Decimate

7min

Large, complex mesh models can be challenging to work with due to long processing times. Decimating large meshes can improve performance by simplifying part geometry by reducing the number of vertices and triangles. This process may also be referred to as reducing a mesh.
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﻿Recommended Use Cases﻿﻿
﻿Considerations﻿﻿
﻿Decimate Workflow﻿﻿
Recommended Use Cases
Mesh Model is >50MB
Check the file size for the uploaded model.
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 Triangles >1 million
Check View info from the model menu to see the triangle count for the mesh.
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More Triangles than Necessary
In this cube example, only two triangles per face are needed to represent the geometry accurately. Any extra triangles per face are unnecessary.
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Processing is Slow
Some amount of processing time is normal, but if operations are taking longer than a minute or so, decimation may reduce wait times.
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Decimate is intended for input models only; not recommended for generated models.
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Considerations
Original Mesh | 50% Decimation | 1% Decimation
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Detail Loss
Decimation can cause your model to lose detail as curves become faceted with fewer triangles. The impact will vary based on geometry and the percentage of decimation selected.
Decimation is adjustable; iterate with different percentages to get the desired outcome. Generate the operation to view the effect of decimation.
The percentage selected will retain that percentage of triangles in the mesh.
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File Downloads
Both the original mesh and the decimated mesh may be downloaded.
The percentage of decimation will yield approximately the same amount in file size reduction.
For files of the same type; ie if an STL file is uploaded, the downloaded decimated STL will be reduced to the specified percentage.
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Decimate Workflow
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Switch to Triangle view
Select Decimate
Select Input Mesh
Select percentage of triangles to retain - 50% default
Generate
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Updated 22 Nov 2024

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