Creating and Saving a 3D Mesh Tutorial

This tutorial teaches you how to create a 3D object, which then can be converted to a mesh and saved.

Start with the project you created in Creating A 3D Object.
Run the program now and you will see a 2x2 layout with one of the slots filled with a 3D object. This 3D object is rendered using the VRT (Volume Rendering Technique).

Convert the 3D object into a mesh. This is done by changing the volume type to SSD (Shaded Surface display). Add the following line at the end of the InitClass() method:
[Visual Basic]


            ' Change the volume type of the rendered object to SSD
            control3D.ObjectsContainer.VolumeType = Medical3DVolumeType.SSD

[C#]


            // Change the volume type of the rendered object to SSD
            control3D.ObjectsContainer.VolumeType = Medical3DVolumeType.SSD;

You may want to add the following code before step (3) above as converting the object to mesh can be a time-consumer process.
[Viusal Basic]


            this.Show()
            this.Update()

[C#]


            this.Show();
            this.Update();

Now you have created a 3D Mesh. To change the surface, use the Medical3DObject.Slab.IsoThreshold property.

Save the mesh. To save the mesh, simply add this line at the end of the InitClass() method:
[Visual Basic]


            // Save the mesh under the name TestMesh.
            control3D.ObjectsContainer.Objects[0].SSD.SaveMesh("C:\TestMesh.x")

[C#]


            // Save the mesh to a file
            control3D.ObjectsContainer.Objects[0].SSD.SaveMesh(@"C:\TestMesh.x");

Note: If you open C:\ through Windows Explorer, you will notice the mesh was saved as “TestMesh.x”.

The initClass() method should look as follows:
[Visual Basic]


            Private Sub InitClass()
                 Dim MY_LICENSE_FILE As String = "d:\temp\TestLic.lic"
                 
                 ' Unlock DICOM support
                 Dim MY_DicomDEVELOPER_KEY As String = "xyz123abc"
                 RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_DicomDEVELOPER_KEY);
                 
                 ' Unlock Medical support
                 Dim MY_MedicalDEVELOPER_KEY As String = "abc123xyz"
                 RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_MedicalDEVELOPER_KEY);
                 
                 ' Unlock Medical 3D support
                 Dim MY_3DDEVELOPER_KEY As String = "123xyzabc"
                 RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_3DDEVELOPER_KEY);
                 
                 ' Create a new instance of the Codecs class, which will be used to load the images.
                 Dim _codecs As RasterCodecs = New RasterCodecs()
                 ' Create a new instance of the Medical Viewer. The layout will be divided to 2X2.
                 Dim viewer As MedicalViewer = New MedicalViewer(2, 2)
                 ' Fit the view to the whole form
                 viewer.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
                 ' Create the 3D control that will hold the 3D object.
                 Dim control3D As Medical3DControl = New Medical3DControl()
                 control3D.AddAction(MedicalViewerActionType.WindowLevel)
                 control3D.SetAction(MedicalViewerActionType.WindowLevel, MedicalViewerMouseButtons.Left, MedicalViewerActionFlags.Active)
                 Dim object3D As Medical3DObject = New Medical3DObject()
                 ' Add the newly created 3D object to the control.
                 control3D.ObjectsContainer.Objects.Add(object3D)
                 object3D.Image = _codecs.Load("C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\image1.dcm")
                 ' Add the cell above to the MedicalViewer.
                 viewer.Cells.Add(control3D)
                 Controls.Add(viewer)
                 
                 Me.Show()
                 Me.Update()
                 
                 ' Change the volume type of the rendered object to SSD
                 control3D.ObjectsContainer.VolumeType = Medical3DVolumeType.SSD
                 
                 ' Save the mesh to a file
                 control3D.ObjectsContainer.Objects(0).SSD.SaveMesh("C:\TestMesh.x")
            End Sub

[C#]


            void InitClass()
            {
                 string MY_LICENSE_FILE = "d:\\temp\\TestLic.lic";
               
                 // Unlock DICOM support
                 string MY_DicomDEVELOPER_KEY = "xyz123abc";
                 RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_DicomDEVELOPER_KEY);
                 
                 // Unlock Medical support
                 string MY_MedicalDEVELOPER_KEY = "abc123xyz";
                 RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_MedicalDEVELOPER_KEY);
                 
                 // Unlock Medical 3D support
                 string MY_3DDEVELOPER_KEY = "123xyzabc";
                 RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_3DDEVELOPER_KEY);
                 
                 // Create a new instance of the Codecs class, which will be used to load the images.
                 RasterCodecs _codecs = new RasterCodecs();
                 // Create a new instance of the Medical Viewer. The layout will be divided to 2X2.
                 MedicalViewer viewer = new MedicalViewer(2, 2);
                 // Fit the view to the whole form
                 viewer.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
                 // Create the 3D control that will hold the 3D object.
                 Medical3DControl control3D = new Medical3DControl();
                 control3D.AddAction(MedicalViewerActionType.WindowLevel);
                 control3D.SetAction(MedicalViewerActionType.WindowLevel, MedicalViewerMouseButtons.Left, MedicalViewerActionFlags.Active);
                 Medical3DObject object3D = new Medical3DObject();
                 // Add the newly created 3D object to the control.
                 control3D.ObjectsContainer.Objects.Add(object3D);
                 object3D.Image = _codecs.Load(@"C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\image1.dcm");
                 // Add the cell above to the MedicalViewer.
                 viewer.Cells.Add(control3D);
                 Controls.Add(viewer);
                 
                 this.Show();
                 this.Update();
                 
                 // Change the volume type of the rendered object to SSD
                 control3D.ObjectsContainer.VolumeType = Medical3DVolumeType.SSD;
                 
                 // Save the mesh to a file
                 control3D.ObjectsContainer.Objects[0].SSD.SaveMesh(@"C:\TestMesh.x");
            }

Run the program and you should see see a 2X2 layout with one of the slots filled with a 3D object. The 3D object is rendered using the SSD (Shaded Surface display).
Note: To view higher quality images, we provide DICOMDIR sample files which can be downloaded from here. For more information on building 3D objects from a DICOMDIR, please see Loading a DICOMDIR To Create a 3D Object.