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[2015] ConvertExcelToMesh3D:

• Why did i make my own drawing 3D Software:
  • I tried SweetHome3D. Very nice/easy to start quickly drawing your own flat. But i wanted to manage more myselft each details.
  • I tried Google Sketchup. It provides good ideas and interessing tools. But i find it is crazy to manage different layers sharing the same points. I got bugs when my scene 3D becomes complex.
  • I like using Excel (easy to organize/duplicate/compute each positions).
  • I wanted to be able to export my final mesh 3D in any file format.
• How to compute surface points:
  • Step 1: Create an Excel file with 4 columns: X, Y, Zmin, Zmax.
  • Step 2: Define closed line 2D along each top/bottom surface borders.
  • Step 3: For each row, set X,Y values to define a closed line 2D. Make sure points are sorted in the clock direction, to allow closing shapes with top and bottom caps.
  • Step 4: To define different lines 2D, add empty row.
  • Step 5: Set Zmin and Zmax values to join top/bottom surfaces.
  • Step 6: Save as .csv.
  • Step 7: Drag-and-drop your file.csv onto ConvertExcelToMesh3D.exe to compute meshes 3D (in different file 3d formats: .stl, .ply, .vtp, .vtk, and oriented images: .jpg, .png).
• How to group or color surface parts:
  • Step 1: Add in the Excel file the columns: item, Red, Green, Blue.
  • Step 2: For each row, set any integer values for items (to be used like scalar/array to threshold the final mesh).
  • Step 3: For each row, set any 0<=integer<=255 values for Red/Green/Blue.
• How to watch final meshes:
  • Download my free ShowMeshes_Lite32b.exe.
    • Drag-and-drop your 3d mesh files directly on ShowMeshes.exe.
    • Left/middle/right click on the 3d viewer to move the camera.
  • Use free Software Paraview (available on http://www.paraview.org/download/).
    • Go into Paraview menu/File/Open: to load.
    • Go into Paraview menu/Filters/Alphabetical/Threshold: to choose only few items to show.
    • Go into Paraview Display tab + uncheck Map Scalars: to display real colors.
• Download:
  • My free Software: ConvertExcelToMesh3D.exe
  • Source code c++: main.cpp (it works with the library VTK).
  • Exemple 1(basic shapes):

    Exemple1.xls, Exemple1.csv.

  • Exemple 2(car):

    Exemple2_car.xls, Exemple2_car.csv.

  • Exemple 3(bathroom):

    Exemple3_bathroom.xls, Exemple3_bathroom.csv.