A query for computer geeks or engineers

[woot]

I'm not either, but am trying to do some things that will require me to become a bit like the former, if not the latter. I know we have at least a few engineers on here so I'm hoping to tap the collective experience of you guys a bit.

I'm looking for a free or cheap software package that can do feature segmentation of 3D triangle meshes. The watershed algorithm has been around long enough that I'm guessing there are at least a few running around that can implement it, but I haven't found any. The goal will be to delineate, label, and quantify the articular surfaces of a bunch of extant and fossil specimens, most of which will be quite small in size, if that matters. The watershed algorithm will probably work well for what I'm doing given that the bones I work with tend to have articular surfaces that are nicely delineated by areas with high curvature values.

Ideally I could just use one of those really fancy packages like Geomagic to do this sort of thing, but I'm not sure what my access to anything like that will be. My advisor doesn't do anything like what I'm doing so the process of getting my methodology worked out has been difficult.

I've got solutions mostly figured out for 3D model construction, statistical analysis, and at least some of the data extraction stuff, but the segmentation issue is eluding me.

[pelagius]

I don't fit either description but if you want free I would either take a look at:

1. Scientific python (scipy) which is a module for python.

2. R

I did a quick search and both have packages that do the watershed algo. For example:

http://www.scipy.org/Cookbook/Watershed

[woot]

Cool thanks. R is my statistical package of choice so I'll look around for a module. I hadn't thought about searching for one because I'd prefer to work in .ply, whereas I imagine R could only do x,y,z coordinates as text, which would cause the loss of other (vectors, color, etc.) data. Maybe I'll give it a shot anyway just to see.

[woot]

Do any of you guys have a preferred text editor for data importing/editing? I'm using notepad right now but it seems like there are a bunch out there. I use Tinn-R for coding and wonder if I should just start using that for .txt as well, but I'm seeing so many like e, emeditor, notepadd++, textpad, pspad, and emacs that I wonder if I'm missing out. And yeah, notepad sucks and I should stop using it immediately.

[old_gregg]

i've always used notepad++ for my extremely meager (very basic java, html, and autohotkey) needs.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Do any of you guys have a preferred text editor for data importing/editing? I'm using notepad right now but it seems like there are a bunch out there. I use Tinn-R for coding and wonder if I should just start using that for .txt as well, but I'm seeing so many like e, emeditor, notepadd++, textpad, pspad, and emacs that I wonder if I'm missing out. And yeah, notepad sucks and I should stop using it immediately.

I like textpad.

[Surfah]

i've always used notepad++ for my extremely meager (very basic java, html, and autohotkey) needs.

Ditto.

[Uncle Ted]

Do any of you guys have a preferred text editor for data importing/editing? I'm using notepad right now but it seems like there are a bunch out there. I use Tinn-R for coding and wonder if I should just start using that for .txt as well, but I'm seeing so many like e, emeditor, notepadd++, textpad, pspad, and emacs that I wonder if I'm missing out. And yeah, notepad sucks and I should stop using it immediately.

I use vim and emacs but wouldn't recommend them unless you are planning to spend a lot of time using a text editor. There is a steep learning curve for both.

[FMCoug]

I like Notepad ++

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[mtnbiker]

I like jEdit for some things.

[pelagius]

I use vim and emacs but wouldn't recommend them unless you are planning to spend a lot of time using a text editor. There is a steep learning curve for both.

Emacs has some real upside if you are using R. Yes, you if have to learn emacs, but there is pretty decent integrated environment for R (Emacs Speaks Statistics). So you get a pretty nice R environment and you also get the power of emacs in other areas as well.

[Scott R Nelson]

Do any of you guys have a preferred text editor for data importing/editing?

I use Vim (or GVim) for all of my editing needs, but I've been using "vi" for decades, so it is the obvious choice. I really like what I can do with Vim. It has a mode where you can use it like Notepad and don't have to actually learn the keyboard commands.

Emacs is better for some things, but I'm usually faster using Vim than most Emacs users for just about anything that I normally need to do. I can definitely get around a file faster using Vim. My fingers automatically know which keys to hit to do what I want without me having to think about it most of the time. But with Vim, you have to get used to the idea that there is a separate insert mode and you have to know when you're in it and when you aren't. Emacs has me holding down the CTRL key too much for my tastes.

Vim is free and you can download it from http://www.vim.org if you want to try it out.

Your original problem of dealing with 3D data is very interesting, since 3D computer graphics is my specialty, but I'm on the far other end of 3D graphics designing hardware to do it. Applications doing 3D things are far removed from what I normally work with.

[woot]

Great thanks everybody for all the feedback. Maybe I'll just try a few and see what I think. Would emacs essentially replace both notepad and Tinn-R then? I'm really digging Tinn-R but if Emacs is similarly helpful for R that could work. I imagine I won't need a whole lot out of my text editor for now, but I figure I should start using something that will be there if I end up needing to get serious with this stuff.

[BigFatMeanie]

On Windows, I'm a Notepad++ man. On Unix/Linux I'm a Vim man.

I only know enough Emacs to exit out of it.