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Meshing

You can create an envelope directly from a chain of prisms or a chain of figures.

  • Prisms can only be linked with prisms.
  • Figures can only be linked with figures.
  • If automatic meshing is not satisfactory, refine the result by adding or adjusting tie-lines.

In Select Prisms mode:

  1. Click a prism with the tag to use.
  2. Run Link all prisms by tag….
  3. (Optional) Run Add caps.
  4. Run Mesh current link.
  5. Validate the resulting envelope.

Manual linking (prisms or figures)

  1. Set selection mode:
    • Prisms (31), or
    • Figures (32).
  2. Double-click the first object in the chain.
  3. Choose Link to Prism or Link to Face.
  4. Click the next object to continue the chain.
  5. Repeat until the chain is complete.
  6. Press Esc to end linking.

Manual Prism Linking

Visual cues:

  • First object (head): red
  • Last object (tail): blue
  • Intermediate objects: green gradient
  • To break a chain connection, link an object to itself.
  • Broken chains can be re-linked.
  • Objects keep chain relation information (previous/next), so repairs are straightforward.

3) Display and manage the current chain

Only one chain is displayed as the current link at a time.

To set it:

  1. Double-click a prism/figure in the target chain.
  2. Choose Set Current Link.

If expected link colors are not shown, another chain may currently be active. Select a link in the desired chain, or use Hide Current Link on the active one.

4) Create the envelope

From a prism/figure in the target chain:

  1. Double-click and choose Set Current Link.
  2. Run Mesh Current Link.

This creates the tie-line structure needed for meshing and generates the envelope.

You can also recreate the mesh later from Home > Solid > Create.

5) Envelope output types

A link chain can generate different envelope outputs:

  • Meshed Envelope: triangulated surface with constraints (tie-lines)
  • Faces Envelope: gridded/faces representation of the linked volume
  • Polygonal Envelope: extrusion-style result based on source polygons

Meshed Env

6) Tie-lines (Tie Mesh)

Tie-lines are constraints between mesh points used to control triangulation.

Show tie points and existing tie-lines

  • Click the Tie line icon in Home > Solid, or press T.
  • Tie points are shown as blue circles.
  • Constraint lines are shown as blue dotted lines.

Enter tie mesh editing mode

  1. Set selection to Mesh Point (shortcut 11, or via the Select menu).
  2. Double-click a tie point.
  3. Choose Create Tie Mesh.

In this mode:

  • Selection is focused on tie points.
  • The current selected tie point is highlighted.
  • You can build lines point-by-point.
  • You can also click-and-drag across points to rapidly add multiple ties.

Add or remove a tie-line

  • To add: select point A, then point B.
  • To remove: repeat the same pair selection (A-B) or delete from the tie-line tooltip.

Notes:

  • Most models mesh correctly with automatically created ties.
  • Add manual ties only where needed to control local triangulation.
  • Keep chain continuity (do not skip intermediate sections in a chain).
  • A tie-line cannot be created between two points on the same prism/figure section; tie-lines are intended to connect points across linked sections.

Tie Lines

Undo/redo while editing ties

During tie mesh editing, tie creation/removal supports Undo and Redo commands.

Exit tie mesh mode

Press Esc to leave tie mesh creation mode.

7) Densify and undensify points

When there are too few points to place useful tie-lines:

  • Use Densify from Home > Solid to insert additional points.
  • After placing required ties, use Undensify to remove only densify-added points.

Important: Densified points are intended for tie-line control, not for reshaping prism/figure geometry.

8) Generate the solid

After tie-lines are ready:

  1. Open Home > Solid > Create.
  2. Select Mesh.

A new envelope is added to the envelope list (shortcut E to display envelopes).

9) Meshing settings

Open Home > Solid > Settings to control meshing behavior.

Meshing Settings

Algorithm

Two algorithm modes are available:

  • Standard
  • Alpha Wrapping

Most tie-line-focused workflows use Standard.

Stump monotone (Standard only)

  • Uses a faster monotone triangulation approach for polygonal extremities
  • Can reduce triangulation quality in some cases (for example, more thin triangles)

Use smoothing (Standard only)

  • Inserts additional triangles for smoothing
  • Usually increases triangle count and visual smoothness

Smoothing controls (Standard + Use smoothing)

  • Maximum angle
  • Minimum length

These values control smoothing densification and help reduce problematic steep triangles and volume artifacts.

Alpha Wrapping controls (Alpha Wrapping only)

  • Alpha
  • Offset

These parameters control rolling-ball and minimum-edge behavior for the Alpha Wrapping algorithm.

Vertex position mode

  • Vertices exact: use snapped coordinates
  • Vertices projected: use projected section coordinates
  • Vertices specified: use per-vertex exact/projection settings

In most workflows, Vertices exact is preferred.