Mesh Sculptor

The Mesh Sculptor module creates high-resolution parametric meshes by sweeping a 2D cross-section along a profile spline and applying displacement effects directly to mesh vertices. Unlike the G-code Sculptor (which generates G-code toolpaths), Mesh Sculptor operates entirely on mesh geometry and exports STL only — you slice the resulting file in your preferred slicer.

Pipeline Overview

Every Mesh Sculptor design passes through five stages:

Profile Spline — A bezier spline defines the radius-over-height silhouette of the object, the same editor used by the G-code Sculptor module. Each control point sets the radius at a given normalized height.
Cross-Section — A 2D closed shape (circle, polygon, sine wave, or custom bezier curve) is sampled into a ring of points. This ring is the "cookie-cutter" shape that gets swept upward.
Base Mesh Generation — The cross-section ring is swept along the spline profile at each height step, producing a dense grid of vertices. UV coordinates are assigned: U wraps 0–1 around the circumference, V runs 0–1 from bottom to top.
Effects Stack — Displacement effects modify vertex positions in sequence. Each effect reads the current positions and ring normals, then pushes vertices outward or inward. Normals are recomputed once after the entire stack is applied.
Shell and Export — If inner wall is enabled, a second inset wall is generated at the configured thickness. The final mesh (outer wall, optional inner wall, and caps) is exported as a watertight STL file.

Quality Presets

Quality controls how many segments the mesh is divided into. Higher quality means finer detail but slower regeneration. The preset applies to both the circumferential (U) and vertical (V) axes:

Draft: 128 x 128 segments (~33K triangles). Fast preview for iterating on designs. Regenerates in under a second.
Standard: 256 x 256 segments (~131K triangles). Good balance of detail and speed for most designs.
High: 512 x 512 segments (~524K triangles). Fine surface detail suitable for final exports.
Ultra: 1024 x 512 segments (~1M triangles). Maximum resolution for large prints or designs with very fine effects.

Cross-Section Shapes

The cross-section determines the horizontal profile of the object at every height. Seven presets are available:

Circle: Standard round cross-section. The default starting shape.
Square: Four-sided cross-section. Use Corner Radius to round the edges into a rounded rectangle.
Triangle: Three-sided cross-section. Corner Radius blends the corners into arcs.
Hexagon: Six-sided cross-section. Corner Radius smooths the corners while preserving the hex silhouette.
Polygon: Custom N-sided regular polygon (3–16 sides). Combine with Corner Radius for rounded polygons.
Sine: Sinusoidal radial deformation applied to a circle. Controls: Lobes (wave count), Amplitude (depth), Harmonics (overtones for richer waveforms), Pinch (valley/peak asymmetry). Pair with the Twist effect for helical rotation.
Custom: Draw a custom cross-section shape using the bezier curve editor. See the Custom Cross-Section page for details.

Corner Radius applies true tangent-arc fillets to polygon presets. The radius is specified in millimeters and internally converted to unit space using the maximum profile spline radius. Circle, Sine, and Custom presets ignore corner radius.

Shell Settings

Shell settings control whether the object is solid or hollow:

Inner Wall Enabled: Creates a hollow object with inner and outer walls. When off, the mesh is a single surface with closed top and bottom.
Wall Thickness (mm): Distance between inner and outer walls (0.4–20 mm). Only active when inner wall is enabled.
Inner Follows Effects: When on, the inner wall mirrors all displacement effects from the outer surface. When off, the inner wall remains smooth — only structural effects (Twist, Taper/Bulge) are applied to the inner wall so it stays aligned with the outer shape.

Export Workflow

Mesh Sculptor bypasses G-code generation entirely. The export flow is:

Click Export and choose STL format.
The mesh is regenerated at the selected quality (or a higher override quality for export).
The watertight STL file is saved, ready for import into any slicer (Cura, PrusaSlicer, OrcaSlicer, etc.).

The exported mesh includes all effects, shell walls, and caps as a single manifold surface. To displace the finished body in world space (or an imported STL) without baking a bump into this stack, add Texturize in the same project and live-link this module.

Effect Categories

Effects are organized into seven categories. See the Effects Stack page for how effects interact, and browse individual effect pages for parameters and tips.

Wave & Oscillation: Periodic waveforms: Surface Waves, Wavy Vase, Harmonics, Wave Folder, Glitch.
Texture & Pattern: Repeating surface textures: Knurling, Faceted Triangles, Synth Weave, Line Pattern, Ridges & Grooves, Gear Teeth, plus Procedural Texture (shared heightmap library).
Flow & Organic: Organic and procedural patterns: Organic Noise, Iso Surface Flow, Topo Contour, Flow Ridges, Voronoi Ridges, Radial Blob, Sphere Push, Voronoi Cells.
Hex Family: Hexagonal grid-based patterns: Hex Pyramid, Hex Iso Flow, Hex Topo Contour.
Image-Based: Bump Map and Emboss remain hidden while their upload pipeline is unfinished.
Shape: Global deformations: Twist, Taper / Bulge.
Utility: Structural additions: Bottom Cap.