Mesh Offset
Offsets meshes to produce either regular meshes offset by a given distance or STL-ready mesh objects.
To create a watertight STL mesh, the tool first duplicates the original mesh, then creates a mesh offset, removes any problem vertices, and finally joins the mesh offset to the original mesh’s duplicate.
Access this tool from the Mesh tool palette:
Mesh Offset Control settings
Distance
Specifies the distance between the original mesh and the offset copy.
Output
Solid – The mesh is offset and joined to the original to produce a watertight STL-ready mesh. This is the default.
Offset – A simple offset mesh is produced.
Offset Mesh workflow
Offset multiple surfaces while maintaining continuity
By default, this tool takes a mesh and produces a watertight STL mesh from it (solid).To do this, it first duplicates the original mesh, then creates a mesh offset, removes any problem vertices, and finally joins the mesh offset to the original mesh’s duplicate. To produce a simple offset mesh, you must set Output to Offset in the option box.
Select a mesh.
(or wait after entering the tool to select the mesh).
Shift-select the Mesh Offset tool
to open the option box.Choose the offset Distance (default is 1.0).
Set Output to Solid or Offset.
Click the Offset button.
The offset is created, and the original mesh is kept.
If the output is a solid, it is ready for export to STL format.
Select another mesh to offset, if needed. You can only offset one mesh at a time.