How to use the Face Transform Tool in Meshmixer - Quickly alter .stl files!

In this quick vid I'll show you how I use the face transform tool in meshmixer to modify existing mesh data. It's not perfect, but might get you out of trouble one day!

Ways I use this tool:
- Alter the width of a feature
- Make text higher for more definition
- Make indents deeper for more definition
- Add thickness to a base or layer for more strength

Be sure to use facegroups to make selection of triangles easier, and subdivide using remesh if needed. stl files aren't designed to be easily edited!

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[smokeydops]

Videos like this make me feel like a blender wizard...
thanks for showing whats out there :)

[AbuzzDesigns]

I love your tutorials! still learning meshmixer myself so this was super helpful.

[rafalmag]

Thanks Angus, I found the right tool and trick to remix the stl! I enjoyed watching whole series, great job! Looking forward for new Meshmixer content :)

[spikekent]

This could save me a ton of time. I usually just try to re-engineer a model because I've never had much success with editing .STLs
Thanks Angus

[andre]

And how do you fix those Triangles that you move on the Bottom of this Thing. 3:02

[shanebeasley]

awesome another meshmixer video ... good work Angus, keep em coming

[comingfromthespacecalling]

That's pretty cool! I've become quite used to 123D Design for about a year and a half now, but haven't used Meshmixer because working with triangles looks a bit scary. However, with this tutorial and reading that Meshmixer will decouple from 123D Design (including the annoying bugs in 123D Design), this gives me hope and motivation for the future! Thanks! :)

[JATMN]

Great tips Angus - Keep them coming your teaching me MeshMixer eventually. LOL

[shenqiangshou]

love the meshmixer tips, it has so many hidden gems, and a terrible manual, haha, but it is truly an incredible piece of free software

[DEtchells]

Fantastic, just saved me a *ton* of time, thanks!!

[jasonmc]

Hi Angus, dragging this up from the abyss, is there any 3D editing tools you would recommend for 2023, I am currently trying "again" to use Meshmixer and would prefer to use something still updated, this tutorial has helped me immensely, I only worry by the time I get a little better I will need to transfer to something else and go through that process again. I am currently trying to convert a Mitsubishi STL file of a 1994 Series one Mitsubishi L400 Delica Space gear SWB to LWB (Long Wheel Base) and then to change front to series 2, they are basically the same to look at except from "A" pillar forwards.
The original STL is so good you can even select a wheel nut etc.

From this video I have learnt and have trailed extending the main body, I know the actual measurements but I have yet to work out how to turn on measurement as I am deforming and the conversion of measurement from real to STL measurements etc, I am currently stuck in lasso/freehand mode for selecting and can not work out to stop this, it did help to use lasso for one selection. My only gripe with this video was I had to pause a lot to keep up with you LOL.

PS. we meet once at a Olympic Park meet and I talked to you about 3D printing and your channel as I was already an older fan of your channel.

[Eric-qprx]

How did you get the outlines of the triangles to show up on the model? Whenever i upload a file it doesnt have those its just one color of grey. I think you missed that part of your video and since you have to at least have that to do anything you are saying.. im stuck!

[matthewazevedo]

great tip Angus. I have been using the extrude tool to the same effect. is there a functional difference between the two tools?

[slightlyevilrobotics]

Great brief but useful tutorial, thanks!

[hsyed]

Hi! How did you change the soft transform snap step distance during 3:42 ? Please help!!

[robert]

I can see that you can alter the length or depth of a particular face Or even it's But is it possible to take one end of a face and make it narrower while the other end stays the same with in a sense turning a square closer to a triangle

[inhibited]

If you wanted that hinge to fit on a curved surface, instead of a flat surface, does meshmixer have a way to make it fit the contours of the curved surface?

[DaHaiZhu]

very handy. I was using SketchUp stl import and messing with it that way. meshmixer is much better!

[scottn]

Angus, I love the videos, but I would like to give some constructive criticism. I would like to suggest that you have a specific end goal with the way you are explaining the use of a tool. I noticed that you added more triangles to the mesh because you wanted to prevent a zero thickness wall along the bottom, but you selected the same problem area and ended with the same result when you pulled those screw holes out. The same zero thickness wall existed along the bottom of the model it just had more geometry along with it. As a suggestion, you could mention that by holding Ctrl you can deselect specific parts of the mesh that you didn't want in the transform. You did show that you could add length to the hinge, and mentioned that you can add extra screw holes. You did not go through the process of how to add said holes. If you are speaking to a beginner, that individual might get even more frustrated looking for the I want more holes button (which does not exist). You can do the things you ask for in Meshmixer and there are probably a few different ways of doing it. I understand that you are trying to quickly crank out some content, but this is something that would end in a bit of frustration for most users trying to get a printable file "quickly modified". You might show that you can probably use Meshmixer in conjunction with TinkerCad to actually achieve the goals you mentioned. If you are looking for ideas of how to crank out some great content, may I suggest that there be a follow up on how to add the holes to the existing STL file. You would not need to limit yourself to just Meshmixer or to even stay within the Autocad family, but you could show what is the easiest way to achieve the goals you listed in your video.

You might take a few extra seconds to note that Face Groups are actually a really important part of Meshmixer and that many of the tools use those Face Groups in their calculations for things like refinements and finding hard edges. So the way that you define a face group helps define the way that you are using the tools after that point.

I do hope that you take my words in a good way.

[wrxsubaru]

I cant seem to press/pull with the transform option like you are. I select it so its all orange then do same steps as you but nothing happens when i click and drag the arrows around in different directions.