Creating an outer shell on a mesh

[NotQuiteLuxo]

Hi,
Is there a way to take any (complex) mesh and just reduce it to its outer shell?
Not sure how to describe best - if I created lots of overlapping objects and then could “spray paint” them in real life, then just make the objects disappear and be left with just the dried outer paint in the same shape! I know boolean operations do this for simple setups, but I need this for a complex, preexisting mesh that I can’t boolean.

Thanks!

[RickyBlender]

there is a new bool tool in bottom header menu
did you try it ?

also show some pic might help to understand problems

happy bl

[NotQuiteLuxo]

I can’t boolean this model unfortunately. My attached image hopefully helps. I’ve arrayed some overlapping spheres (first pic - the mesh I need is far more complex - this is just an example). If I boolean these together I get the mesh shown in pics 2 and 3. i.e. no “inner” or “hidden” faces.

Attachments

[Photox (Tim Gregory)]

Show your actual example, it will make a difference whether you should boolean, shrinkwrap, decimate, retopo…

[NotQuiteLuxo]

One example attached - made from lots of math-generated spheres. I’ve loads of them to make and just hoping for a general workflow that I can use to tidy them up really, before rendering, etc. Thanks.

Attachments

[NotQuiteLuxo]

May have figured it out!

Imported obj to MeshLab, use Filters “Remeshing, Simplification and Reconstruction”, “Surface Reconstruction: Poisson”. Set Octree Depth to 8 and apply.

Export obj and reimport to blender and cycles shaders work nicely. Original mesh not suitable for “glass” for example due to intersecting faces, etc.

Blender’s own “remesh” has an “Octree depth” and is possibly doing something similar - but it crashed Blender for me.

[NotQuiteLuxo]

Example.

Attachments