In the previous post I used NetFabb to repair my model. I will also show an alternative option here.

Since the repair in NetFabb went wrong in the previous step, I will do a repair using MeshLab instead. So I open MeshLab and import the hollow model. I also use the menu options ‘Render/Show non manif edges’ and ‘Render/Show non manif vertices’ to show the non manifold parts of my model.

If the geometry is non-manifold then that means that it cannot exist in the real world. In general, it means there are pieces that are disconnected or don’t fit perfectly. Those need to be fixed. And as the image shows, my model seems to have a lot of those, especially in the floor plane.

I first start to fix the non-manifold edges. I use ‘Filters/Cleaning and Repairing/Select non-manifold edges’ to select them all and then I delete the current selection of faces and vertices. And when I do that, this happens:

It removed a large piece of the floor plane!

So, I start over again with MeshLab and use ‘Filters/Cleaning and Repairing/Select non-manifold vertices’ and ‘Delete selected vertices’ instead. This needs to be repeated several times but it does the trick. The floor plane stay solid while the model is repaired. But it still isn’t enough. So I have to try to repair it with NetFabb again and this time I do an automatic repair but before accepting the repair, I select the triangles that cover the floor plane and remove them. That way, the floor plane gets its border back. Since it will have repaired most other issues, this will be the version I use for further attempts to repair it.

So, one solution would be to redo the whole model from the beginning. I would need to fix the floor plane, import it in Poser again, set it to the proper size, export all from Poser, remove the textures and merge all parts, rescale, cut and then try to repair it again. But as it turns out, there is another solution to remove that floor plane.

MeshMixer has an option ‘Edit/Separate shells’ which can be used to split the whole thing up in loose parts. I can then join all the parts again minus the floor plan. The floor plane is just cut away while keeping her foot intact. This is then exported again and repaired. And since the whole model was already manifold except for the floor plan, there isn’t much to be repaired to begin with.

This is what the model looks like now:

The floor plane would have given her a better look and a way to stand on her own, but this is why I added the back plane with magnets anyway. The connections will be weaker, though.

The last part is printing the 3D object.