Mesh Contour Node#

Description#

The Mesh Contour node cuts a mesh-based 3D object with a family of parallel planes and returns the resulting cross-section contours. The base plane sets the orientation and starting position, while Distance controls the spacing between successive section planes, the same way the Contour node spaces its levels. The intersection is computed directly on the mesh triangles, so it stays fast even for dense models.

Creation Method#

Creating a Mesh Contour Node#

Using Search List#

• Double left-click in the workspace to open the search list.
• Write the name or associated keywords for the node: slice, section, plane, contour, mesh, stl.

Select from Menu#

• Navigate to Tools > 3D Object > Mesh Contour.

Inputs#

• 3D Object: The mesh-based 3D object to contour, for example STL/OBJ/GLB/3DS/3DM loaded through the Object 3d node.
• Plane: The base cutting plane. Defaults to the XY plane.
• Distance: Spacing between parallel section planes (must be greater than 0).
• Point Count: Number of points sampled on each contour.

Steps#

1. Create a Mesh Contour Node.
2. Input a 3D Object via the object3d port.
3. Set the base Plane and the Distance between sections.
4. Execute Node to compute the cross-sections.
5. Access Output Data:
   • Contours: Cross-section contour curves (closed where the section is a loop).
   • Points: Sampled points from each contour.

Notes#

• Contours are built as polylines, preserving the exact intersection points for downstream point extraction.
• Points are sampled directly on the generated mesh contour polylines, so this is faster than sending the contours through a separate curve division node when only contour points are needed.
• STEP/IGES topological imports are not supported by this node. Use mesh-based imports such as STL/OBJ/GLB/3DS/3DM.
• If no plane intersects the object, the node reports that no cross-section was found.

See Also#

• 3D Object Sampler
• Contour