MeshLab Introduction
MeshLab is an Open Source application distributed under the GPL 3.0 Licensing Scheme.
There is a lot of information on their website as well as the WikiPedia Entry, if you want to learn more about the application, those are
good places to start. Additionally, there are also good tutorials on YouTube's Mister P MeshLab Tutorials that are worth viewing if
you plan on using MeshLab directly.
In general, MeshLab is a great application for reading and writing polygon and point data, applying mesh manipulation tools and performing basic repair/cleanup and point cloud to polygon conversions. The downside,
due to the power of the application, is a somewhat steep learning curve for people not familiar with the details or the workflow required.
Integration with InStep
The primary role of the InStep-Studio application is to take mesh data (polygons) and convert the data (either with or without detection of features/shapes) to a boundary representation
format that is more suited to the use in Mechanical Computer Aided Design (CAD) software.
As it is not InStep's primary function to work with polygon data extensively at a low level, some of the capabilities of MeshLab can supplement the built-in tools of InStep. This
is the especially the case when it comes to working with point data which is not natively supported by InStep. Further, there are several file formats that are not supported by InStep (which
primarily uses STL and OBJ files) but quite commonly used in 3D printing/scanning/modeling applications. Also, MeshLab can perform some repair functions that InStep cannot or will generally have less success with.
For these reasons, the MeshLab - InStep combination allows for additional functionality that either could not provide on their own. With MeshLab being made available for free, this expansion
provides several benefits to InStep users and the InStep application is structured so that function provided by MeshLab may be integrated at the user's convenience.
Benefits
By installing MeshLab, additional file formats become available for import. Similarly, for exporting, the application can export to other polygon formats though this does not
necessarily provide much help for the main use of the InStep application (converting to BRep format).
Once the data is loaded however, using the MeshLab tools under the Polygon tab provides additional functions (enabled or disabled by means of the options shown on the side bar)
to aid in repairing the original mesh to be free of defects. Some of these repair tools are also directly accessed for cases where automatic healing is being used.
On the Bodies tab, the only integration currently is to perform simplification by means of either the built-in functions or the MeshLab functions.
Detailed Behavior
InStep will, in general, check for the presence of the MeshLabServer.exe file during application startup. The location is usually in the c:\Program Files\VCG\MeshLab\ folder though users
may chose a different location during installation. The InStep application will look for a few standard locations and if it finds the application test it to make sure that
it is located there and is of the same version as expected (Version 2020.03 at this time). If it cannot find it or it is of a different version, it will inform the user of this and provide
some options to either download from the MeshLab site, an archived copy from Solveering or to alternatively search for an existing installation or to skip its use - either temporarily or permanently.
Once the application is correctly defined, the InStep application will interact with it by means of exporting current data and running it through the application with a suitable
script file generated as needed. Generally, this means that, once a command is executed that includes methods provided by MeshLab, the application calls the process through the
command prompt interface (which brings up a blank, black screen temporarily). Once the process completes, InStep resumes normal operation upon importing and processing the resultant file.
At this time, it is likely that neither InStep nor MeshLab can fully and automatically resolve all possible issues that may be present in a given file. What we strive for is to
provide a set of tools that can cover the majority. If you should encounter files that either won't load properly (due to perhaps the file format not having been sufficiently tested) or an
inability to perform the necessary corrections and error fixes, we would kindly ask that you contact us and provide the file in question so that we may further improve upon the application or
provide guidance as to how this may be resolved directly.
Independent Applications
To be clear, InStep and MeshLab are two separate applications and can be used independent of each other.
MeshLab sources are distributed under the GPL 3.0 Licensing Scheme.
The 'MeshLab' name is a EUIPO trademark owned by CNR.
MeshLab Logos are distributed under (cc- by-SA)
Creative Commons License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 International License and they can be freely used
inside any wikimedia project.
Solveering LLC is the owner of the commercial InStep (V2.x) and InStep Studio (V3.x) applications and in no way affiliated with the MeshLab group.
The GPL 3.0 licensing scheme allows integration with the InStep application and, since no modifications to the original source are made, any licensing
terms applicable to the MeshLab application can be taken directly from either their website or the noticed provided in the installation of the application.