, and displays the number of fixes that have been applied.

   Note: If the detected faults cannot be fixed at this stage, the mesh is not safe to use in PowerShape and cannot proceed to the next stage.
3. Click Next.

   The Gap Fixing Stage detects any gaps in the mesh:

   

4. Select a fixing method from the drop-down list:
   • Automatic fix chooses the best method for fixing the detected faults if more than one option is available.
   • Stitch gap is the only option available for closing gaps.
5. Click to process all faults detected at this stage.
   Note: To select and process individual faults, for example to use different fix methods on faults of the same type, click the boundary of the fault, or drag a box around the faults to select them.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 to proceed through the Hole and Intersection Fixing Stage.

   The methods available for fixing holes are:

   • Cap hole with plane — generates fill-in triangles using a flat surface of best fit based on the hole boundary.
   • Cap hole with a curved surface — generate fill-in triangles using a curved surface of best fit.
   • Cap hole with a tangent continuous surface — generate fill-in triangles using a surface of best fit that follows the tangent of the mesh from the hole boundary.
   • Delete triangles

   To fix intersections, select Delete triangles.

7. Click Finish to accept the changes and close the dialog; click Cancel to cancel unapplied changes and close the dialog.
   Note: To complete the Mesh Doctor after a fix is successfully applied, click Finish.