Convert 3D Model / Mesh
The following tools are available to transform a 3D model into another data type.
Create Elevation Grid from 3D Vector Data
Use this tool to convert a mesh feature into an elevation grid.
Create 3D Area from 3D Model(s)...
This tool is available in the Overlay Control center. Right-click on a mesh layer(s) and navigate to the Layer sub-menu to find this option.
Convert 3D models into area features. The area features produced will obtain the feature type
Create Image Layer from 3D Model(s)...
This tool is available in the Overlay Control center. Right-click on a mesh layer(s) and navigate to the Layer sub-menu to find this option.
For 3D models that contain a texture, this tool will convert the applied texture into an orthoimage.
This example of the 3D Viewer shows a 3D Mesh (created from Pixels to Points™) on top, with the orthoimage that has been created from the mesh underneath it.
Create Point Cloud from 3D Model(s)...
This tool is available in the Overlay Control center. Right-click on a mesh layer(s) and navigate to the Layer sub-menu to find this option.
This option will convert a 3D model into a point cloud by including the vertices, and sampling the faces. This point cloud output can then be classified, converted to an elevation grid, etc. to create different terrain and lidar products.
This example shows a point cloud generated from a mesh (3D Model produced by Pixels to Points™). The second image shows the point cloud gridded into a terrain surface using the Create Elevation Grid from 3D Vector Data tool.
Create 3D Model / Mesh
The following tools are available to create a 3D Model.
Create Mesh Feature from Terrain...
This tool is available in the Overlay Control center. Right-click on a terrain layer(s) and navigate to the Layer sub-menu to find this option. It can also include imagery layers.
This option will triangulate the terrain grid into a mesh feature. Each pixel specified will be converted to two triangles.
If a raster image is also selected in the layer dialog, the image layer will be applied as a texture image.
Vertical Units
Select from the following options:
- Meters
- Decimeters
- Centimeters
- Millimeters
- Feet
- Decifeet
- Inches
- Centifeet
- Millifeet
It is recommended to keep the units as Meters to load the model correctly in Global Mapper.
- Nearest Neighbor - simply uses the value of the sample/pixel that a sample location is in. When resampling an image this can result in a stair-step effect, but will maintain exactly the original color values of the source image.
- Bilinear Interpolation - determines the value of a new pixel based on a weighted average of the 4 pixels in the nearest 2 x 2 neighborhood of the pixel in the original image. The averaging has an anti-aliasing effect and therefore produces relatively smooth edges with less stair-step effect.
- Bicubic Interpolation - a more sophisticated method that produces smoother edges than bilinear interpolation. Here, a new pixel is a bicubic function using 16 pixels in the nearest 4 x 4 neighborhood of the pixel in the original image. This is the method most commonly used by image editing software, printer drivers and many digital cameras for resampling images.
- Box Average (3x3, 4x4, 5x5, and 7x7) - the box average methods simply find the average values of the nearest 9 (for 3x3), 16 (for 4x4), 25 (for 5x5), or 49 (for 7x7) pixels and use that as the value of the sample location. These methods are very good for resampling data at lower resolutions. The lower the resolution of your export is as compared to the original, the larger "box" size you should use.
- Filter/Noise/Median (2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6 and 7x7) - the Filter/Noise/Median methods simply find the median values of the nearest 4 (for 2x2), 9 (for 3x3), 16 (for 4x4), 25 (for 5x5), 36 (for 6x6) or 49 (for 7x7) pixels and use that as the value of the sample location. This resampling function is useful for noisy rasters, so outlier pixels do not contribute to the kernel value. Some common sources of raster noise are previous compression artifacts or irregularities of a scanned map/image.
- Box Maximum (3x3, 4x4, and 5x5) - the box maximum methods simply find the maximum value of the nearest 9 (for 3x3), 16 (for 4x4), 25 (for 5x5), or 49 (for 7x7) pixels and use that as the value of the sample location. These methods are very good for resampling elevation data at lower resolutions so that the new terrain surface has the maximum elevation value rather than the average (good for terrain avoidance). This method behaves the same as the average on raster/imagery layers. The lower the resolution of the export file is as compared to the original, the larger "box" size that should be used.
Sample Spacing
Specify the resolution at which to sample the terrain. Each terrain sample at this resolution will be converted to 2 mesh triangles, so with detailed terrain data it is recommended to increase the sample spacing and specify a desired Resampling method.
Interpolate to fill small gaps in data
Any small areas with missing data will be filled in by interpolating the surrounding valid data using an IDW method. This is useful for filling small gaps between adjacent tiles or small holes in elevation data.
Generate PRJ File
A PRJ file describing the projection of the coordinates in the file will automatically be created .
This example shows a 3D Model layer created from terrain and an image layer.
To modify the texture image of the generated mesh see Mesh Feature Style
See Also:
- Pixels to Points™
- Create 3D Model from Selected Lidar Points
- Create Elevation Grid from 3D Vector Data with the Save TIN vector layer option