Vxmodel Tutorial - Scan-To-Cad 3: July 2019

VXmodel Tutorial - Scan-to-CAD 3
July 2019
1
Introduction
This tutorial is intended for users who need to become familiar with VXmodel. It will guide you through
a Scan-to-CAD workflow by cleaning and aligning the mesh, then extracting required entities in order
to transfer to CAD software.
Importing data file

Data files associated with this tutorial can be downloaded directly from the Learn panel of VXelements
home page.
The session file will automatically open but can also be found here after download: *\Docu-
ments\VXelements\Tutorials\VXmodel_3_CAD\_DataSet
*The sample data for this tutorial is provided by Creaform.. It is the property of Creaform and is used for informational purposes only.
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For this tutorial, the scan data has been transferred from the Scan node to the
VXmodel node under the Navigation pane.
In a typical workflow, after the acquisition, the Scan has to be transferred to the VXmodel node by
right-clicking the Scan then Send to VXmodel.
As a good practice, hide the Scan and Positioning nodes from the Navigation pane to avoid
confusion. To do so, click to hide.
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What will this tutorial cover?
Step 1.
Remove noise and unwanted data.
Step 2.
Fill holes
Step 3.
Create features
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Step 4.
Align the mesh to origin.
Step 5.
Create cross-sections
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Step 6.
Export files for CAD software.
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1. Remove noise and unwanted data
At this step, we will use the selection tools to remove data that was captured during the acquisition
but is not necessary in the reverse engineering process.
1. Click the Mesh 1 to see VXmodel functions.
2. Select the Connect tool.

3. Hold the Ctrl key and click the part surface.
VXelements will gather all the triangles that are connected to the triangle
selected.
4. Click Invert selection to select the unwanted data.
By reversing the mesh selection, only the unwanted data remains selected.
5. Click Delete .
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2. Fill holes
During the scan, at times, holes are created because certain spots might not be fully acquired, such as
areas that are unreachable by the laser. These holes can be filled to complete the mesh.
1. Click Fill Holes .
2. Set Fill hole mode to Whole .

3. Set the Filling method to Low Curvatureand Smooth boundary layers to 3.
4. Hovering the boundaries highlighted in pink turns them yellow. Click the boundaries to fill
holes.
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5. Change the Fill hole mode to Partial and the Filling method to Low Curvature.
6. Successively click the three points illustrated in the image below, on the boundary.
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7. Click OK to exit the function.
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3. Create features
Geometric entities created from the mesh will be used for alignment, therefore it is important to
choose the entities that are the most relevant to the alignment as the entire reconstruction will be
impacted. A good alignment will facilitate the subsequent steps and improve the end result.
Add plane 1 (for alignment)
1. Click Add a plane .

2. Set the Building mode to Triangle selection.
3. Select the Similar normal tool.

4. Set the Selection tolerance to 15.
Values range from 0 to 100 in the Selection Tolerance. The higher the selection
tolerance value, the larger the amount of triangles selected. This is due to a
greater difference allowance in the triangles normal orientation.
5. Hold the Ctrl key and click the flat surface as shown in the figure below.
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A preview of the resulting plane is shown as well as a deviation color map
between the selected triangles and the best fitted plane.
6. Click Create to finalize.
Add plane 2 (for alignment)
1. Select the Similar normal tool.

3. Hold the Ctrl key and click the left end surface to create the second plane as shown below.
4. Click Create to finalize and then Close.
Add cone 1 (for alignment)
1. Click Add a cone .

2. Set the Building mode to Triangle selection.
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3. Select the Similar curvature tool.
Values range from 0 to 100 in the Selection Tolerance. The higher the selection
tolerance value, the larger the amount of triangles selected. This is due to a
greater difference allowance in the triangles normal orientation.
5. Hold the Ctrl key and click the cylindrical surface as shown below.
A preview of the resulting cone is shown as well as a deviation color map between
the selected triangles and the best fitted cone.
6. Under Constraints, select the Orientation check box.
7. In the dropdown menu, click the derived entities and select Plane 1 - Normal.
8. Select the Half angle check box and set its value to 3°.
9. Click Flip to invert the orientation of Plane 1, so the cone axis is pointing toward the mesh.
10. Click Create to finalize.
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Add cone 2 to 9 (CAD entities)
Repeat the previous steps to build cones for CAD design.
11. Constrain all next 8 cones on Plane 1. After clicking a cone on the mesh, change Half angle to
the approximate value. You can select the Keep constraints, filters and parameters settings
check box in order to avoid readjusting the parameters for every new cone. You will have to
adjust the Selection tolerance with respect to the different cones.
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12. After completing all 8 cones, click Close to finalize.
Add plane 3 (CAD entity)
1. Click Add a plane .

2. Set the Building mode to Plane offset.
3. Select Plane 1 and set the Offset to -25 mm.
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Add circle 1 (CAD entity)
1. Click Add a circle .

2. Set the Building mode to Plane-cone intersection.
3. Select the Plane 3 and Cone 1.
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4. Align mesh
Alignment is done by pairing entities previously created with the XYZ reference frame.
1. Click Align to origin .

2. In the Constraint menu, under the Entity column, select Cone 1 from the drop-down menu and
pair it with Y Axis under the Constraint column.
3. Repeat to pair Plane 2 with YZ Plane, then Plane 1 with XZ Plane.
4. Click Flip to invert Cone 1 and Plane 2.
For paired entities, the degrees of freedom (DOF) of the mesh decrease. The
constrained DOF are locked next to the Offset and Angle text boxes under the
Details menu.
5. Click Align to complete the alignment.
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5. Create cross-sections
1. Click Add a cross-section .
2. Set the Building mode to Linear, set Type to Whole mesh and the Existing plane to
Origin – Plane XY.
3. Set the Count to 8 with Spacing of 30 mm.
4. Under the Curve parameters menu, set the Output type to Curve and the Criteria to Deviation
with a value of 0,1 mm.
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Setting Output type to Polyline creates small segments of lines made from the
triangle intersection to the cross-section plane. Curve creates a Spline that can
be adjusted with either Maximum deviation or Control points in the Curve
parameters.
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6. Export files for CAD software
At this step, we will save the aligned mesh and the entities that will be used in the CAD software.
Save mesh model

Right-click the Mesh 1 and select Export,
or click Mesh 1, click Export , then Mesh .
Export entities
Export the entities in STEP format to use in the CAD software.
Right-click the Entities node and select Export all entities.
To export one or more entities, select only the ones to be exported before clicking
Export selected entities.
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Export entities – SOLIDWORKS, Inventor and Solid Edge users
If you use SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge, VXmodel has a built-in CAD transferring function that
executes the previous steps of exportation directly to SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge.
Click the Entities node or specific entities and click the Transfer to SOLIDWORKS button or
click the drop-down arrow to select either Solid Edge or Inventor,
or right-click on selected entities and select Transfer selected entities to in order to directly
export those entities to SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge.
If SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge is not open, the function will open it and
create a new part and import the entities. If SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, or Solid Edge
is open, it will import the entities in the active part.
Congratulations! You have completed the tutorial.
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VXmodel Tutorial - Scan-to-CAD 3

Importing data file

confusion. To do so, click to hide.

2. Select the Connect tool.

4. Click Invert selection to select the unwanted data.

1. Click Fill Holes .

2. Set Fill hole mode to Whole .

Add plane 1 (for alignment)

1. Click Add a plane .

3. Select the Similar normal tool.

6. Click Create to finalize.

Add plane 2 (for alignment)

1. Select the Similar normal tool.

Add cone 1 (for alignment)

1. Click Add a cone .

6. Under Constraints, select the Orientation check box.

Add plane 3 (CAD entity)

1. Click Add a plane .

1. Click Add a circle .

4. Click Create to finalize and then Close.

1. Click Align to origin .

4. Click Flip to invert Cone 1 and Plane 2.

5. Click Align to complete the alignment.

1. Click Add a cross-section .

5. Click Create to finalize and then Close.

Save mesh model

or click Mesh 1, click Export , then Mesh .

Congratulations! You have completed the tutorial.

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