RepRap: Blog

The Meshlab utility I recommended to Forrest was something that I'd hunted down while trying to find a PLY to STL file converter that was Open Source. I was trying to import free animal models in to the RepRap GUI to see how the RepRap did at sculpture, and to show off at the New Zealand Open Source Awards. In the end I found this cat, but it had eye-holes and the base was open. Fortunately Meshlab has a very intelligent filter for closing holes that creates Euler-valid solids (unlike the "close boundary" option on ArtOfIllusion).

As you can see, the RepRap (a standard Darwin extruding PLA) did a fair job of the cat, and that's at a resolution of 2,000 facets. Note also that it did a very nice job of the cat's chin, even though that was overhanging by considerably more than 45 degrees!

Vik :v)

Labels: cat, mesh, meshlab, reprap, sculpture