3dedit pro 2.0 features - 3d...

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3DEdit Pro 2.0 Features

3D Systems and DeskArtes Oy Sept 13, 2013

333 Three D Systems Circle Rock Hill, SC 29730 USA

Tel: +1 803.326.3900 www.3dsystems.com

3dscentral.3dsystems.com

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Table of Contents Chapter 1 – Foreword ............................................................................................................................... 4

Chapter 2 – Improved functionality .......................................................................................................... 5

Modern user interface .......................................................................................................................... 5

Topology generation ............................................................................................................................. 5

Auto Repair process .............................................................................................................................. 5

Display speed ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Model Tree handling speed .................................................................................................................. 7

Graphical selection commands ............................................................................................................. 7

Surface edge editing ............................................................................................................................. 8

Surface painting .................................................................................................................................... 8

Extrude Surfaces command .................................................................................................................. 9

Repair Shells command ......................................................................................................................... 9

Triangle Edit commands ...................................................................................................................... 10

Split command .................................................................................................................................... 12

Connect command .............................................................................................................................. 12

Hollow command ................................................................................................................................ 13

Drain Hole command .......................................................................................................................... 14

Offset command ................................................................................................................................. 14

Chapter 3 – New commands ................................................................................................................... 16

Rotate view against selected surfaces commands ............................................................................. 16

Make active/Make passive commands ............................................................................................... 16

Selection and Replace Tool command ................................................................................................ 17

Wall Thickness command ................................................................................................................... 19

Transform Scale commands ................................................................................................................ 20

Collapse/Recreate surfaces command ............................................................................................... 20

Sort Model Tree command ................................................................................................................. 21

Boolean command (Extended module) .............................................................................................. 21

Multiple Join command (Extended module)....................................................................................... 23

Cut Tool command (Extended module) .............................................................................................. 24

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Hole Tool command (Extended module) ............................................................................................ 25

Reduce command (Extended module) ............................................................................................... 26

Smooth command (Extended module) ............................................................................................... 27

Refine Edges command (Extended module) ....................................................................................... 28

Refine command (Extended module) ................................................................................................. 29

Select Inner Shells command (Extended module) .............................................................................. 29

Disconnect Wall Surfaces command (Extended module) ................................................................... 29

Connect Wall Surfaces command (Extended module) ....................................................................... 29

Connect Wall Holes command (Extended module) ............................................................................ 30

Select/Orient Open Windows command (Extended module) ............................................................ 30

Select Wall Inner Surfaces command (Extended module).................................................................. 30

Add Material to Selected command (Extended module) ................................................................... 30

Lap Joint command ............................................................................................................................. 30

Platform command ............................................................................................................................. 32

Move to Platform command ............................................................................................................... 32

Chapter 4 – New File formats ................................................................................................................. 33

Input formats: 3DS, FBX, DAE, PLY ...................................................................................................... 33

Output Formats: STL, VRML, PLY ........................................................................................................ 33

Additional surface formats: Catia, STEP, UG, ProE, IGES .................................................................... 33

Chapter 5 – 3DEdit Pro standard vs. optional modules .......................................................................... 34

Extended module ................................................................................................................................ 34

Additional surface input module ........................................................................................................ 34





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Chapter 1 – Foreword This 3DEdit Pro 2.0 Features document describes the changes and improvements between the ZEdit Pro 1.1 release and the new release, 3DEdit Pro 2.0 Extended. New functionality, new commands and user interfaces are described in detail in the following chapters.

The new 3DEP 2.0 version includes several new commands and functional improvements. A totally new topology construction is added for more reliable handling of models with complicated topological conditions, a typical situation with architectural models. New commands, like Search/Replace Tool, allows to search objects with similar attributes (area, volume, …) and to delete or replace the found objects with another objects for quick model repair. The execution speed of several commands is improved and triangle editing includes several new editing tools for model repair.

Additionally, a new optional Extended module is added to 3DEdit Pro. The Extended module includes advanced model repair functionality. For example, models made of several shells can be connected to one shell with Boolean commands for printing with other 3D Systems printers than ProJet x60. Smoothing command allows smoothing scanned models for better quality 3D prints. A set of semi-automatic commands to repair architectural models is implemented using divide and conquer strategy: models with too complicated topological errors can be divided into separate shells and then reconnected and thickened for correct printing with ProJet x60 systems.

Additional surface input module allows to input and triangulate standard and native 3D CAD formats for 3D printing.





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Chapter 2 – Improved functionality The most important improvements in the 3DEdit Pro 2.0 Extended software when compared to the version 1.1 are speed improvements with display list handling and the Model Tree handling for models with hundreds of shells. For example, the Auto Repair process and Splitting large models is much faster than before. In general, improvements and new commands are developed to accommodate handling of large architectural and geographical models as well as other large models.

Modern user interface The 3DEdit Pro 2.0 includes a new GUI look. The application color scheme is new, icons are larger and Model Tree as well as Tools Window layout is improved.

Topology generation The topology generation is totally new. The new topology generation merges points and connects triangles to neighboring triangles in an optimal way. First error free large surfaces areas are generated and then surfaces are optimally connected to each other to avoid topological errors in complicated 3D parts, like some architectural models.

Auto Repair process Auto Repair process is faster. After the first verify operation in the Fix Model process the shells in the Model Tree are classified as Ok (green) and bad (red) shells. In the new version Auto Repair after the initial verify only processes the bad shells, making the Auto Repair much faster in several cases. For





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example, the Auto Repair process time is reduced from 100 sec to 25 sec with the 1200 shell/12 000 surfaces House model shown on the next page.

The Auto Repair now uses verification results to propose the correct repair action for the input model. The user can alter the pre-calculated settings for Auto Repair through the Auto Repair dialog, if necessary. For example, instead of generating separate shells from each shell in the model tree after the verification, the shells can be stitched together to form a single or minimum number of separate shells. This enables the most efficient repair for different 3D models.

The new Auto Repair dialog with user changeable options:

Display speed The new display list data structures allow optimal display list handling minimizing the need to regenerate them and optimal regeneration when necessary. All operations handling display lists, like changing from Repair mode to 3D Color Printer mode now take a fraction of the time with large models (= many surfaces and shells) when compared to the previous versions. For example, with the model below the color mode change reduced from 8 sec to 4 sec. The model has over 12 077 surfaces in it. The more shells-surfaces in the model, the more time reduction is to be expected.





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House model

Model Tree handling speed New linear algorithms for Model Tree generation and regeneration enable significantly faster delete/copy/paste operations for the Model Tree items. For example, deleting a shell from the model above reduced from 5 sec to 1 sec. The more shells-surfaces in the model, the more time reduction is to be expected.

See also the Make active/passive command in the New Commands chapter.

Graphical selection commands The graphical selection is made more flexible. The multi-selection can now be started with a set of shells - surfaces and new shells - surfaces can be included in the multi-selection. Also, graphically deleting several objects from the multi-selection list is possible by using right Ctrl/Shift/Alt key combinations and LMB (left mouse button):

- LMB to select a single object graphically

- Ctrl+LMB to add a single object to multi-selection

- Alt+LMB rubber band box to start multi-selection

- Alt+Ctrl+LMB rubber band box to add several objects to multi-selection

- Alt+Ctrl+Shift+LMB rubber band box to delete several objects from multi-selection For example, a single Alt+LMB multi-selection followed with eye point rotation and Alt+Ctrl+Shift+LMB multi-selection delete allows the user to select the railings in front of the house in the image below (for Make passive command, for example):





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Surface edge editing Open surface edge indicator, red box, implemented. This is done not to lose incomplete surface edge changes during subsequent Verify/Repair Shells commands.

Surface painting Draw line assisted painting is added to the Paint triangles command. For example, to paint several triangles at once the user can draw a line on top of the triangles to paint (left hand image below) and when the mouse is released all triangles in the vicinity of the 3D line in 3D space are painted (right hand image below):





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Note: the more uneven the surface is the more jagged line should be drawn on the surface to catch all triangles below the curve.

Available painting commands now are:

- LMB selection to paint single object at the current Selection level (Shell, Surface, Triangles)

- LMB draw to paint several objects at the current Selection level

Extrude Surfaces command Multi-selection is available for Create Geometry > Extrude > from Surfaces command, i.e. several surfaces can be thickened at once. Also, use default setting allows to use the default values or user defined Extrude thickness values between subsequent calls to the extrude command:

Repair Shells command Repair Shells command improvements include a better algorithm for fixing flat gap areas. For example, in the model below the holes through the model are kept open, not closed as was done with the previous version.





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Several other new options are available for optimal repair results. Especially, the repair mode radio buttons are similar to Auto Repair dialog settings:

The level of repair required and errors reported is now easy to change through 3DPrint vs. Normal repair mode icon:

If models are send to some other than ProJet x60 systems, a Normal repair mode checking and corresponding repair is recommended before the model output for printing.

Triangle Edit commands More flexible triangle editing is implemented:





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The new triangle editing allows deleting triangles and adding them more flexibly: now it is possible to add one triangle, add two triangle bridge between two opposite gap segments, add a new point to define a fully new triangle in 3D space, select several gap points simultaneously for N-gon triangulation and to split a triangle into three new triangles for further editing. In the image below, the bridge adding command is used to add two triangles between two opposite gap edges. Also, the selected corner points are now displayed with new semitransparent coordinate box, if so wanted by the user:

Point snapping is available for more efficient triangle corner point selection during editing and adding triangles.

New Triangle Edit also allows the user to select individual triangle corner points for editing. The selected corner points can then be moved by the user to a wanted location. The movement can be tuned with various weight functions. In the image below a set of corner points is selected for subsequent move (left image) and moved to new location (right image):





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Split command The shell processing when Splitting models with several hundreds or thousands of shells is optimized. For example, splitting the House model as seen in the image below drops from several minutes to only 15 sec:

Connect command The improved Connect command allows using the same user defined pin size between different calls to the command by turning off use default values setting:





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Also, the shape and final location of the added pins is more accurately displayed:

See also new Lap Joint command in New Commands chapter.

Hollow command Multi-selection is now allowed with Print Preparation > Hollow command to for hollowing several shells at once. Use default setting for Minimum wall thickness values or user defined value between calls to Hollow:





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Drain Hole command Use default setting allows to use default value or user defined values for separate calls to Print Preparation > Drain Hole command:

Also, the Drain Hole location and length indicator display more accurately follow the given Wall thickness and Diameter values.

Offset command Use default setting now allows to use default Wall thickness value vs. user defined value between calls to Print Preparation > Offset command:





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Offset quality is improved. For example, offsetting organic shapes have much better surface quality now. Below is an offset of an open half sphere:





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Chapter 3 – New commands In this chapter the fully new commands with 3DEdit Pro 2.0 Extended are described. New commands make the model manipulation more efficient as well as give fully new tools for the model handling, like reduce, Boolean and smoothing commands. A new menu, Modify Faceted, contains most of the new commands (available with Extended option).

Rotate view against selected surfaces commands This is a set of commands in the View > Ortho View menu. The purpose of these commands is to position eye point for correct texture mapping on a flat surface with parallel texture projection (Apply Texture command).

Triangle normal command rotates the view along the selected surface normal.

Align triangle edge aligns the selected triangle edge along the lower horizontal edge of the graphics area.

Flip up/down flips the image in the vertical direction.

Rotate left rotates the image 90 degrees counterclockwise.

Rotate right rotates the image 90 degrees clockwise.

Make active/Make passive commands The user can define the shells as being in active or passive display mode. When viewing the model, active surfaces are displayed as usual but passive surfaces are not displayed at all. This and the faster display list - Model Tree generation will make the manual model handling much faster and easier than before. The shells not actively handled at a given time can be made passive not to clutter the display and reactivated when necessary. Both active and passive shells are written in output files normally.

The View > Make active/passive command is available in the View menu and through RMB menu in the Model Tree (left hand image below). When shell is made passive the Model Tree name is written in non-boldface letters (right hand image below).





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Selection and Replace Tool command Automatic selection and replace for several shells at once is implemented. Edit > Selection and Replace Tool command allow users to select several objects in the Model Tree based on given reference object. In the image below a window in the House is selected graphically as reference object and then the command is started:





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The user can then set the desired set of attributes the objects to be selected must follow. In the example above the surface Area and Shape must be within 1% of the reference object. After pressing Search button similar objects are searched and added in the Search result list:





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Pressing Select button in the bottom of the dialog will get them selected in the Model Tree for visual inspection. The attributes and tolerances can be changed and Search rerun until the correct objects are selected from the Model Tree.

Next, the user can select a new object from the Model Tree and set it as Replace with object. Pressing Replace button will replace all Search result shells with the given Replace object.

Search and Replace Tool gives an efficient way for model repair in case of thousands or hundreds of shells. It is enough to repair one shell and then replace other similar shells with the fixed object automatically. The software will use intelligent heuristic algorithms to position the replace object according to the replaced object position.

Wall Thickness command The Dimension > Wall Thickness command will give an effective and easy way to measure wall thicknesses in any location of an architectural model. The user gives the command and then shows the location of the thickness evaluation with the LMB on the graphics area. When ready, a dimension coordinate box will show the result:





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Transform Scale commands The Transform > Scale > MM to Inches, Transform > Scale > Inches to MM and Transform > Scale > Convert Unit commands have been added.

Collapse/Recreate surfaces command Display speed may slow down if the number of surfaces in the Model Tree is very large (>10 000). Also, in extreme cases, like with landscape models, too many tiny surfaces may cause memory allocation failure after commands like Repair Shells or Verify Shells. The Fix Model > Collapse surfaces command will reduce the number of surfaces in the Model Tree to minimum. When the surfaces are needed again, for example for Painting or texturing, Fix Model > Recreate surfaces will restore the surface subdivision in the shells.

When a large number of surfaces is encountered during model processing, a warning is issued:

Shells with collapsed surfaces are indicated with a smaller and dimmer icon in the Model Tree:





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The collapse shells are outputted normally with the file save commands. The collapsed shells can be used normally with most commands, like Split and Connect. With commands requiring surface subdivision for optimal result, like Painting, Texturing, Offset and Smooth, Recreate surfaces is sometimes needed before running the command.

Sort Model Tree command The Sort Model Tree command allows to resort the order of shells in the Model Tree. After the Auto Repair the shells are sorted in the following order: first all error shells sorted by descending surface area, then all correct shells sorted by descending surface area. During the model repair operations this shell order may get mixed. Sort Model Tree command allows to restore the error vs. ok shell order in the Model Tree for easy access to problematic shells.

Boolean command (Extended module) The Modify Faceted > Boolean command allows adding or deleting two shells from each other. This is sometimes needed when sending the faceted data for subsequent processes, like simulation, or to some AM process requiring model facets in consistent manner defined by STL standard.

Boolean enables connecting two separate shells into one connected shell. Below we can see two separate shells:





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Boolean command is given and two shells set as Shell 1 and Shell 2:

After pressing OK the two parts form a one connected shell:





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Note: The two shells to be connected must follow the STL standard (at least on the area of the intersection). If in doubt, you can set the Normal Error Filtering mode on through the corresponding icon in the Show Errors Toolbar and rerun the Repair Shells command.

Multiple Join command (Extended module) The Modify Faceted > Multiple Join command allows you to connect several faceted shells into one shell with one command using multi-selection:

And after the command one shell result:





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The intersections between the multi-selected shells should not intermix.

Cut Tool command (Extended module) Originally, Modify Faceted > Cut Tool command was developed for generating complicated cuts inside medical models, like skull geometry below. The command allows to create and tune a set of cut planes accurately inside a given geometry:





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The interface has several selections for cut plane type, cutting depth and cut operation, duplicate, separate, remove and add:


Hole Tool command (Extended module) Originally, Modify Faceted > Hole Tool command was developed for generating drill holes into medical models, like skull geometry. The command allows to create and tune holes, their depth and possible cap creation. In the example below, Hole Tool is used to create a hole into a hollow sphere and corresponding cap:





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Reduce command (Extended module) The Modify Faceted > Reduce command is used to reduce the number of triangles in large models. The reduction preserves the model shape within tolerances, colors and texture areas while connecting small triangles into bigger triangles. In the example below, SEA-DOO model is reduced from 100 000 triangles to 60 000 triangles:





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The Reduce command contains several different reduction types and allows the user to control the reduction parameters accurately for desired result:

Smooth command (Extended module) The Modify Faceted > Smooth command smoothens a model by removing sharp surface edges. During the model analysis and repair surface edges are created between two triangles which normal differ more than 15 degrees. Smooth command rounds these edges to produce more smooth surfaces.





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In the image below the Explorer model is smoothed for better 3D printing result:

Smoothing can easily generate a large number of triangles. In the example above we went from 4 500 to 43 000 triangles.

Refine Edges command (Extended module) The Modify Faceted > Refine Edges command increases the number of triangles in a shell for subsequent operations (simulation etc.). The command keeps colors and textures and refines either close to edges or evenly over the shell:





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Refine command (Extended module) The Modify Faceted > Refine command increases the number of triangles in a shell for subsequent operations (simulation etc.). The command loses colors and textures and refines evenly over the part:

Select Inner Shells command (Extended module) The Select Inner Shells command allows to separate small shells from inside a 3D model. For example, small unprintable doorknobs in an architectural model could be selected with one command for subsequent deletion.

Disconnect Wall Surfaces command (Extended module) The Disconnect Wall Surfaces separates large surfaces from other surfaces. This helps to solve problems with architectural models with very complicated topological errors. After separation, the walls can be connected with correct opposite surfaces or offset to wanted thickness.

Connect Wall Surfaces command (Extended module) The Connect Wall Surfaces command connects (disconnected) parallel wall surfaces in an architectural model into solid blocks if they are close enough.





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Connect Wall Holes command (Extended module) The Connect Wall Holes command connects holes in wall surfaces. The holes should have the same shape and opposite location on wall surfaces, like window holes typically do.

Select/Orient Open Windows command (Extended module) The Select/Orient Open Windows command searches open surfaces at the outer walls of the model, typically window surfaces. Also, selected surfaces are oriented so that the surface normal are pointing outside the model inner area. Subsequent Add Material to Selected, Offset or Extrude Surface command can be used to make selected surfaces solid for 3D printing.

Select Wall Inner Surfaces command (Extended module) The Select Wall Inner Surfaces command searches the outer walls of the model. From these walls the largest inside surfaces are automatically selected. This allows efficient material addition with Add Material to Selected or Extrude Surfaces command for 3D printing.

Add Material to Selected command (Extended module) The Add Material to Selected command adds material to a selected surface until the shell thickness is at the given value. This command can be used to add material to open window surfaces or outer walls, for example.

Lap Joint command The Print Preparation > Lap Joint command brings another way to connect Split parts after the build. Instead of inserting separate connectors (like pin, sphere, cylinder) inside the split area a continuous joint going around the split area edge is created. This will help to generate robust joint between thin walled split part halves. Below we can see a thin walled split part:





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Adding pins on the thin split wall may not generate strong enough connection between the two halves. Using the Lap Joint command we can define a suitable step like structure along the thin wall – split surface edge:





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The end result is a robust lap joint locking the parts accurately into correct position and giving sufficient strength for joining the parts after the build:

Platform command The Print Preparation > Platforms command allows to define 3D Printer platforms for visual size and build position checking.

Move to Platform command The Print Preparation > Move to Platform commands move selected shell into selected Platform location. Available commands are Move center, Move position and Move level.





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Chapter 4 – New File formats

Input formats: 3DS, FBX, DAE, PLY New input file formats include 3DS, FBX, DAE (Collada) and PLY.

Output Formats: STL, VRML, PLY New output formats include STL, VRML and PLY output.

Additional surface formats: Catia, STEP, UG, ProE, IGES Additional surface formats from DeskArtes allow to input surface models and triangulate them for 3D Printing. When an additional format license is purchased from DeskArtes, the commands in the Modify Surface menu become active.





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Chapter 5 – 3DEdit Pro standard vs. optional modules Most of the commands in 3DEP are available with the standard bundle license. These commands allow to edit, view, transform, dimension, generate, repair, color and prepare 3D models for 3D printing with ProJet x60 systems. There are two optional modules, the Extended module and Additional surface input module.

Extended module Extended module includes the following commands available in the Modify Faceted menu and is sold by 3D Systems. When the options is purchased, Modify Faceted commands become active: Boolean, Multiple Join, Cut Tool, Hole Tool, Reduce, Smooth, Refine Edges, Refine, Select Inner Shells, Disconnect Wall Surfaces, Connect Wall Surfaces, Connect Wall Holes, Select/Orient Open Windows, Select Wall Inner Surfaces and Add Material to Selected.

Additional surface input module Additional surface input module becomes active when at least one additional surface input format is purchased. Available formats are IGES/VDA, STEP, ProE, UG and CATIA and they are sold by DeskArtes. With this module you can triangulate the surface formats to STL for 3D printing.

When Additional surface input module is purchased, the commands in the Modify Surfaces menu become active: Verify Surface, Triangulate Surfaces, Surface Normals, Surface Trim and Surface Refine.


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