Create a mesh

How to create mesh objects

Unlike curves or surfaces, meshes cannot be built directly in Alias. They are typically obtained by opening an existing file that contains them, or by converting a NURBS or cloud object.

Retrieve a mesh from a file

Choose File > Open or File > Import > File to open a file containing polygonal data. The following file types can import mesh objects into Alias:
- Wire files (if they were saved with meshes)
- STL files (binary or ASCII)
- OBJ files
For Wire and STL files, a progress bar is displayed while the file loads. Identical vertices are merged automatically, leading to improved performance during subsequent operations.

Those file types can store large meshes of about 3 million polygons. Wire files are the most efficient format. However, as an interchange format, binary STL is much faster than OBJ.

Create meshes from NURBS surfaces or shells

Select all the NURBS surfaces and shells for which you want to create meshes.
Choose Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Nurbs to Mesh.
New mesh objects are created by tessellating the surfaces and shells you selected.

Note
If you want to control how the objects are tessellated, use the parameters within the option window.

Create meshes from clouds

Import the cloud data into Alias (File > Import > Cloud).
Select the cloud.
Choose Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Cloud to Mesh.

Create meshes from displacement maps

Assign the displacement map to a shader, then apply the shader onto the desired object(s).
Pick the object(s) with the displacement map to be converted.
Choose Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Displacement Map to Mesh.
A mesh is calculated from the displacement map, and made active. The original object is made inactive, but remains in its original location. It may be obscured until it, or the mesh, is moved.

The example below shows NURBS geometry with a procedural displacement map applied to create a “hob-nail” pattern on the outside of the plastic waterglass. Using the Displacement Map to mesh tool, the displacement tessellation is used to develop a mesh.

Tessellation settings

In order to create a good, workable mesh from the displacement process, you can control the quality of the tessellation by adjusting the Mesh Tolerance and Displacement Detail parameters either from Render > Globals, or from the option box of Mesh > Mesh Tessellation > Displacement Map to Mesh.