Texture to Geometry workflows
Two basic workflows are possible with Texture to Geometry:
- convert an assigned texture for a polygonal mesh that is selected in the scene, and have the resulting converted mesh positioned so it appears above the assigned texture in the scene. When the scene is rendered using the vector renderer the texture will appear as expected.
- convert an image simply for the purposes of creating a polygonal mesh based on an image you specify. In this case, no surface needs to be selected. You need only specify the image and the resulting mesh is positioned at the origin in the scene view.
To convert an assigned texture to a polygonal mesh
- In the scene view, select the polygon surface with the assigned texture map you want to have converted to a polygonal mesh.
It is important that you select only a single surface when converting a texture to geometry. If the object is comprised of many grouped surfaces, you can use the Outliner or the Hypergraph to select a single surface that has the assigned texture.
- From the main menu, select Modify > Convert > Texture to Geometry >
. The Texture to Geometry Options window appears.
- Type the image file name you want to use as the reference in the Input Image text box or browse to the file location and select the file name.
Because it is possible to have multiple textures assigned to a surface, you must specify which image you want converted in the Input Image text box.
- Depending on your requirements for the final polygonal mesh, set the Segment Detection, Segment Meshing, Surface Output options as required, turn on the Fit to Selection option, then click Apply and Close.
A polygonal mesh is created and placed above the texture on the selected polygon surface in the scene view. Whenever Fit to Selection is turned on (default), the resulting surface mesh is positioned above the selected surface in the scene view.
It’s not necessary to have a surface with an assigned texture in the scene in order to produce a polygonal mesh for an image. You can select the Texture to Geometry feature and specify an image in the options window, turn off the Fit to Selection option, and the resulting polygonal mesh will appear at the origin in the scene view.
To convert an image to a polygonal mesh
- From the main menu, select Modify > Convert > Texture to Geometry > .
The Texture to Geometry Options window appears.
- Type the image file name you want to use as the reference in the Input Image text box or browse to the file location and select the file name.
- Depending on your requirements for the final polygonal mesh, set the Detection, Meshing, and Output options as required, turn off Fit to Selection, then click Apply and Close.
The resulting polygonal mesh is created and placed at the origin of the scene view along the X,Y plane.
Note:The default settings for Texture to Geometry are a good starting point when converting an image/texture to a polygonal mesh. For specifics on what each option controls, see the Texture to Geometry options below.
Convert Texture to Geometry workflow tips
Input image considerations
Calculations for the segmentation phase of the feature are computational intensive and are affected by two factors.
Image size
The minimum image size should be no smaller than 256 x 256 pixels with an upper range of 4000 x 4000 pixels. Ideally, use input images in the range 400 to 512 pixels in one dimension. If your input image exceeds these guidelines you can resize the image using an image editing application prior to using the feature.
Image complexity
Texture to Geometry works well with images that contain well defined color features. For example, a bold colored logo with a clearly defined contrasting background is well suited for use with the feature.
Texture to Geometry does not work efficiently with images that have many random colors. For example, a noise texture would not be suitable. These types of images make it difficult for the segmentation algorithm to detect groups of related RGB color values that allow the feature to determine boundaries for subdivision of the polygonal mesh. In addition, images that contain subtle color artifacts as a result of image compression may be problematic. In these situations, it may be necessary to clean up the color artifacts in the image using an image editing application before using the Texture to Geometry feature.
UVs for surface mapping
For accurate fitting of the surface the UVs must be non-overlapping and should be within the 0 to 1 texture mapping range as they appear in the UV Texture Editor. When specifying an alternate UV set, the name of the UV set you specify must explicitly match the name of the UV set as it appears in the UV Texture Editor.
Surface Selection
It is important that you select only a single surface for each conversion operation when converting a texture to geometry. If the object is comprised of many surfaces in a grouping, you can use the Outliner or the Hypergraph to select the single surface that has the assigned texture.