SurfacesA surface is
collection of 3dfaces with concurrent edges and vertices. These collections are called by
various names, TIN, mesh, pfmesh, surface, etc., but are all basically made of 3-sided
3dfaces, 4-sided 3dfaces or a combination of the two. TIN is an acronym
for “triangulated irregular network” and is the mainstay of surveyors and civil
engineers everywhere. Applying a Delauney algorithm to a set of points generates a TIN.
The algorithm, in its simplest form, attempts to draw the most equal triangles from the
set of points. It is a surface of triangles. It is sometimes called a “mesh” or
a pfmesh. A mesh is a
usually applied to a surface that is an approximation of data based on a grid applied to
point, TIN or digitized information. It may be configured as a single object or a set of
objects (faces) with concurrent edges. A pfmesh is a set
of faces with concurrent edges. |
Command Sequence EasySite>Mesh>Points to Mesh. Make a TIN from a set of points and breaklines. There are many Rhino commands that will generate a mesh surface. They include “Offset Mesh”, “Mesh from Points”, “Mesh Heightfield”, and “Variable Offset Surface”. None are suitable for generating a surface from real world data. But they can be very useful in modeling surface features. Bonus>Mesh>Offset Mesh. Useful in making an exact offset or regular copy of an existing mesh Bonus>Mesh>Mesh from Points. Useful for generating a smoothed mesh from a set of points. The Rhino Mesh from Points shown below was made from the same set of points as the TIN, Mesh and Pfmesh Surface above. There are obvious differences between the two techniques. |
