Using meshlab function with python

Question

I am new to 3D, I have a point cloud for this I want to form a mesh using python libraries. But I am able to do with using meshlab functions those are "Filters --> Pointset -- > compute normals for pointsets" and "Filters --> Remeshing,Simplifications and Reconstruction --> Surface Reconstruction ::Poission"

Is there any methods to doing above meshlab functions with using python to make it automate.

Thanks

Answer 1

You can make a system call to meshlabserver, which comes with Meshlab (it's in the Meshlab install directory).

If you run meshlabserver.exe with no arguments, it will display the following man page

Usage: meshlabserver [logargs] [args]

where logargs can be:

-d filename             dump on a text file a list of all the
                        filtering functions

-l filename             log of the filters is ouput on a file

where args can be:

-p filename             meshlab project (.mlp) to be loaded
-w filename [-v]        output meshlab project (.mlp) to be saved.
                        If -v flag is specified a 3D model meshfile.ext
                        contained in the input project will be overwritten,
                        otherwise it will be saved in the same directory of
                        input mesh as a new file called meshfile_out.ext.
                        All the mesh attributes will be exported in the
                        saved files

-i filename             mesh that has to be loaded

-o filename [-m <opt>]  the name of the file where to write the current mesh
                        of the MeshLab document.
                        If -m is specified  the specified mesh attributes will
                        be saved in the output file. the param <opt> can be a
                        space separated list of the following attributes:
                            vc -> vertex colors,  vf -> vertex flags,
                            vq -> vertex quality, vn-> vertex normals,
                            vt -> vertex texture coords,
                            fc -> face colors,  ff -> face flags,
                            fq -> face quality, fn-> face normals,
                            wc -> wedge colors, wn-> wedge normals,
                            wt -> wedge texture coords

-s filename                 the script to be applied

Examples:

'meshlabserver -i input.obj -o output.ply -m vc fq wn -s meshclean.mlx'
       the script contained in file 'meshclean.mlx' will be applied to the
       mesh contained into 'input.obj'. The vertex coordinates and the
       per-vertex-color, the per-face-quality and the per-wedge-normal
       attributes will be saved into the output.ply file

'meshlabserver -i input0.obj -i input1.ply -o outproj.mlp -v -s meshclean.mlx'
       the script file meshclean.mlx will be applied to the document
       composed by input0.obj and input1.ply meshes.
       The mesh input1.ply will become the current mesh of the document
       (e.g. the mesh to which the filters operating on a single model will
       be applied). A new output project outproj.mlp file will be generated
       (containing references to the input0.obj an input1.ply).
       The files input0.obj and input1.ply will be overwritten.

'meshlabserver -l logfile.txt -p proj.mlp -i input.obj -w outproj.mlp -s meshclean.mlx'
       the mesh file input.obj will be added to the meshes referred by the
       loaded meshlab project file proj.mlp. The mesh input.obj will become
       the current mesh of the document, the script file meshclean.mlx will
       be applied to the meshes contained into the resulting document.
       the project file outproj.mlp will be generated
       A 3D model meshfile.ext contained in the input project proj.mlp will
       be saved in a new file called meshfile_out.ext
       (if you want to overwrite the original files use the -v flag after
       the outproject filename) all the attributes of the meshes will be
       saved into the output files; the log info will be saved into the
       file logfile.txt.

Notes: There can be multiple meshes loaded and the order they are listed matters because filters that use meshes as parameters choose the mesh based on the order. The format of the output mesh is guessed by the used extension. Script is optional and must be in the xml format saved by MeshLab.

First, load a mesh with Meshlab, run the filters you want to run, then go to filters >> show current filter script and save the script somewhere so you can call it with meshlabserver.

One pro-tip: If you're loading .stl files, you have to add the following as the very first filter:

<filter name="Merge Close Vertices">
  <Param type="RichAbsPerc" name="Threshold" description="Merging distance" value="0" tooltip="All the vertices that closer than this threshold are merged together. Use very small values, default values is 1/10000 of bounding box diagonal. " min="0" max="0"/>
</filter>