# cnr-isti-vclab/vcglib

The VCGlib is a C++, templated, no dependency, library for manipulation, processing and cleaning of triangle meshes

Repository: https://github.com/cnr-isti-vclab/vcglib
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vcglib
Homepage: http://vcglib.net/
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-08-25T20:53:30+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 67/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3732, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 408, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1295, forks 382 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:16.438287+00:00)

## What it is
VCGlib is a templated, header-only C++ library with no external dependencies for manipulating, processing, cleaning, and simplifying triangle and tetrahedral meshes. It is the core engine behind tools like MeshLab and Metro, offering state-of-the-art mesh processing algorithms.

## Use cases
- simplify large triangle meshes with quadric-error edge collapse
- repair broken or non-watertight 3D meshes
- compute Hausdorff distance between two meshes
- compute geodesic paths and curvature on meshes
- sample Poisson-disk point distributions over a mesh surface
- extract isosurfaces and generate meshes with advancing front
- smooth and fair mesh geometry
- optimize texture coordinates on a mesh

## When to choose
- you need a dependency-free, header-only C++ library for triangle mesh processing
- you are building 3D scanning, reconstruction, or mesh cleanup pipelines
- you want proven algorithms used by MeshLab in your own C++ project
- you need mesh simplification, repairing, or sampling in a native application

## When to avoid
- you need a permissive license - VCGlib is GPL-3.0
- you want a ready-to-use GUI application rather than a C++ library (use MeshLab instead)
- you work primarily with point clouds or volumetric data rather than triangle meshes
- you need bindings for Python or other non-C++ languages

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: graphics, image-processing, math, parser, file-system
- domain: computer-vision, graphics, developer-tools
- platform: cpp, cross-platform
- tags: triangle-meshes, mesh-processing, mesh-simplification, header-only, geometry-processing, mesh-repairing, subdivision-surfaces, spatial-indexing, gpl, algorithms

## Member repositories
- cnr-isti-vclab/vcglib (main) score 67

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:16.438287+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:54:00.636583+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cnr-isti-vclab/vcglib (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:16.438287+00:00, sha 6f0a65b0eec3)
  - homepage: http://vcglib.net/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:10:37.696132+00:00, sha 9fd13fa04828)
  - site_page: http://vcglib.net/install.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:10:37.705131+00:00, sha 46876b26b135)
  - site_page: http://vcglib.net/group__code__sample.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:10:37.707609+00:00, sha c0d9d28ed64c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.