Mesh Smooth

Smooths regions of a mesh. To better see the smoothing effect, first shade your mesh by using Visualization > Diagnostic Shading or Visualization > Hardware Shade.

Increasing the mesh Transparency in the Control Panel also helps.

Access this tool from the Mesh tool palette:

Mesh Smooth Control settings

Preserve Features

When this option is checked (default), the tool attempts to smooth the mesh while preserving the local features within the selected region. If the box is unchecked, the smoothing effect tends toward an overall “flattening” of the region.

Radius

Defines a radius value around each vertex. All vertices located within that radius and connected to the center vertex affect the movement of the center vertex.

We recommend that you use a small radius for better results. If the results are not satisfactory, you can use Edit > Undo and change the radius later.

Fix Boundaries

If this option is checked, the edges of the mesh remain fixed while the mesh is smoothed.

This option is turned on by default.

Number of Iterations

This slider has a range of 1 to 10 and specifies how many smoothing iterations occur every time you click the Smooth button. The default is 4.

Show Deviation Map

If this option is checked, a color deviation map displays the deviation between the original mesh (prior to entering the tool) and the smoothed mesh. A deviation scale (ramp) also appears. This shows you what areas of the mesh have been affected, and by how much.

Deviation Map Settings

These options only appear if Show Deviation Map is checked on.

Auto Ramp

If this option is checked (default), the color scale updates automatically based on a range between zero and the maximum deviation from the last operation.

Note: If Auto Ramp is on, and the maximum deviation is less than the Acceptable Distance, the Acceptable Distance is set to 10% of the maximum deviation, to avoid a completely green color map.

Ramp Distance

Maximum distance between original and modified mesh shown on the color ramp. Areas on the mesh where the deviation is larger than this value are displayed in a solid color (red or purple). The default is 10.0 mm.

Acceptable Distance

Upper limit for the acceptable deviation between original and modified mesh. Regions of the mesh where the deviation is smaller than this value are colored in green. The default is 1.0 mm.

Where the value of the deviation is between the Acceptable Distance and the Ramp Distance, the mesh displays intermediate colors as shown on the ramp.

Note: The Ramp Distance must be kept larger than the Acceptable Distance.

Absolute Value Ramp

Turn on this option if you are not concerned with the direction of the deviation and simply want to view absolute deviation values.

Use Bands

Turn on this option if you want the ramp to display solid bands of color instead of slowly varying colors.

Vertex Movement

Greatest

Non-editable field displaying the maximum vertex deviation.

Restrict

If this option is checked, the smoothing process stops when the maximum vertex deviation between the original mesh and the smoothed mesh reaches the value of Maximum Permitted.

Maximum Permitted

Maximum vertex deviation allowed between the original and smoothed mesh.

This option only appears when Restrict is turned on.

Selection Options

Selection Mode

Defines how you select triangles on the mesh:

Normal Angle – Click on an area of the mesh to select a connected range of triangles where the angle between a selected triangle's normal and the normal of the triangle you clicked is less than the set Max Angle to normal. Right-click to deselect. Continue clicking to add to or subtract from the selection.
Brush – Drag on the mesh with the left mouse button to select triangles within the Pick Radius.
Lasso – Click points on the mesh to define a selection area and then click Select.

Mesh Smooth workflow

To better see the smoothing effect, first shade your mesh by using Visualization > Diagnostic Shading or Visualization > Hardware Shade. Increasing the mesh Transparency in the Control Panel also helps.

Select the Mesh Smooth tool .
Select the mesh to smooth.
To smooth the entire mesh, go to step 5.
Select the triangles to smooth using the selection mode set under Selection Options in the Mesh Smooth Control window.

The selected triangles are highlighted in blue.
Click the Smooth button repeatedly until the desired amount of smoothness is achieved.

The mesh updates after each iteration.

Note: To keep the vertices from moving by more than a certain amount, turn Restrict on, and use the Maximum Permitted option.
To see a color deviation map showing the deviation between the original and smoothed mesh, turn on Show Deviation Map and adjust the Deviation Map Settings if necessary.

The color map display updates each time you click the Smooth button.
Use Edit > Undo to undo successive smoothing iterations.

The color map display updates for each smoothing step that you undo.

Note: When exiting the Smooth tool, the display returns to the shading mode (if any) that was applied to the mesh prior to entering the tool.