Simplify Triangulations

On the Triangulation tab, in the Utility group: Click Simplify Triangulations to reduce the complexity of selected triangulations. (Ctrl+Q,B)

Do the following:

1. Select the Source of the data that will be used as input to the function:

   Selection	Design elements you have interactively selected in the Design Window.
   Visible	Design elements that are visible in the loaded layer. Elements that have been specifically hidden are excluded. This a quick way of selecting all visible elements in a layer without having to explicitly select them.
   Layer	One or more layers that you select. Names of layers currently loaded in the Design Window are shown in bold.

   For large datasets, for performance reasons you may prefer to select a layer rather than load that layer and select all of the elements in the layer.

   Selecting a non-applicable layer will have no effect. In most cases, an error icon will indicate that the chosen input layer is not valid. Hover over the icon to view a validation hint.

   

2. Choose the algorithm that will be used to simplify the selected triangulations or triangulation layer:

   

   Point Collapse	Collapses the points of the triangulations to simplify the mesh structure.
   Edge Collapse	Collapses the edges of the triangulations to simplify the mesh structure.
   Convex Hull	An algorithm which uses a radius of influence to remove triangles from the Convex Hull of the triangulations.

3. Finally, click Apply to simplify the triangulations.

Point Collapse Parameters

Accept the defaults or specify an Angular Tolerance and a Planar Tolerance:

Angular Tolerance

This is the maximum amount that the angle of the triangulation is allowed to change after vertices are removed. If no Angular tolerance is specified, a default value of 1° will be applied automatically. Specifying a large Angular tolerance will significantly alter the nature of the triangulation.

Planar Tolerance

This is the maximum amount that the triangulation is allowed to move in any direction after vertices are removed. If no Planar tolerance is specified, a default value of 0.5 will be applied automatically. Specifying a large Planar tolerance will significantly alter the nature of the triangulation.

Advanced

Optionally, set Advanced parameters. You can read technical information about the Point Collapse algorithm at:

Edge Collapse Parameters

Accept the defaults or specify an Volume Tolerance and a Speed:

Volume Tolerance

This is the maximum amount that the volume a solid is allowed to change after edges are removed. If no Volume tolerance is specified, a default tolerance of 1% will be applied automatically. Specifying a large Volume tolerance will significantly alter the nature of the triangulation.

Advanced

Optionally, set Advanced parameters. You can read technical information about the Edge Collapse algorithm at:

Convex Hull

The convex hull of a set of points or point cloud is the smallest convex polygon in which each point either lies on the boundary of the polygon or lies inside the polygon. To compute the convex hull, no parameters are necessary other than a set of points.

No further parameters are required.