# Volumeteric VTK from STL/OBJ/Surface Mesh or VTK file

**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/volumeteric-vtk-from-stl-obj-surface-mesh-or-vtk-file/13186
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Tags:** python
**Created:** [November 3, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/volumeteric-vtk-from-stl-obj-surface-mesh-or-vtk-file/13186 "2023-11-03T19:08:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![justAPhDStudent](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/justaphdstudent/32/12780_2.png) [@justAPhDStudent](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/justAPhDStudent)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/volumeteric-vtk-from-stl-obj-surface-mesh-or-vtk-file/13186/1 "2023-11-03T19:08:55Z")

</div>

Hello,

I would like to know if there is a possibility to convert or fill the surface mesh STL/VTK/OBJ to a volumetric VTK file in paraview (pvpython). As it is possible to extract surface mesh from volumetric VTKs, is the reverse process straight forward.

Best

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2023, 9:43am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/volumeteric-vtk-from-stl-obj-surface-mesh-or-vtk-file/13186/2 "2023-11-06T09:43:00Z")

</div>

Hi @justAPhDStudent

You can use Delaunay3D but the result may not be great. To reverse the process, use ExtractSurface.

FYI @Charles_Gueunet

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![justAPhDStudent](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/justaphdstudent/32/12780_2.png) [@justAPhDStudent](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/justAPhDStudent)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2023, 1:56pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/volumeteric-vtk-from-stl-obj-surface-mesh-or-vtk-file/13186/3 "2023-11-08T13:56:51Z")

</div>

Hi @mwestphal

Thank you very much for the information. Yeah we had given it a try already, and it is indeed tricky for complex shapes.

Best

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Charles\_Gueunet](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/charles_gueunet/32/40_2.png) [@Charles\_Gueunet](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Charles_Gueunet)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2023, 1:57pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/volumeteric-vtk-from-stl-obj-surface-mesh-or-vtk-file/13186/4 "2023-11-09T13:57:19Z")

</div>

@justAPhDStudent if your surface is manifold, you may use [tetWild](https://github.com/Yixin-Hu/TetWild) to fill it. This kind of operation should be done with a mesher. Using only VTK, I do not see any clean way to do so.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![justAPhDStudent](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/justaphdstudent/32/12780_2.png) [@justAPhDStudent](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/justAPhDStudent)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/volumeteric-vtk-from-stl-obj-surface-mesh-or-vtk-file/13186/5 "2023-11-09T18:58:34Z")

</div>

Thanks @Charles_Gueunet! That’s great info. I will definitely give it a try.
