Blue Sky Plan Manual

Existing STL models are imported into Blue Sky Plan® by selecting "Import STL Model" option from the automatic pop-up menu after Patient CT Scan Importing. Another possibility is selecting "File > Import STL Model".

After the model has loaded, the Blue Sky Plan Automatic Alignment asks for model orientation and attempts to align the model automatically. The "Model Manipulation" panel can also be used to position the model to the desired location.

If the model is already aligned with respect to the data, the "Direct" should correspond to the correct position of the model. For STL models created with different software than Blue Sky Plan®, use the "DICOM" alignment. "Center" places the model into the middle of the scene without performing any rotation. Because automatic alignment is usually not precise enough, Blue Sky Plan® also makes it possible to perform the alignment by entering a pair of points corresponding to each other. If you select "Points", a dialog appears for entering points manually. The surface model displayed in the left-hand window of the dialog is created on the basis of the settings of the currently selected density surface. It is also possible to significantly influence the time it takes to create the model and the visibility of the pertinent reference points by duly setting the thresholds of the density surface.

Points can be added by clicking on the button with the eyedropper or by pressing the Shift + Left click. If "Refine using ICP" is activated, the program attempts to perform an additional automatic alignment after the alignment it made based on the points entered. A similar point based manner of alignment is "Scaled" (works with extra scale) and "To Teeth" (works with the panoramic image instead of the surface model). It is also possible to align the model manually in the 3D window using the dragger that appears when you press the "Manual" button. Clicking this same button closes the manual alignment mode, and the dragger disappears.

When aligning manually, it is possible to define a fixed point (a so-called pivot) around which the model rotates. In 2D views, the pivot is represented by a cross. By dragging the cross, it is possible to move the model in the plane of view. The model can be rotated using the blue circle. Hold Shift and click the left mouse button to position the pivot at a different position in 2D views. In the 3D window, the pivot can be repositioned using the small dragger arrows.