default vertices

[roger johnson]

newbie .....

oldie............



coming back to zephyr after 6 months I have forgotton quite a lot !

how/where do I set the default no, of vertices for the obj file before running 3d model creation?

is this the best way to limit the size of the final object?

[cam3d]

Hi roger johnson, welcome back!

You can either set the max. vertices in the textured mesh generation wizard or alternatively on completion of your model (DenseCloud/Mesh/TexturedMesh) you can decimate through Tools>MeshFilters>Decimation to your preferred polygonal weighting.

[roger johnson]

A couple of things .

sorry im confused

first what Im expecting to generate are obj files - does the texture wizard produce one ?

Is limiting the number of vertices the best method of decimation?

[cam3d]

Hi Roger,

The file type is chosen on export after processing is complete.

- You can create textured OBJ files or non-textured (The free version only allows for export of textured meshes) through the export menu.

There is no one particular best method of decimation - Limiting vertex count at the textured mesh generation stage is a handy way of doing it, otherwise you can do it manually using the mesh filter after textured mesh generation. (Tools>MeshFilters>Decimation) - I don't think you'll see a major difference between these two approaches, but try it out and see for yourself. If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

[roger johnson]

Thanks

Ive forgotton more than I thought !

Im a bit surpised there is little difference between the methods

but it means i dont need to get side tracked again

[cam3d]

No problem

[roger johnson]

One thing I wanted to check is whether zephyr lite supports the export of non textured meshes ? (post 4)


if so how?


TIA

[Andrea Alessi]

Hi roger,

yes, 3DF Zephyr Lite allows to export both meshes and textured meshes. The process is the very same, select "Export -> Export Mesh" or right click -> export

[roger johnson]

Im finding it difficult to understand what the essential difference visually between textured and non textured .

zephyr appears to produce near identical images and the export documentation is not very informative

[roger johnson]

well I ve come to the conclusion that the mesh as opposed to the textured mesh is much better but it also seems to depend on which viewer software you use.

meshlab provides very good surface reproduction with colour while meshmixer seems to ignore it and chooses a default colour

the same object file is used in both caes

[roger johnson]

PS Does the screenshot background transparency option work ? Lite 6.010

must be doing something stupid as I keep getting a black background Windows 11 Pro

[roger johnson]

in other words the viewport colour set in options>>rendering is not being set to transparent as I expect.

the only reference to transparency I can find is under drawing elements

[cam3d]

Hi roger johnson

From the screenshot with the desktop background I can see that you have multiple thumbnails of screenshots from 3DF Zephyr, and they look like they have transparency as they are showing the red background of the desktop around the subject itself? I tried the screenshot functionality myself and transparency appears to work fine on my end (Export>TakeScreenShot>TransparentBackgroundON) so perhaps it's just that the program you are using to view the image files has a dark background and this is layered under the image itself?

I've attached a screenshot with transparency to this message. Download it and see if it works on your computer. If it doesn't work on your computer, then your issue is with the program which is viewing the image file and not the file itself.

[cam3d]

well I ve come to the conclusion that the mesh as opposed to the textured mesh is much better but it also seems to depend on which viewer software you use.

meshlab provides very good surface reproduction with colour while meshmixer seems to ignore it and chooses a default colour

the same object file is used in both caes

Regarding textures or untextured meshes:

Generally speaking a 3D mesh can be in three main states:

- Monochrome (no vertex colours or uv textures, just a solid colour which is decided by the program used to view it)
- Vertex colours (colour information is held in the vertices which may or may not be rendered depending on the program used to view it)
- UV Textured (colour information is mapped to the polygonal surface as a seperate file, typically a JPEG or PNG)

When you generate a mesh file in Zephyr the default action is for it to also generate vertex colour information. This can be switched off under the advanced settings in the mesh creation wizard. You can also choose not to export this information when you export a mesh (Export>ExportMesh>ExportColoursOFF)

When you generate a textured mesh in Zephyr you are also generating a separate image file which is mapped to the polygonal surface and the vertex colours are no longer present.

Different programs handle files in different ways, and we provide many options to customize your output for any given third party software. Meshlab and Meshmixer render the same input in different ways - Meshmixer is heavily model clean for print and doesn't handle UV textures well. Meshlab is more robust in this regard and has more options for viewing models of different compositions.