# Staircase aware smoothing

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/staircase-aware-smoothing/5660>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [February 6, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/staircase-aware-smoothing/5660 "2019-02-06T17:21:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![EricWilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/ericwilson/32/1513_2.png) [@EricWilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/EricWilson)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/staircase-aware-smoothing/5660/1 "2019-02-06T17:21:23Z")

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I am trying to see if slicer has a built in method for smoothing out the staircase effect on models.  
for example, this skull model shows the effect on the back:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/e/a/eabb9cf7c85200d95627be461516854f0c416af2.jpeg)

there are certainly papers that outline algorithms to smooth the staircase effect, but implementation can be a rather daunting task. example: [[PDF] Staircase-Aware Smoothing of Medical Surface Meshes | Semantic Scholar](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6f9a/3e71b8eac55500fd1e9535f60c3ad88662cc.pdf)

i see there are posts here ([Help with smoothing models](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/help-with-smoothing-models/597)) that state cubic voxels are required to avoid staircase artifacts. does that apply in this case where i am not cropping the volume? are voxels in slicer cubic by default?

i would rather avoid generalized smoothing to preserve the integrity of the model in sections without the stair step effect.

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/staircase-aware-smoothing/5660/2 "2019-02-06T17:22:28Z")

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Slicer has all the tools to deal with this. Do you still have the image where this model is generated from?

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**Author:** ![EricWilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/ericwilson/32/1513_2.png) [@EricWilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/EricWilson)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/staircase-aware-smoothing/5660/3 "2019-02-06T17:34:29Z")

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yes, i have everything needed to generate this model

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/staircase-aware-smoothing/5660/4 "2019-02-06T18:03:58Z")

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OK, if you have the original volume then [these instructions](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/fetal-lung-volume-calculation/578/5) should work well.