Best practice to "trace" or reference Complex mesh to build new solid.

[westin_carey]

Disclaimer: I'm am learning but still very green

I recently purchased an Einscan SP 3d scanner for my business with the intention of scanning pistol lights and pistols to help me produce new holster tooling. The scanner is getting me some very detailed mesh objects, but they have too many facets to be easily converted to solid. I have reduced the files down and successfully converted the files to Solid, but again the files are just too detailed, and Fusion crashes with any attempt to modify the faces of the Solid.

I'm now experimenting with just using the mesh body as a reference point to rebuild a new solid body, and I have had some success with tracing using splines, but its not as precise as i would like. Are there any other tools inside of fusion or linked software's that could help this process? I'll attach one of the scans I'm using. I'll also include an image of what the end goal is for the tooling.

[laughingcreek · Accepted solution]

connecting the worlds of mesh modeling and cad modeling requires a good bit of know-how in each area separately to be particularly successful.  i.e.-not a great place to start for a "green" user.

about 90% of the time, converting the mesh to solid will NOT be a good work flow. (some outlier, but this application isn't one of them)

To do this project, I would use a hybrid approach, using the mesh inside of fusion to initially position, and then create construction geometry. (cutting planes and shapes to be added ot cut from main shape, tooling block, ect.)  this geometry would get converted to meshes, and then applied in the mesh environment.  for a mesh this dense you'll probably need to export it all to something like mesh-mixer (or your favorite mesh modeler) to do the mesh work b/c fusion doesn't handle large meshes well.

[westin_carey]

Thats some great insight. I have certainly seen the limitations of 360 with mesh files this dense. Last night I had some success with creating a mesh section sketch followed by the  "fit curves to mesh" tool. However it didnt allow for the type of accuracy im after. So far the best I've done is to keep the mesh body slightly transparent and build solids around it, but again, its tough due to not getting the mesh perfectly set on a "starting point".

To date I have not used mesh mixer, so I'm not sure what utility it will offer other than not crashing. I am also considering hiring a mentor/tutor to help me establish a workflow for this particular design, as I'll be doing hundreds of these over the next few years. Any insight on a reputable source for training would be great.

And thanks for the replys.

[edetmer1870]

what app are you using to view your image?