<p>When I have a plaster cast of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandible" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Lower jaw bone">mandibula</a> and rest it upside down on a table, in most cases it will be in a stable position.</p>

<p>In real life, I do not have a plaster cast, but a 3D scan, i.e. a surface mesh. I want to transform the meshes to the position they would be in if they were resting on a table.</p>

<p>Why: we have 3D scans of mandibulae, but some of them are slightly misaligned against the axis because the patient did not sit straight. For easier comparison, we would like to make them look more similar. And in case someone suggests "registration": we do that anyway.</p>

<p>Can someone point me to an algorithm? Any keyword I can use to google?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-03T12:49:24.687Z
The only thing I know of that sounds remotely related to your question is this paper from SIGGRAPH 2013: https://igl.ethz.ch/projects/make-it-stand/make-it-stand-siggraph-2013-prevost-et-al.pdf
IneQuation
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-03T16:13:14.220Z
Sorry, I know, could not get the title into one word. However, I believe both are the same problem.
Dieter Menne
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-04T00:02:28.307Z
I've edited to hopefully make the title and body match. Please revert anything which changes your intention.
trichoplax is on Codidact now
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-04T11:08:48.363Z
By using a principal axis rotation, and some shifts, I got what I wanted. Only works because of the special form of a mandibula-scan.
Dieter Menne
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-01T20:09:36.783Z
If you solved your problem, feel free to answer your own question.
Christian Rau
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-03T07:41:26.037Z
Thinking it over, doing this correctly would have required a full 3D model and a physical model of the weight distribution. Doing it manually by rotating the model in 3D-space until it looked straight was easier.
Dieter Menne
<3d><mesh>
Aligning similar surface meshes consistently
Dieter Menne
# Aligning similar surface meshes consistently

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-03)

When I have a plaster cast of a [mandibula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandible "Lower jaw bone") and rest it upside down on a table, in most cases it will be in a stable position.

In real life, I do not have a plaster cast, but a 3D scan, i.e. a surface mesh. I want to transform the meshes to the position they would be in if they were resting on a table.

Why: we have 3D scans of mandibulae, but some of them are slightly misaligned against the axis because the patient did not sit straight. For easier comparison, we would like to make them look more similar. And in case someone suggests "registration": we do that anyway.

Can someone point me to an algorithm? Any keyword I can use to google?

**Tags:** 3d, mesh

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The only thing I know of that sounds remotely related to your question is this paper from SIGGRAPH 2013: https://igl.ethz.ch/projects/make-it-stand/make-it-stand-siggraph-2013-prevost-et-al.pdf  
> **username_0**: Sorry, I know, could not get the title into one word. However, I believe both are the same problem.  
> **username_2**: I've edited to hopefully make the title and body match. Please revert anything which changes your intention.  
> **username_0**: By using a principal axis rotation, and some shifts, I got what I wanted. Only works because of the special form of a mandibula-scan.  
> **username_3**: If you solved your problem, feel free to answer your own question.  
> **username_0**: Thinking it over, doing this correctly would have required a full 3D model and a physical model of the weight distribution. Doing it manually by rotating the model in 3D-space until it looked straight was easier.  

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## 0 answers

