Volume
The volume parameter represents the exact amount of space in cubic millimeters that your 3D model occupies. For example: if you filled your model with water, the amount of water it would take to fill it to the top would be equal to the volume parameter of the model. This gives you an idea of how much material will be necessary to print your model. It is important to remember that service bureaus also take the volume of an order into account when making the customer quotation.
Surface
The surface parameter indicates the sum of the surface areas of all triangles located on the outside of your model. So if you covered your model in aluminum foil, the amount of foil in millimeters would be equal to its surface parameter. This gives information about the cost the post-processing will take: how much sand paper will they need to buy? How much coating material will be needed for the finish? The surface parameter is yet another factor in the quoting process.
Number of Triangles
The higher the number of triangles used to describe the surface geometry of a 3D model, the more detailed it will be. This also influences how much time the computer needs to slice the STL file and print the object. The parameter extraction tool lets you know how many triangles your file contains, giving you a heads up about the customer quotation you might be able to expect. Bear in mind: the longer the slicing software needs to slice your file, the higher the quotation will be. For more information about the resolution of STL files, visit the STL Converter webpage.
Integrate our API
Lift off your business by integrating the power of the
Materialise Cloud API into your services.