7.5. Mesh Decimation And Smoothing

Once a triangle mesh has been created, some post-processing is normally done to reduce size (decimation), and reduce noise (smoothing).

7.5.1. Mesh Decimation and Smoothing Video

An overview of decimation and smoothing can be found in this video:

7.5.2. Mesh Decimation

The aim in mesh-decimation is to remove points without destroying the topology and general shape of the mesh too much.

In VTK, the decimation, is based on [Schroeder1992].

Illustration of Mesh Decimation in VTK

Fig. 7.2 Mesh decimation seeks to remove certain points. See video.

7.5.3. Mesh Smoothing

In VTK, the smoothing, is based on a Laplacian smoothing Operator. These notes are helpful.

Illustration of Mesh Smoothing in VTK

Fig. 7.3 Mesh smoothing is implemented using the Laplacian Operator which can be thought of adding a displacement vector, computed as a weighted offset towards the mean of the neighborhood. See video.