Tessellation Settings

Use

You can use tessellation to modify the arrangement and density of model polygons. In doing so, a finer mesh is created for models as the curvature gets tighter. Note that finer meshes with more faces and detail use more resources and may take longer to render.

There are a number of tessellation parameters that define the model tessellation including tessellation level, angular tolerance, and chord height tolerance.

Tessellation Levels

The following table describes the standard settings for tessellation levels:

Standard Tessellation Level Settings

Tessellation Level

Angular Tolerance

Chord Height Tolerance

Very Low

Off

3.1622

Low

Off

1.7782

Medium Low

Off

1.0

Medium

45

0.025

Medium High

22.50

0.01

High

11.25

0.005

Very High

5.63

0.001

These values are exact, but are by default scaled to the size of the objects as they are tessellated. This is described below in the description for “chord height behavior”. The chord height values work as a percentage.

User-Defined Tessellation

You can define tessellation values, including the following:

Setting

Description

Angular Tolerance

Determines the maximum angular deviation (in degrees), allowed between a analytical surface and its triangulation

Pairs of triangles do not incorporate a dihedral angle greater than this amount. This setting dictates the minimum number of facets around a smaller circle or cylinder regardless of the Chord Height Tolerance setting, and gives you added control over faces with very small radii. Lower values result in finer tessellations, while higher values give coarser tessellations.

Chord Height Tolerance

Determines the value between the analytical surface and its triangulation that defines the distance and accuracy of the tessellation

The lower is the Chord Height Tolerance value, the more accurate is the result. 0.00001 is the minimum unit (High detail), and 1 000 000 is the maximum unit (Low detail).

Chord Height Behavior

Determines how accurately the chord height tolerance will be applied

Absolute: Indicates that the chord height tolerance is applied exactly as is

Scaled: Indicates that the values may be adjusted depending on the scale of the object being tessellated

Angular Tolerance Cap

Determines the minimum value that is applied to angular tolerance, irrespective of other settings

For example, an angular tolerance cap of 45 degrees which will ensure that a circle is tessellated to have at least 8 sides.

Chord Height Tolerance Cap

Determines the minimum value that is applied to chord height tolerance, irrespective of other settings