Lines to Voxels turns a polyline object into a voxel volume. Every voxel near the line stores its distance to the line, so the volume is a distance field around the line, and MeshInspector shows it as a thin tube along the line. Use it when you want to continue with the line as a volume, for example to convert it to a mesh.
If you only need a tube-shaped mesh around a line, the Offset tool on the same tab makes it in one step: see Offset for lines.
The tool is on the Lines tab, in the group with the other conversion tools.
Convert lines to voxels
- Select exactly one polyline object in the Scene tree.
- Click Lines › Lines to Voxels.
- Set Voxel Size and Offset (voxels). The Volume line under Voxel Size shows the number of voxels along X, Y and Z and their total for the current settings.
- Click Convert (or press Enter).
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Voxel Size | The edge length of one voxel. A smaller voxel follows the line more closely but gives more voxels and takes more memory. | Calculated from the size of the line |
| Offset (voxels) | How far from the line, in voxels, the exact distances are stored. Voxels farther away get this value. It also sets the radius of the tube that MeshInspector shows. Range from 1 to 1000. | 3 |
The result
MeshInspector replaces the polyline object with a Voxel Volume object named after the line with voxels at the end, and closes the panel. Objects nested in the polyline move to the new object. To get the line back, use Undo (Ctrl+Z, or Cmd+Z on macOS).
In the Information panel, Min,Iso,Max shows the range of the stored values: 0 on the line and the Offset (voxels) value at the edge of the field. The iso value equals Offset (voxels), so the visible surface is a tube with a radius of that many voxels around the line. In the example below, a radius of 3 voxels of 0.443 mm is about 1.3 mm.
To make a mesh of the tube, convert the volume as described in How to convert voxels to mesh. More about volumes: Voxels.
