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Smoothing

In one sentence: Apply a Laplacian or Taubin filter to reduce surface noise and rough triangulation artifacts in the mesh.

Overview

Workbench: Mesh
Menu: Mesh → Meshes → Smooth…
Command: Mesh_Smoothing
Shortcut: none

Applies a smoothing filter to the mesh to reduce surface noise and rough triangulation artifacts. Two algorithms are available: Laplacian (simple, may shrink the mesh) and Taubin (volume-preserving).

Intuition

A mesh from a 3-D scanner always has some surface noise — high-frequency variations in vertex positions that don't represent real geometry. Smoothing moves each vertex toward the average position of its neighbours, reducing the noise while (ideally) preserving the overall shape.

Use Taubin smoothing for engineering work — it applies a two-step correction that largely prevents the mesh shrinkage that plain Laplacian smoothing causes.

When to use it

  • Reducing noise on a scan mesh before segmentation or reverse-engineering fits.
  • Improving the appearance of a mesh for rendering.
  • Preparing a mesh for Segmentation (Curvature) which is sensitive to high-frequency noise.

When NOT to use it

  • Don't over-smooth — each pass removes surface detail. Sharp edges, lettering, and fine features are blurred and permanently lost. Always work on a copy.
  • Don't use it expecting to improve mesh topology — smoothing moves vertices but does not fix holes, non-manifold edges, or inverted normals.

Parameters

Parameter Description
Algorithm Laplacian or Taubin
Iterations Number of smoothing passes (1–20 typical)
Lambda Smoothing factor (0–1); larger = more smoothing per pass
Mu Anti-shrinkage factor (Taubin only); use a negative value

Recommended for scan data: - Algorithm: Taubin - Iterations: 5–10 - Lambda: 0.5, Mu: −0.53

Common mistakes and pitfalls

Over-smoothing destroys sharp features

Smoothing is irreversible on the current mesh. Sharp edges, embossed text, and fine detail are blurred permanently. Always keep a backup copy (use Simple Copy or duplicate the mesh object) before smoothing.

Laplacian smoothing shrinks the mesh

Many iterations of Laplacian smoothing gradually shrink the overall mesh volume. Use Taubin smoothing (which includes an anti-shrinkage correction step) for engineering work.

See also