Smooth Points qL

interface version 1

A two-pass smoothing (“relax”) of polygon mesh points.

This operator provides relaxation of geometry points, using a combination of multiple methods (or passes).

Geometry smoothing -- left: original, center: proximity-based, right: topology-based smoothing.

Heavily smoothed animated geometry, with guide geometry indicating the original shape (in blue).

Methods

The following methods (passes) are available:

Point proximity-based
pros: fast / cons: inaccurate
Point positions are relaxed by averaging with spatially-close neighbours (without any consideration for topology). It is a point cloud-based approach, with the usual parameters.
This pass doesn’t require any geometry but points (so it works for particles, point clouds, etc.)
It is very fast, although a bit inaccurate, and better suited for static geometry (as opposed to one with animated deformations). Applying an additional topology-based pass is recommended.
Topology-based (Laplacian)
pros: accurate / cons: slow
This method smooths points by averaging the positions of topological neighbours. It requires an actual geometry topology (for point connectivity). It also needs to be run for multiple iterations (with run time increasing linearly).
Tip
Take advantage of the strengths of both algorithms and avoid their weaknesses – try using a carefully-tuned 1st pass, so the 2nd pass could be run with fewer iterations.

Point Group

The group of points to be smoothed.

Envelope, Weight Name

Standard deformer envelope and weighting-related parameters.

Proximity Based

Proximity %	A blending ratio between the original and the proximity-smoothed geometry.
Max Distance	The maximum distance when looking for nearby points.
Max Points	The maximum number of points to be considered. If this number is reached, no further points will be looked for, regardless of Max Distance – so if adjusting Max Distance seems to have no effect, try increasing this value.
Falloff Exponent	Nearby found points are weighted according to their distance to the current point. This value controls weight falloff. A value of `1` means linear falloff; larger values result in weights dropping faster with distance; smaller ones go towards more equal weights over distance. A value of `0` disables falloff weighting altogether (each point will be weighted equally).

Topology Based

Topology %

A blending ratio between the pre- and the post-smoothed geometry.

Iterations

The number of times the smoothing to be applied.

Method

The Laplacian smoothing variant to use.

Extended Laplacian	An extended version of the original Laplacian algorithm. After each iteration, the original geometry coordinates are blended back with a given percentage (Alpha). This results in better convergence for higher iteration counts.
Humphrey’s Method	A variant with more complex internal calculations for better convergence. Note This mode is not yet implemented.
Alpha	The blend-back percentage value for the Extended Laplacian method. Zero (`0.0`) will provide the worst convergence, while one (`1.0`) will result in no smoothing at all.
Beta	The “beta” variable for the HC method (to be implemented later).

(misc)

Save Rest Position	Save original point coordinates in the `rest` attribute. Tip This is a convenience toggle, allowing to use `rest` positions in a connected Displace by Delta qL SOP.
Show Guide	Displays the guide geometry in the viewport.

interface version 1 —

2014-09-04	Enhanced the Laplacian smoothing algorithm, so it’ll converge better. The basic algorithm is now “Extended Laplacian” (use an Alpha value of `0` to get the original “naive” Laplacian results). Another one called “Humphrey’s Classes (HC)” will also be implemented later
2014-08-29	The default method is now the topology-based one
2014-08-17	Added help tip on rest attribute and Displace by Delta qL SOP.
2014-08-14	Added deformer weighting/envelope parameters Guide geometry
2014-08-13	First version. The green squshy-teddy is back! ;)