readSurfaceMesh

Read 3-D surface mesh data from standard mesh file formats

Since R2022b

Syntax

mesh = readSurfaceMesh(fileName)

Description

mesh = readSurfaceMesh(fileName) reads surface mesh data from a supported mesh file format with the specified filename, and returns it as a surfaceMesh object.

Examples

Read Surface Mesh from PLY File

Specify a PLY file from which to read surface mesh data.

fileName = fullfile(toolboxdir("lidar"),"lidardata", ...
"surfaceMesh","sphere.ply");

Read surface mesh data from the PLY file into the workspace.

mesh = readSurfaceMesh(fileName)

mesh = 
  surfaceMesh with properties:

         Vertices: [482x3 double]
            Faces: [956x3 int32]
    VertexNormals: [482x3 double]
     VertexColors: []
      FaceNormals: []
       FaceColors: []
      NumVertices: 482
         NumFaces: 956

Display the surface mesh.

surfaceMeshShow(mesh)

Read Surface Mesh from STL file

Specify an STL file from which to read surface mesh data.

fileName = fullfile(toolboxdir("lidar"),"lidardata", ...
"surfaceMesh","mobius.stl");

Read surface mesh data from the STL file into the workspace.

mesh = readSurfaceMesh(fileName)

mesh = 
  surfaceMesh with properties:

         Vertices: [1050x3 double]
            Faces: [1960x3 int32]
    VertexNormals: []
     VertexColors: []
      FaceNormals: [1960x3 double]
       FaceColors: []
      NumVertices: 1050
         NumFaces: 1960

Display the surface mesh.

surfaceMeshShow(mesh)

Input Arguments

fileName — Filename of surface mesh data to read

character vector | string scalar

Filename of surface mesh data to read, specified as a character vector or string scalar. You must specify the file extension with the filename. If the file is not in your working folder you must specify the full file path. The function supports these standard mesh file formats:

• STL — Stereolithography file format

• PLY — Polygon file format

• FBX^® — Autodesk^® Filmbox

• OBJ — Wavefront^® OBJ

• GLTF — GL Transmission Format, glTF™

• GLB — GL Transmission Format Binary File

• OFF — Object File Format

• DAE — COLLADA™ Digital Asset Exchange

• STEP or STP — Standard for the Exchange of Product Data

• IGES or IGS — Initial Graphics Exchange Specification

Data Types: char | string

Output Arguments

mesh — Surface mesh data

surfaceMesh object

Surface mesh data, returned as a surfaceMesh object.

Limitations

• You cannot read these attributes from an STL file.

  • Vertex normals

  • Vertex colors

  • Face colors

• You cannot read face colors from a PLY file.

• You can read only mesh vertices, vertex colors, and mesh triangular faces from the FBX file format.

• You can read only mesh vertices and mesh triangular faces from the OBJ, GLTF, GLB, OFF, DAE, STEP, STP, IGES, or IGS file formats.

Version History

Introduced in R2022b

R2024a: Read 3-D surface mesh data from new file formats

You can now read 3-D surface mesh data from these file formats: FBX, OBJ, GLTF, GLB, OFF, DAE, STEP, STP, IGES, and IGS.