2012

Keep in mind that not all conversions retain complete fidelity to the shape
of the original object. Avoid switching between object types more than once,
if possible. If you notice that the conversion modifies the shape of the object
in an unacceptable way, undo the conversion and try again with different
settings.
The Mesh Tessellation Options Dialog Box (MESHOPTIONS) controls the
smoothness and shape of the faces for 3D solids or surfaces that are converted
to mesh. Although you can convert an object to mesh without opening this
dialog box (MESHSMOOTH), you can more easily experiment with different
conversion settings by launching the conversion operation from within the
dialog box.
The SMOOTHMESHCONVERT system variable sets whether the mesh objects
that you convert to 3D solids or surfaces are smoothed or faceted, and whether
their co-planar faces are optimized (merged).
You might have trouble converting some non-primitive mesh to solid objects
due to the following problems:
■ Gaps in the mesh. If you notice gaps, you can sometimes close them by
smoothing the object or by refining the faces that are adjacent to the gap.
mesh torus that has been twisted using 3D Rotate at various
smoothing levels
You can also close holes by using MESHCAP.
In some cases, you can also obtain better results by using hardware
acceleration to improve your graphics system.
■ Intersecting mesh faces. Be especially careful not to create self-intersections
as you move, rotate, or scale subobjects. (You create self-intersections when
you cause one or more faces to cross, or intersect other faces in the same
mesh model.) View the object from all viewpoints to ensure you create a
viable model.
1266 | Chapter 25 Modify 3D Models