I’m trying to align meshes I have created in 3matic/mimics using a transformation matrix. Mimics does not allow me to apply a transformation to a mesh and 3matic does not allow me apply a transformation matrix at all (which would be really handy). I think I can brute force my way through the problem using 3matics alignment functions but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing a tool to do this directly.
Hi Nathan,
Indeed, 3-matic does not offer the possibility of directly using a transformation matrix. The idea is that the software contains enough alignment functions to not need to go through a transformation matrix. For example, the plane-to-plane align function is an easy method to transform from one coordinate system to another, by creating two planes with the x and y axes corresponding to the respective axes of the coordinate systems, and then aligning those planes and moving along whichever entities need to be transformed.
I hope this helps!
Julien
Hello Julien,
While I understand the logic behind your statement for users working purely through the UI, the ability to apply a transformation matrix through at least the API would be most helpful. Doing a translation and rotation thru multiple plane-to-plane function calls would get the job done, but it is not as simple or robust as a 4x4 transformation matrix. It’s forcing me to build in several checks that I otherwise would trust to a simple matrix calculation. (align the appropriate planes, select, move all the necessary objects, plane alignment is not reversed, etc).
Thanks,
Nathan
Hi Nathan,
Thanks for the explanation. Would you be able to give me an example of an application where you would get a transformation matrix as input? That would help me build the case to implement such a function. You can send me a private message too if you prefer to keep it confidential.
Thanks,
Julien
Well, right now I’m utilizing an alignment workflow that exports a transformation matrix from 3matic, and then later on in the process I am bringing in a design stl that is in the original coordinate system. I already have the transformation matrix saved; I just need to be able to use it.
In general, I could see this being a useful feature anytime a coordinate system is defined by inputs external to the scanned geometry, or even if I’ve aligned two models before and don’t want to have to go through my entire workflow again. I could manually align something, export the transformation matrix, then come back months later and apply my saved transform to my original data and have full confidence I have preserved my prior alignment. I agree with your previous statement that this could be done using existing functions. However, a transformation matrix has built in repeatability (it’s just math) and is also easier to record than several plane-to-plane alignments.